Under Major Construction!

Antoinette (Toni) Szymanski began riding in 1978 when her and her family moved from the Chicago area to Elkhorn, Nebraska. What her parents thought would be a childhood phase, quickly turned into a lifetime passion.

(Toni and her gelding, Reb's Amigo Dollar, at the 1984 World Show in Senior Western Pleasure)

Toni showed in youth and open events in the Midwest until leaving to go to college in Texas in 1986. It was during this time, as a youth, Toni was most greatly impacted by the direction and knowledge of some fine horsemen and horsewomen. Special thanks to John Winnail and everyone at and associated with Winnail Training Stables during the early to mid 80s for laying such a strong foundation.

(Toni and Amigo in August, 1986 at the Iowa State Fair)

In 1986, Toni left Nebraska for College and it wasn't until 1990 when her family moved to New Mexico that Toni would leave Texas and be reunited full time once again with her grand ole gelding Amigo and her passion for horses would continue. It was never easy to be separated from being involved in horses, but neither was the decision to go to college so far away. In 1991, the team was back to showing for Amigo's last year before official retirement and it was like they had never stopped showing. At age 17, Amigo was still earning National Points and winning!

After Amigo's death in 1994 and a focus on Graduate School and then working full time, Toni again had a period apart from horses. The time came to return to the horse world when Toni laid eyes on a young stallion named Meet Joe Black. It is a story which may seem corny to most. Toni had always said, she would know the time was right to return to horses, when she found one bred with her gelding's bloodlines. Joe's 2nd Dam is a full sister to Amigo, he was drop dead gorgeous, conformationally correct, a beautiful mover and had just about every other bloodline she could hope to find. He was to be the beginning of a program of breeding for quality first, influenced by the heart with thoughts and knowledge of the past, present and future, and guided by the desire to breed for truly versatile athletes capable of excelling in a multitude of venues. Stay tuned with us as we venture down this road.

(A moment to rest and reflect on a hot New Mexico July morning in 2003)

The story about us just wouldn't be complete though without all the other special people and animals in our life.

Clarissa (below) our blue heeler mix is quite a special story for us. She was adopted at a large adopt-a-thon in Albuquerque in 2002. The day after we adopted her she became very ill and after being taken to the vet it was confirmed that she had parvo. She was a little fighter though with an enourmous will to live and after almost losing her to a fever, after subcutaneous fluids and lots more care and love she has come out stronger than we ever could have imagined. Once the parvo cleared up we discovered she also had coccidia and quickly fought to get that cleared up as well. She must have a super human immune system now as nothing ever seems to bother her. She is super sweet and an outstanding companion and the biggest darn Australian Cattle Dog we have ever seen :)

Ra (pictured below with Clarissa in 2005)

Sadie:

Sadie is our only registered purebred dog, she is a CKC Registered American Cocker Spaniel. Pictured below in April of 2007 devouring her hedge hog. Sadie absolutely LOVES the horses and regularly gets kisses from Ruby when the girls are out in the back pasture and happen to be by the back yard when Sadie is outside. She loves them all though and would like nothing better than to be with them all day.

Helios

Phoenix Photo is of Phoenix in 2007 at 10 years of age. Phoenix was the lone kitty of the house until Cosmos (now on our In Memory page) came along and what a pair they became! Phoenix has been a great sport in dealing with all of the new members of the family and the losses have impacted him just as much as they have impacted us. While he warmed to Helios almost instantly when we brought him home and they do play together, he has never quite been the same since Cosmos died. Though he does love hanging out with Helios and Mickey now!

The twins (exactly the same only different LOL), Selene and Serena

Mickey

Pictured below in March, 2007

Maggie

Stella and Lilly

Stella and Lilly are the newest members of the family and are our new trusty barn protectors! They have some big shoes to fill with the loss of Kali, but are sure they will be up to the challenge! Pictured below is Stella at the end of September, 2007. Picture of Lilly coming soon!

Thanks again for stopping by and giving us a chance to tell you a little bit about ourselves, our program and our goals. We hope to get a chance to visit with you in person as well.

CompUSA Coupon Codes