Sherry is a huge supporter of J&J Reining and our show, Sherry trained with and was coached by Jen and Sharon sold her 'Peanut' (Aint No Pic) back in 2012. Sherry had a lot of success showing that mare.
We asked her to put a few words together and this is her charming story!
In the 1950s I was a young kid growing up north of Toronto in a small municipality called Forest Hill. We had our own schools and stores but the bread and milk was delivered by horse and cart. I got used to going out to pat the horses and speak to the driver. When I was 5, I decided I should have a horse. There wasn't much interest at home so I went to see Santa Claus about it. He was a bit doubtful but I trusted him. I told Santa that I had a big room and the horse could use our wide staircase. We had plenty of grass in the back yard. When Santa did not deliver I never went to see him again.
When I was 7, our Toronto Island property was expropriated by the city. Now in the summer we started going to a place called Mulmur Lake and they had lots of horses! Heaven had arrived!! After a year we bought our own farm and we moved our 3 horses to our farm. I rode there every day, got rid of my English saddle and rode bareback.
When I went to university I worked in the summers but started riding again in my 30s. I showed in Dundalk and Shelburne and in October I went to the All American Quarter Horse Congress every year. At one Congress I bumped into John and Lynne Purdie who told me to come and see the type of riding they did. I went, loved it, gave up the local shows, and began to learn reining with Joanne Milton and Jen Jonas. The rest is history!