Article by Rebecca Walton for PhelpsSports.com
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Ken and Emily Smith discuss their history, their current plans, and the equestrian industry.
You name it, they’ve won it… Ken and Emily Smith are the two top trainers in equestrian business. Their students and horses have won top awards all over the country at the leading horse shows, including Devon and at Indoors. This power couple opened Ashland Farms in 1993 after they got married, with just a few horses, and now they have a over 70 horses competing under their tutelage. Their most recent accomplishment was coaching Jennifer Waxman at the NAYRC where she won Individual Gold aboard Venturo. They have also coached riders to Medal Final wins and USEF Pony Final wins. This week the Smiths took the time to discuss how they met, what they are doing now, and the current state of the equestrian industry.
Where were you born and raised and how did you get started riding?
Emily: I grew up in Ft. Lauderdale. My dad is a vet and everyone in my family rode, so I started on a pony.
What about Ken?
Emily: I’ll answer for him because he’s so quiet (laughs). His parents are professionals in New York in the Rochester area. His dad was a professional and he started riding for his dad when he was about 13 years old.
What were your junior careers like?
Emily: Mine was ponies and a few junior hunters. Then I quit for a while and went to college. Eventually I started riding for Ohio State and I ended up teaching a team; that’s how we met, at a horse show in Ohio.
Ken: I had some Junior Hunters and I did a little bit of equitation. Not too many jumpers.
Did you both always know you wanted to be professionals?
Emily: I was a journalism major for a while and I thought I wanted to do that, but when I started riding again, I knew I wanted to get back into it and be a professional.
Ken: I decided to be a professional when my dad’s professional rider left and went out on his own. I said I’d take over that job and ended up doing it.
You mentioned meeting at a horse show, can you talk more about that and how your relationship progressed?
Emily: We met at a horse show in Cleveland, I was up visiting from Ohio State, and we started dating after that. We worked for Howard Lewis at the Hunt Club in Cleveland together, and moved to Florida right after we got married in 1992.
How did you decide to start Ashland Farms?
Emily: Because I lived in Columbus, Ohio, and he lived in Cleveland, and the middle point was Ashland, Ohio, and that’s how we got our name. After we got married we came down to Florida with some of Ken’s father’s horses, one of my parents’ horses, and one other client’s horse and started our own business.
Did you ever imagine it would be as successful as it is?
Emily: We had hoped and planned and given ourselves a timeline that it would be; that was the dream.
What’s it like, owning a business together, and working together every day?
Emily: Because we have a big business we all help with each other’s people, but in general we each have our own people that we teach and horses that we do. Even though we’re working together all day we’re sort of together, but doing our own thing.
Your operation is very large. Can you tell me how many horses and riders do you have right now? What’s your day-to-day routine like?
Emily: We probably have about 70 horses right now. We have Ken, who shows and teaches. I don’t ride anymore, but I teach. David Nation rides and teachers. Carly Kaber is our manager and keeps everything under control and organized and Melissa Murphy rides and shows. We also have a new addition, Jorge Zamudio, who shows and rides. We have a lot of junior kids as well as adults and pony kids and they are all a great group of people.
How do you keep everything so well scheduled and make sure everyone gets to the ring on time?
Emily: Carly is very good at that. We have big barns here that have their own staff, but she organizes them as well. She puts one girl at the South Grounds, one at the Main Grounds and organizes it that way. Our barn manager for 15 years is Geraldo; he is amazing and organizes all the guys.
You’ve produced so many great riders and so many great horses, what has that been like and what have some of the highlights been?
Emily: There have been so many horses, kids, and adults that have been with us over the years. I would say a big highlight lately was winning the gold medal at Young Riders with Jennifer Waxman and Venturo. We’ve had some really great wins, Grand Champions at Devon and Indoors, Horse of the Year with Ken. We’re always looking forward to the future and always looking back on all the great ones that we’ve had and trying to duplicate that.
Jennifer Waxman was awarded the Lionel Guerrand-Hermes Trophy this weekend at the USET Road to Kentucky Gala. How did it feel to be a part of that and know that she is joining such an elite group of riders?
Emily: It was such an honor to have George [Morris] there to present it to her, and she was completely grateful. It was such an honor to be a part of her career since she was eight years old. We were just proud, very proud.
I know you are helping organize the Six-Bar Competition for Challenge of the Americas this year, can you tell me a little it about that?
Yes, we’re looking forward to that. Our son Spencer is going to do that with his new horse, and Jennifer is coming down that week to do that event. We are deciding between a couple of the other students, which ones are going to compete, but we’re looking forward to the evening. It will be under the lights and it will be in front of a group of people, so it’s nice pressure for the riders to get used to.
Let’s talk a little bit about the industry, especially the hunter and equitation industries. What do you think is working right now?
Emily: We love the hunter derby classes; we think it’s such a new avenue for a lot of people and horses. There is something to look forward to with the Final in Kentucky, which was so beautifully done last year. I think it’s a goal for juniors, amateurs, and professionals to work towards. The equitation, with the George Morris class down here and all the exciting Finals are great steps. It’s such a good basis for the kids to do that and continue with their jumper careers.
Ken: I agree, I think the equitation divisions seem very strong right now. I’ve noticed a lot of younger kids in it this year, which is good. A lot of the Children’s Hunter divisions are big this year, the Pony Hunter divisions are
strong, so I think that’s good for the economy that the younger set is coming along. We feel very good about the business. This year especially, we feel like it’s come back a little bit from what it was last year.
What do you think are some issues our industry is facing?
Emily: Well the economy, which seems to be getting stronger as Ken just mentioned. Before, maybe a lot of kids could have hunters, jumpers, and equitation horses, but maybe they can’t have as many horses right now, which is difficult.
It’s expensive to campaign your horses and your kids, but compared to last year the economy seems so much better and people are shopping and buying horses. It seems to be a much brighter future right now.
In the summer when we travel, we base out of Kentucky more, so that it’s a little bit less expensive and we’re not traveling constantly. We have a base now and we used to be traveling every two weeks and that helps with costs.
Talk a little bit about 2010, what are you looking forward to most and what are some of your goals?
Emily: We have a few new clients that we’re excited about and getting them going. We are excited for some of the junior riders to go to Young Riders and be on the Prix de States jumper teams. We are excited about our son who has moved up to the Low Juniors with his new horse. We have some very exciting equitation kids and horses that we are looking forward to taking to Finals this year, and some new younger hunters that we have. We’re also excited about our new jumper for Jorge.
Can you talk a little bit about your son and his involvement with Ashland Farms?
Emily: Spencer was a little more involved with polo until last year. But now he’s getting very excited about the jumpers and he won a lot last year, so we’ve been looking for a new, nice horse for him to ride. He rides every day and he seems quite dedicated. I think that is exciting for both of us and both of our parents since both families are in the horse business.
Ken: For the family to all be involved in the same thing is great. Our daughter rides a little bit too, so it’s nice to have the same interest when we all go to the shows.
What is the future for Ashland Farms?
Emily: We want to continue being successful with the adult and junior riders that we have and that are up-and-coming pony riders. We are in partnership with some jumpers, and we’re excited to have those and be in the grand prix ring.
I’m sure you have very little free time, but when you do, what are some non-horse related things you like to do?
Emily: We usually have lunch together on Mondays, and hang out with our kids doing fun things at the farm. We play tennis a little bit, but we haven’t had much time lately. If we get aweekend we like to go away to the beach or do something with the kids.
