Couple finds calling in love of horses

The family includes horses, dogs, cats and a donkey named Phat Chick.

By AMANDA C. DAVIS

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

CANFIELD — Mark and Amy Watkins make a living off other people’s hobbies.

But the couple’s shared career has more to do with love and passion for the Quarter Horses they train than it does money.

“Look at my office,” Mark said on a recent weekday morning as he proudly surveyed the 28-acre family farm he shares with his wife and daughter Alyssa, 15, and son MJ, 8.

The husband and wife team often puts in long days, sometimes 12-14 hours in the spring and summer, training the horses year-round for competition.

“This is not something you do to get rich,” Mark said. “You’ve got to want to do this, and there has to be a passion there.”

Cornerstone Farm and Watkins Quarter Horses is on U.S. Route 62 in Canfield Township. Horse owners from around the state and other parts of the country trust the Watkins family to prepare their Quarter Horses for serious competition. The family also has horses of its own that compete.

“Ohio is a pretty big state for training and showing Quarter Horses,” Mark said, explaining the largest single-breed horse show in the world is held each year in October in Columbus. “Our whole year revolves around that show.”

Other upcoming shows include one at the Canfield Fairgrounds June 20-24. Mark, who is director of the Northern Ohio Quarter Horse Association, said he helped bring that show to Canfield from Summit County.

Judging horses

Chris Cecil-Darnell of Wadsworth is treasurer of the association and secretary for the Canfield show.

She said competition, for amateurs and professionals, includes a full slate of classes where judges score on things such as movement, demeanor, where the horse carries its head during competition, riding patterns and how riders and horses ride over logs, bridges, trails and obstacles.

The competition used to award ribbons but now gives winners prizes, from candy bars to gas cards to cash, Cecil-Darnell said.

Considered the world’s most popular breed of horse, the Quarter Horse evolved when bloodlines of horses brought to the new world were mixed. The name comes from the horse’s ability to sprint the quarter mile quickly.

The farm has one other full-time and four other part-time employees who help with chores including feeding the animals, cleaning the stalls, saddling and grooming the horses.

A typical day for the couple begins at 8 or 9 a.m. and includes riding the horses on either an indoor or outdoor ring to prepare them for tournaments and for exercise.

Depending on the day, horses may also be seen by a veterinarian or a farrier, a blacksmith who works only on horses, trimming and balancing their hooves. Horse riding lessons for the public make up about 25 percent to 30 percent of the farm’s business, and lessons are also offered for those whose horses are in training.

Expensive hobby

Training a Quarter Horse is not cheap, and in some cases can cost nearly as much as some college tuition plans, Mark said. Room and board is included in the $650-a-month fee, he said, pointing out that many horses stay year round.

And though $7,800 per year may seem steep, Mark said clients’ horses sometimes win individual classes at different shows, racking up top prizes.

The horses he and his wife have trained haven’t competed in the Columbus show’s Master’s Futurity class, a competition that Mark said awards its winner with $100,000. And though some of the horses he’s trained have won monetary prizes up to $1,000, Mark said most competitions through the American Quarter Horse Association are for points, not money.

A colt or filly can cost anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000 on the low end, Mark said, noting the most expensive horse being trained at his farm cost its owner $65,000. He added that a known competitor or champion can easily fetch $250,000 and that he knows of a man in Massillon who paid upwards of $2 million for a stallion.

Training fees and possible monetary prizes aside, Mark said operating the farm is expensive but allows for a decent income. His biggest costs are the mortgage on the farm, insurance and hay and grain. Rising fuel costs also determine how far away the trainers will travel to show horses.

Horse celebrity

Some of the horses on the Watkins farm are well-known among horse enthusiasts, including Mac, who’s won multiple times at the prestigious Columbus show.

The 30-year-old horse is ranked 44th out of 4 million registered Quarter Horses on the AQHA list for point earners in Western Pleasure — a class judged on the horse’s movements, head carriage and Western attire.

Mark’s father, Jim Watkins, former Canfield Schools superintendent, owned Mac in the late 1980s, but sold him in 1990 to an owner in Cleveland. Mark said he loved the horse so much he bought the horse back in 2005.

“He’s just a great old horse,” Mark said. “He loves people — he just doesn’t like other horses.”

The other horses on the farm have become a part of the family, which also includes dogs, cats and a donkey named Phat Chick, which helps guard young horses from prey once they are weaned from their mothers.

Amy said each of the horses has its own distinct personality.

She and Mark described Lena as curious, and as they approached her, her ears perked up as if to prove them right. Another horse, Ashley, who Mark said “has it in her bloodlines to be grumpy” doesn’t like Mark and turns away as soon as he approaches.

And then there’s Billy, a 1,300-pound horse described as “goofy,” who likes to lick walls. And a playful horse named Shorty just wants your cell phone.

As Amy walks him out of his stable, the horse immediately tries to wrestle away the cell phone holstered to her hip.

“No, you can’t make a phone call today,” she said playfully to the horse.

Good for the soul

Though the business can be hard at times, the husband and wife agree that horses are good for the soul and credit God for their success. The professionals, other employees, owners and horses all become extended family and contribute to that success, Mark said.

Horses are in the blood for the Watkins family, and Mark and Amy said their kids are the fourth generation to grow up around them.

They’re not sure the children will want to pursue horse training as a career, and said they won’t push it because it’s a demanding lifestyle that takes commitment 365 days a year.

What Amy loves about it is that it gives her the opportunity to work from home and be with her children after school, during the summer and on holiday breaks.

She also appreciates the training aspects and said, “To be able to take a person or a horse that doesn’t know anything and build a team from that — that’s what I get the most satisfaction from.”

As for Mark, he loves the animals, the people he gets to meet, the freedom it allows and the time it gives him with his family.

“I’m with my wife all the time and I’m here when my kids get home from school,” he said.