For as long as I can remember I had an internal clock that indicated that about every three or so years I find something in my life to change: where I live, where I work, who I work with/for, what my “work” is–etc. It usually involves some big pivot, some reinvention or reincarnation. I learned to embrace it, and found it a rhythm I didn’t mind! I love new things! I love new adventures! I mastered whatever it was so–on to the next!
So it’s no coincidence that in two weeks I’ll mark four years with Saloma Acres and I’m feeling an itch.
No, I won’t be shutting down the farm — y’all are going to have to pry this from my hands. I’m not even thinking of changing what I’m up to, ultimately, as the mission and vision of the place has remained very, very close to my original goals as they were in 2021 when I dreamed this place up.
But what has changed is myself as a horsewoman. That I even call myself one. That I am knowledgeable enough about my industry and disciplines that folks are coming to me for answers to some of the questions they’ve never asked, and coming to me to think about ways to infuse what they’re up to with new ideas.
I think that’s what has been most refreshing about this journey, when once I saw it as a severe limitation. I don’t get to enter the conversation with “I’ve been riding horses my whole life!” or “my family has always had horses” or before that, “this is my family’s land that we’ve had for generations…”
But that I get to come to horses as an adult (at 36 to be exact!), with all of my lived experiences (in entrepreneurial business best practices, as a writer, as a critical thinker, as a human…etc) and not mired in years, or generations of “well this is how we’ve always done it”–allows me to find new answers to generations-old challenges, to think about what was maybe left in the dust or past and think about re-emerging it in a new conversation. (Here I’m talking about foundation-bred horses that are always described as “nothing special” vs. the contemporary stuff)
In my other life, my other work, that’s how I approach my strategic consulting work with clients: what can we do differently to get different results? So often the conversations are around things we want to change in the agricultural industry, in the community of land stewards, in the equine industry.
So it’s more of a focus shift. When I knew less, or felt I like I was lacking, I tried to fill that “lack” by attempting to offer the whole world–through Saloma Acres–to folks who might engage with the space.
Now that I know more, what I want to offer the world is something deeper. But I need your help.
Saloma Acres has the opportunity to be a hub for outdoor cultural activities rooted in the land of the Sandhills of South Carolina. This soil is rich with opportunities to learn, to convene, to rest, to play. The primary way we offer this is through our partnership with Luminal Theater and the FILMS AT THE FARMS series.
At Saloma Acres, from the deep learning and experiencing and riding and training and horsemanship, I have developed a program that I believe will strengthen the future of the American Quarter Horse Breed—particularly for horses in the Western Disciplines (Cowboy Mounted Shooting and Cattle Classes like roping, cutting, and working cow horse). This will be presented to the world as DAMERON QUARTER HORSES–more information about our national and world-class competitors marking the base of our breeding program in due time.
I am so proud of what I have accomplished here–building and learning as I go, and bringing along with my trainers a herd of horses that are taking me into the national and world-level arenas.
I never would have dreamed this, and I can only imagine how far we can go.
