History of Palmetto Pride 

As long as I can remember, I have loved horses. It seems to be a genetic trait, and throughout my childhood, I heard stories of my parents meeting during their courtship to ride horses together. My mother Gail, affectionally known as Mama Bear, shared stories of the horses she owned during her youth, and using the interstate as a racetrack while it was being built. I begged for what seemed like years for a horse, until I was in Fifth grade, they told me I had to take lessons. If I did a good job learning to ride, then they would think about buying a horse. So, I took lessons and refused to cry even when I came home black and blue from posting and hanging on for dear life. The lady who gave me lessons would get in her big truck, put the horse on a lead rope and take off. I was scared to death but would not say anything because I wanted a horse so badly my only thought was to just stay on to prove I could ride. My efforts paid off, because it wasn’t long until they bought my first horse, a big, black Tennessee Walking horse gelding. All I can say is bless his heart, he was a great first horse and put up with my shenanigans. Since I had gotten a horse, it was only natural that my mother wanted one as well. My mother had already been researching different types of gaited horses.  We went to Kentucky to look at Rocky Mountain Saddle Horses and other breeds, but she continued to talk about Paso Finos.

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I remember riding through West Columbia, and she saw a sign for Paso Fino horses for sale and she told my father to stop, and she wrote down the number. Little did we know, but this would be the beginning of their journey! She called Mr. Creighton Shull that evening and set up an appointment.  My father, James, aka Papa Bear, always wanted to make my mother happy and his favorite pastime was meeting new people, so we went to Creighton Shull’s farm to just “look". Mr. Shull was breeding Pure Puerto Rican Paso Fino’s which he called the Cadillac of horses due to their naturally smooth four beat lateral gait. He had my mother ride a gelding named Palmetto Pride “Pal” and it was love at first ride.  She told my father she would ride him home if possible. The year was 1987 and this would begin my parents’ life-long journey with the breed. Unfortunately, at that time, Mr. Shull was asking a price my parents could not afford for Pal. They ended up buying a colt and filly sired by Pal, Beau and Lady. We didn’t even have a barn or pasture prepared when we brought them home. We used the old barn from my mother’s childhood until my father had a barn built. To know my father is to know that he didn’t do anything halfway. Instead of building a small barn, he built one big enough to house 12 horses. I guess he already knew that this would not be a small-scale horse operation. He always liked to tell everyone that because I wanted a horse, he had to build a $30,000 barn, but in actually he was the one that wanted a big barn and would be the buyer of the majority of the horses! One time he bought ten horses in a package deal in order to get one or two horses whose bloodlines we were trying to preserve. At one point, we had as many as fifty horses at the farm!

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It wasn’t long after we brought Beau and Lady home that we soon realized that we were not prepared to train two yearlings. When my parents visited Creighton’s farm they met his trainer, Catherine Tack. She worked for Creighton part time and my parents reached out to her to help us with our horses as well. Cathy grew up in Puerto Rico and spent many years learning to train from her ex-husband and his family. Cathy started working at the farm and this was the beginning of their life-long friendship, with her becoming more like another daughter to them. Over the years my parents would take in and meet most of the important people in their life through the horses. To this day, Cathy is still a part of our Palmetto Pride Family. Her daughter Stephanie and granddaughter Lindsey are also an integral part of our farm, it is so exciting to see the horse fever handed down from generation to generation.

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It wasn’t very long after we bought the yearlings that Mr. Shull reached out to my mom to lower the price for Pal. Of course they bought him, he was her heart horse. Over the years she loved many of the horses we had at the barn, but Pal would always have a special place that could not be replaced. We aptly named the farm Palmetto Pride after mom’s beloved gelding and my parents fell into conserving the breed. Pal was a great Performance Gelding that myself, Mama Bear and Cathy all showed. I’m sure he got tired of being the only riding aged Paso and was passed around the barn. He always did well in the show ring and from an observer perspective looked like he was easy and willing. We were actually riding our behinds off to keep him from being his hardheaded self. He taught me so many lessons on how to be a better rider because he didn’t make it easy on you. It was during this period of time that the first meeting of the Pure Puerto Rican Paso Fino Federation of America took place in 1987, and mom found her calling. She would work in some capacity for the Federation for the remainder of her life. 

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Throughout the years, my parents met many special people, but one that stands out is Pedro Burgos.  He imported horses from Puerto Rico to attend the Celebration Show in 1989. Again, my parents found someone that was not only integral to helping them obtain horses but became a member of our family.  He lived with my parents and brought his son Pedrito to visit. My parents considered Pedrito to be their other son, and he was welcomed with open arms. He would also live for many years at the farm. Some of my favorite memories of Mr. Burgos were in the front yard of my parents’ home when he would give me riding lessons. I loved riding his horse Indira, while he told me how to hold my hands and corrected my seat. I wish I had a video of that time to go back and watch it now! Unfortunately, Mr. Burgos would pass away while Pedrito was still in high school. However, the love for Pedrito and his family has continued throughout the years. He is my brother and continues to be a support system for the farm to this day.

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Another family that played a vital role in the blood lines and livelihood of the farm is the Figuero Family, especially Rufo and Eduardo. Rufo helped my parents obtain Boricua, Suleyka, Basilio and Yesenia. He became a regular around the family table, and his knowledge of the bloodlines was vital to helping mom with the breeding program. Eduardo would become a trainer at the farm for many years.  He was at the farm the day that Papa passed. He took it upon himself to try to fill in the hole his passing left by cleaning out stalls and helping anyway that he could. We were deeply saddened that he passed only a few months after mom. Their knowledge and advice has made a huge impact on the bloodlines and quality of the horses being produced to this day!

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I could not possibly name the many horses that have played a role in the success of Palmetto Pride over the years, there have been too many to count. What I will say is that my parents, especially Mama Bear, were passionate about producing the best of the best. She would not hesitate to quit breeding a horse if she did not like the attitude or gait. She would assess each horse for faults, and then breed them to a mate to produce a better-quality offspring. For example, if a mare did not have a long, elegant neck, we would breed them to a stallion with better neck and headset. It has taken years of selective breeding to achieve the desired results, but with every foal that has been born in recent years, I would say she achieved success.

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With mom and dad’s passing, I had to quickly decide what to do about the future of the farm. I loved my mom with all my heart but saying that she was organized or had a budget would be an understatement. Her last talks with me revolved around the horses and the Federation, and what she would like to see happen. I wanted to keep the farm going to honor their memory and preservation efforts, and because I love them as well. The preservation of the breed has been a part of my family since I was in Middle School, and I wanted to be able to continue their legacy. However, it was overwhelming to be handed over 30 horses and figure out how to make it work. Fortunately for me, I have not had to do this on my own. I have had a wonderful support group to help me along the way.  One of the most important being Mrs. Shirley Ashley. Without her help and guidance, and of course prodding, we would not have been able to continue. When I would get fed up and overwhelmed, she would always have sound advice on how to keep it all together. I know she came back to the farm to retire and had no idea that her timing would be right before Papa’s passing.  But God knew what he was doing by sending her to help!

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I am proud of what we have accomplished in such a short amount of time and about the future of Palmetto Pride Farm. We have preserved bloodlines for generations to come and will continue to our part to protect the Pure Puerto Rican horses. We have sold more horses over the last few years than in recent memory and I am thankful for the reputation my parents built to provide quality, levelheaded horses with an exponentially smooth gait. There has been a renewed interest in the breed and getting horses into the hands of new owners is one of my goals. We have also turned the Brown family home into an Airbnb which has been a huge success. Not only will it provide income to help support the horses, but it allows the open-door policy that my parents lived by to continue. I am sure they are happy to see the horses and their home not only thriving but showcasing all the years of hard work and dedication to preserve a breed that fell out of the showring spotlight. Many others would have thrown in the towel and bred horses to follow the fad which would have made them more money. But that wasn’t their goal, or purpose. I applaud their efforts to continue to love a breed that many were turning against and understand that the future of the breed depended upon conserving bloodlines that would have been lost without their efforts. My goal for Palmetto Pride is to follow in their footsteps and provide a legacy for future generations!