Exotic Roots- From Elephants to Horses

By: Brittany Bevis

We all come into the horse industry in different ways. Some have a long family history in the sport, while others come from entirely different backgrounds. 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.

“My maternal great-grandmother was a horsewoman, and I grew up with a love for horses,” Amber says. “My first horse was a miniature stallion that I received from the Make-A-Wish Foundation after I survived a rare childhood cancer called a Wilms tumor. But, just before I was diagnosed with cancer as a child, I met a 5’ 4” tall baby African Elephant when it came to my hometown of Fremont, Michigan, for the National Baby Food Festival. I fell in love with her and kept asking my Mom to take me to see the elephant. Her name was Laura, and she was saved from a culling operation in Africa in the early 80s along with 41 other elephants.”

After so many frequent visits, Amber’s mother met the elephant’s trainer, Chuck Walters. They later married and together established a 40-acre elephant preserve in Michigan called Ivory Haven Farms. Amber and her family lived on the farm for ten years with Laura, the elephant Amber describes as “more of a sister.”

“Laura grew to be over 8 1/2 feet tall, and we eventually rescued a bull elephant from a petting zoo so Laura would have a companion to grow old with,” Amber says. “We presented educational programs in the summer at schools and festivals. We also gave rides, did commercials, and we worked on the movie, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.”

Laura worked only about 30 days a year, which helped to support Ivory Haven Farms by providing funds to heat the barns in the winter and supply food. The other 355 days a year Laura roamed freely within large hi-tensile pastures. She loved to roll in the snow and would often break through the ice to play in the ponds at the farm. It was truly a magical childhood as Amber helped to feed and bathe the elephants and frequently participated in the educational programs.

Although Amber’s family kept other animals at the farm, like pot belly pigs and ostriches, she loved the horses most of all. “I wanted to ride horses before I could talk. I decided to become a trainer because of my passion for horses. I love the competition part of it and how rewarding it is from starting horses as babies to getting them in the show pen.”

“I eventually sold my miniature horse to buy a Quarter Horse pony and started showing when I was eight. My first job in the industry, when I was 14, was when I worked on an Appaloosa ranch in Michigan called Lyda Farms. I started my own business, at the age of 17, called Rockin H Horses where I worked with 4-H youth. Then, I went on to work for Joe Goodenow at Lightning Bar Ranch.”

After an ankle injury left Amber sidelined from riding horses for a few years, she returned to her exotic animal roots and took up gentling water buffalo for a farm that produced Buffalo mozzarella. “Water Buffalo are known for being tough to handle and can be especially dangerous with the large horns. Most people figure that if you can work with elephants and understand them, then you can work with anything.”

There are many similarities between working with exotic animals and horses, as both require long hours and dedication to their physical and mental well-being, Amber says. However, the species are certainly very different.

“Elephants eat 16 hours a day and consume about five bales of hay. That’s a lot of manure and a lot of hay to throw! Both horses and elephants process visually and form strong emotional ties to others.” Amber explains that elephants are bigger thinkers than horses, because the large pachyderms have the largest brain of any land animal. “Their thought processes are similar to an eight-year-old child, and it’s true that they have amazing memories.”

“Both elephants and horses can be trained to respond to visual cues. Water buffalo can be friendly, if raised by hand, like any other bovine. They’re not as intelligent as horses. Elephants and dogs are more difficult to train.”

So is riding an elephant anything like riding a horse? “Riding an elephant would be more like riding a very large draft horse; however, the movement is more of a rocking forward and up and down at the same time sort of motion.”

Whether it was the result of her experience growing up on an exotic animal farm, working with elephants and tending to water buffalo, or just an innate sense of a closeness with the creatures of the animal kingdom, Amber has certainly developed a way with animals. That was never more evident than when she achieved a Reserve Championship finish in The Equine Chronicle Congress Masters 2-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle at the 2019 Congress aboard Bout Time Baby.

If you have a great story to tell about an interesting person in the horse industry, email B.Bevis@EquineChronicle.com.