“My advice to others going through something similar is that as hard as some days can be, you just hold on to God’s hand and try to keep going. There was a time when I wanted to give up. I was going to sign Charley over to Joe and Brenna and call it quits, but they wouldn’t let me. My husband, Jim, calls Charley the best medicine I can have.”

“I like to compare Hudson to an ugly duckling. He was big and awkward as a yearling, and no one wanted him, but he grew up to be a beautiful champion.”

Amber Pickard, now an AQHA horse trainer in Michigan, has her own unique story of the journey that led her to the equine industry, and it all began with a baby African Elephant named Laura. 

The announcer at the IPHA Fall Shootout and Futurity decided to surprise the couple by announcing them over the loudspeaker as the homecoming king and queen. “It was very embarrassing. They gave Ashton a special shoutout of being the number one horse show boyfriend!”