EC Amateur Spotlight – Pamela Switzer – Horse Crazy from Birth

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34 – March/April 2019

By Erica Greathouse

Horse Crazy From Birth

Some passions are hardwired into our very being. This is most certainly the case for Pamela Switzer and her identical twin sister, Patricia Jolivette. From the day the twins could walk and talk, they ate, slept, and breathed horses. “The word, ‘Horse,’ was pretty much the first thing out of our mouths,” Pam jokes.

Growing up in Clyde, Alberta, a small hamlet north of Edmonton, the girls wanted a horse fix despite the crazy northern weather. Luckily, their mother, Joanne, was horse crazy as well. “She went out of her way to make sure that we were able to fulfill our dreams and have horses around. We were always very grateful to her for that,” Pam says.

The family had many horses that they purchased straight from auctions. They were somewhat feral, but the twins were always up to the task of training horses, even horses that had never been handled before. This fascination naturally led to a desire to learn more about the local horse show scene. “We were involved in our local 4-H club. When we would go to the shows, we would always admire the Quarter Horses, and our dream was to own and show registered Quarter Horses,” Pam says. The first registered horses they owned during their early teenage years were Arabians. “We showed them in 4-H competition and learned a lot by working with them, but we still longed for Quarter Horses.” The first Quarter Horse to join the family was a yearling purchased at auction for $250. “The auction was the first time this filly had encountered people, but that didn’t deter us. We were determined to get a Quarter Horse and make her into a show horse,” Pam laughs. Thankfully, with the dynamic sister duo, and a lot of persistence and hard work, that filly, whose name is Pocos Honey Bug, or “Rose,” is 33 years old this year and is enjoying retirement in their pasture after taking both sisters to the show arena.

Click here to read the complete article
34 – March/April 2019