It started out innocently for Jack Sewell whose first horse barn was a 12-by-20 foot two-stall barn. Twenty years and five additions later, his love for training walking horses has blossomed into a 38-by-150 foot 14-stall complex.
It began with his daughter’s mare that seemed to have a natural ability for the show ring.
“Why don’t you take that horse to the county fair?” quipped a friend. Jack did and won a ribbon.
“That’s all it took … We’ve been in the horse business 20 years since, trying to make.it better,” reflects Sewell.
He, along with his partner and brother, Donnie, board, train and show 14 walking horses out of Sewell’ s home. Each horse receives the minimum of 30 minutes training each day, five days a week during its initial seven-to eight-month training.
Sewell never guarantees himself nor the horse owners of a sure-fire winner but enjoys the gamble. “You work them, train them, thinking the very next day it will all come together.”