Hobby horses provide fun, friends, income

For Greeley travel agent Anita McAllister, purchasing horses was a chance to realize a childhood dream.

Dan Stroh, a Loveland Realtor and developer, has had horses all of his life. He met his wife, also a life-long equine enthusiast, at a horse show. The Strohs have built their love for cutting horses and cutting-horse competition into a second business.

Cammie Lundeen pursues her love for horses both through her work as a wildlife sculptor – she’s renowned for her equine bronzes – and in her leisure time as owner of a herd of eight.

Realtors Tami Spaulding and Linda Sioux Stenson both grew up with horses and enjoy their quiet company as well as the connection created with others who love horses.

These and other Northern Colorado business and professional people who enjoy horsekeeping in their spare time are among a population of horse owners some 65,000 strong in Colorado.

According to the Colorado Horse Development Authority there are 194,000 horses in Colorado; 40 percent are used for show or racing.

Add service providers, horse care workers and volunteers and the equine industry in Colorado involves 191,600 people. The CHDA says that the state’s horse industry produces goods and services valued at $754 million, while the national horse industry has a $2.6 billion impact on Colorado.

Sculptor Lundeen finds that horses are at once a release from work and inspiration for it. “The horses are what I do to kick back and relax. It’s really neat, though, that I might be out there brushing them or doing something with them, for a break from the sculpting, and running my hands over them I make mental notes for whatever I’m working on.”

A professional sculptor since 1984, when she first moved to Loveland, Lundeen says she grew up a horse fanatic.

“I’ve always had horses, and as my art career evolved the love of horses is reflected in that.”

Lundeen claims “an assortment” of equines – “everything from a mini to a one-ton, 18-hand Shire” – a broodmare, a couple of younger hunter-jumpers, a couple of reining horses that belong to her daughter, and a warmblood that she does some dressage with.

“I grew up riding Western and showing quarter horses and paints, switched over to doing some dressage when my kids were babies. Now I’ve come full circle back into Western reining.”

Anita McAllister used to love riding her sister’s horses until the sister moved to Nevada and sold the horses. She didn’t have a horse of her own until “I got older and could afford it.” She purchased her first horse in 1988 and began riding and showing it.

Once an active participant in the Denver show circuit, McAllister says her business keeps her too busy these days for more than about twice-a-week visits with her two horses. McAllister is in the throes of building her agency Tumbleweed Travel into a new niche – destination weddings.

Dan Stroh says wryly that over the past 15 years or so he and his wife took a fun hobby involving cutting horses and turned it into a business. Today the Strohs keep about 12 to 15 quarter horses, dividing their time between farms in Berthoud, a ranch in Texas and time on the road between cutting-horse competitions. That is, when they’re not working at Stroh Realty, their real estate and development firm.

The Strohs’ sons, Faren and Trevor, both grew up with horses and earned dozens of championships. Dan and Debbie have captured their share of titles and prizes and equine honors as well.

If Dan has grown weary of the time and travel that keeping up with the cutting-horse competitions requires, he enjoys the people and connections that his horses engender.

Cutting-horse competitions have become increasingly popular, attracting a number of celebrities. “I show against Joe Montana all the time,” Stroh says. “It’s a star-studded group of people. We love the people and we love the horses,” he says, with extra emphasis on the horses.

There’s a strong connection between real estate and horses, Stroh says. “The real estate and horses kind of fell hand in hand. We’ve done a lot of horse and livestock real estate over the years.”

Tami Spaulding, a Realtor with The Group in Fort Collins, also sees connections between her work and her horses. While she doesn’t specialize in horse properties, her knowledge of horses and background in training and showing them means she’s comfortable in country settings.

“I do a lot of country properties,” she says. “I understand horse waterers and I understand rubber mats and barns and I’m not afraid to walk out in the dirt. I understand the lingo and I don’t get lost on county roads.”

If horses help connect her to clients, they also help her unwind from the rigors of her work. “They are my emotional and mental release. They always have been and even more so with the real estate,” Spaulding says.

Spaulding keeps four horses, and enjoys using them for pleasure riding and team roping. “I used to compete all the time, but I’m not in that competitive world any more.”

Like Spaulding, Loveland Realtor Linda Sioux Stenson of The Group once competed heavily in the horse world. Stenson trained and showed draft horses, traveling the country with semi-trucks full of the giant equines.

“It was a hobby that got out of hand,” she recalls.

These days she invests in houses instead of horses and takes pleasure in owning just one equine – a Clydesdale gelding named Sioux Creek’s Raine Forrest.

Forrest, as he is known, frequently figures in Stenson’s business promotions. The horse, who is trained to smile on command, appears prominently on her letterhead and in other advertising.

on Facebook on LinkedIn