Three Generations Of Horsemen: The Herman Family
Click here to read the complete article
34 – May/June, 2023
By Brittany Vermeer
“Growing up, we didn’t have a trainer, and we kept our horses at home outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Bartlesville, Oklahoma,” Robie says. “Being the oldest of three kids basically meant I was head barn help, and our vacations were things like going to the Southern Regional show. After high school, I stopped riding to go to college at Notre Dame.”
However, that didn’t last very long, because Robie’s daughters soon caught the horse bug and insisted they attend Hunter Jumper summer camp. “When my daughters wanted to start riding horses, I was really resistant. I kept telling my wife that we didn’t want to do this, because it would take over our life. Maybe it was selfish, but I was happy with how things were. I had happy memories from horse showing and loved riding, but it does take over your life.”
After looking at local ponies that were available to lease, Robie quickly knew that wasn’t going to be an option for his girls, so he started making phone calls to horse folks from back in the day. He was able to source a seasoned Paint show horse and a Hunter pony for Caroline and Ella Kate. In 2017, when the family hired a trainer that Robie knew from his days as a youth rider, Kevin George, he started Superior Care Management, and built the farm that’s now known as Black Top Ranch. The ranch is named after Robie’s grandparents’ farm in South Dakota – Black Top Farm.
Spanning 260 acres in Bixby, Oklahoma, Black Top has pecan orchards, hay fields, wide open spaces, and is home to the Herman family’s many stallions, mares, and foals. They currently stand a 12-year-old, double registered stud named Count The Minutes, who is expecting his first yearlings on the Longe Line circuit this year.
The Herman Herd
