Meet Jackie Turnbull

Jackie Turnbull is best known for the Great American Ranch and Trail Horse Sale. For the past 30+ years, she has hosted a horse sale featuring only trail horses with the recent addition of ranch-type horses in Lexington, VA. Jackie is an accomplished horsewoman in her own right as well as a trainer. I know you will enjoy listening to this interview and getting to know Jackie better. 

Transcript

Rose Cushing 0:31

Good morning, everybody. We have Jackie Turnbull of JTO Horsemanship with us today. And Jackie has had an amazing career and does many, many things across the horse industry. So, Jackie, how are you doing today?

Jackie Turnbull 0:44

I'm doing very well. Thank you, Rose. Um, it's a great day.

Rose Cushing 0:49

Good. So I thought we'd catch up and see what you guys have going on this uh fall.

Jackie Turnbull 0:56

Well, um actually we have finished up our uh clinic season for the year. Um many of us have uh other things coming up that is part of our life. Um my partners Trent Ray and Odell Growth. Um Trent's still finishing up showing at uh the American Ranch Horse Association. Um and um Odell has uh horses he's working with, and I'm starting now to get ready for my sale. So um it's sale season and and that's what I'm preparing for.

Rose Cushing 1:29

What's the date of your sale for 2022? Or do you have another one this year?

Jackie Turnbull 1:34

Oh no, we have just uh my sale, the Great American Ranch and Trail Horse Sale, is an annual sale, and uh actually last this year was my 20th anniversary for putting on this sale. Um it's the new date for 2022, it's April 7th through the 9th. And this sale, um, when we started it back 20 years ago was very unique. There was no such thing hardly as a sale dedicated to trail horses and people who want to enjoy trail horses because they're hard to find. And so uh the sale has taken off um and we added the ranch horse about four years ago. So now it's the Great American Ranch and Trail Horse Sale.

Rose Cushing 2:23

Twenty years you must be doing something right, girl.

Jackie Turnbull 2:26

Well, I like to think so. We've had a good response over the years.

Rose Cushing 2:31

Well, you know, trail riding is such a wonderful thing for people to be able to do with their horses because it doesn't require a tremendous amount of skill and it doesn't require a tremendous amount of expense, and you can take the whole family. So it's nice to have something dedicated to finding good, safe horses that'll take you wherever you want to go.

Jackie Turnbull 2:49

Absolutely. But you know, there's that term for over the years people always use just the trail horse. You know, my horse is just the trail horse. But actually a trail horse has to have all the skills just like a performance horse. They have to be able to cross creeks, go over logs, they have to be willing. They have to be able to handle turkeys flying up or uh deers running across the path. And it takes a a horse with a good temperament and actually good skills to be able to be a really great trail horse.

Rose Cushing 3:25

You're absolutely right about that. That's for certain. And there's nothing more relaxing and satisfying than taking a nice leisurely ride on your horse through the woods.

Jackie Turnbull 3:35

It is, and and people want to do that with confidence. And we find more and more people are wanting that, especially uh people who have retired Rose. That's a big part of of what my business is, is finding horses for people who are fifty and older even and are looking for that horse that they can feel confident on at this point in their life. I've sold horses to women in their seventies and uh who are still enjoying riding.

Rose Cushing 4:07

Absolutely. That's a big part of the horse industry in general is women fifty to seventy because you finally have time and money.

Jackie Turnbull 4:16

Well, yes, I have many of 'em tell me, you know, when I was a child I loved horses and always wanted one, but my parents just couldn't afford it or wouldn't buy me a horse.

Speaker 3 4:26

Right.

Jackie Turnbull 4:27

And then got married, uh, my husband wouldn't let me have a horse. And they say, now that I am retired and have my own money, I'm buying a nice horse.

Rose Cushing 4:36

There you go. Now your sale was amazing this year, so tell me a little bit about that.

Jackie Turnbull 4:43

Well, um, we were so fortunate to be able to hold it, of course. Uh we had to cancel in twenty twenty one as COVID picked up and and all the venues were not allowing people to gather. So we did have to skip uh twenty twenty-one. I'm sorry, twenty twenty. Uh twenty-one is this year. Twenty twenty. We did have to cancel. Um so when we were able to have the sale this year and people were masking up and social distancing and things, we offered all of that at the sale. We had um porsa sanitary hand uh wipes and cleaning and masks, and we offered all that to people and we did have a big turnout, but um it was all positive, we had no negative comments, and the horses, the prices were just astounding, I suppose.

Rose Cushing 5:40

You know, if you've never been to Jackie Sale, you really, really should make it a point to go because as far as I know, this is the only sale in the country that you can go up during the weekdays, maybe Wednesday or Thursday before the sale. You can ride these horses, you can talk to the people that own them and handle them, and you know, they they a lot of them have a guarantee with them that if you're not satisfied, they'll make different arrangements with you. So you can't go wrong at Jackie's sale.

Jackie Turnbull 6:09

Thank you, Rose. Yes, that is one of the things we we started when in the beginning with this sale, and um we do have a three-day event, and it's actually an event more so than just a horse sale. Yes. I say people can come and ride and try the horses. We have a meet and greet social on Thursday where they watch the horses demonstrate on the ranch horse and uh trail obstacles. Um we have uh people uh demonstrating all their skills, um, everything from uh having horses lay down to riding bridal lists to uh having guns and things go off. And so um we definitely have uh the opportunity for people to really get to know these horses and really talk with the consigners.

Rose Cushing 7:00

And then you have great clinics during the show too.

Jackie Turnbull 7:04

Yes, our JTO horsemanship offers a clinic on on how to take your new horse home and really give it the right opportunity to to get adjusted to their new home life. A lot of people don't realize that when you get a new horse, you are taking them to a whole new environment. They've maybe had to leave other horses that were friends, they have to uh adjust the being herd animals, they they love having other horses there with them, they need that. And so we talk all about that and adjusting to the new home, also adjusting your skills to that horse and finding out all you can and how to start on a good foundation with that new horse.

Speaker 3 7:50

Right, right.

Jackie Turnbull 7:52

And I also give a talk on how to buy the right horse, you know, what to look for. Uh horses have personalities just like people do. Some people are timid, some horses are timid. Uh, you don't want to mix a combination of a timid horse and a timid rider. Um, that doesn't work well because neither will have the confidence to um get through that trail ride or get through obstacles that might be ahead. So it's important to to know that. Um you have some horses that are their temperament is is stronger. They may be uh more of a dominant horse in the herd. And if you're timid, you you won't get along with uh a dominant horse because they're gonna test you every day.

Speaker 3 8:39

Right.

Jackie Turnbull 8:40

And don't know how to handle that, it it'll be an issue. So I try to explain to people, it's so important to ask questions. Tell the seller what you are going to be doing, where your what your surroundings will be for the ne for the uh new home. And really ask the questions. Matter of fact, um we say it's it's important to come there with the right questions and with the knowledge of what kind of horse you need and what you're gonna do with it.

Rose Cushing 9:13

I agree, and I remember in your clinic one of the things that that really stood out for me is that you need to be very honest about what your skill level is too, because if you, you know, go with the attitude that you can ride it if it has hair on it, you might not get the right horse.

Jackie Turnbull 9:28

Well, that's exactly right, Rose, and and we find also, and I warn people, you know, we're gonna have some very skilled horses there.

Speaker 5 9:37

Yes.

Jackie Turnbull 9:38

From horses to horses that can spin and stop and turn and perform in the ranch horse classes and and our show horses. And you know, it's kind of like seeing a beautiful car. We all think, oh, I can picture myself in that car and driving down the highway and doing well, you know, they picture themselves on these highly skilled horses, but they forget that it takes skill to ride them and to know the cues and the the uh the way to communicate with the horse that has uh trained skills of spinning and stopping and rolling back and and working cattle, and not everyone has those skills. So you you've got to be careful when purchasing not to buy a horse that uh you don't have the skills for unless you're prepared to go to a trainer and work with that trainer. And and we've seen many people bring a trainer to help them purchase the right horse.

Rose Cushing 10:35

Yeah, that's a really good good point, you know, and and I I know too that at the sale that you guys are available if people need help or have questions, you know, to to help them get answers.

Jackie Turnbull 10:45

Yes, um uh JTO horsemanship, uh Trent No Dell, of course I'm I'm working on the with the sale and keeping things going, but they are there. We offer that service for them to go talk and and and ask for their help, uh maybe just their thoughts on a horse that they're interested in, and they also ask their skill level and are there if they want to ride and try 'em and and can see right from the get-go whether they feel that horse might uh be the right horse or a horse that won't work for 'em. And they're there to help with that if needed.

Rose Cushing 11:23

That's a really, really good service. Another wonderful thing about your sale is the vendors. You have a huge amount of vendors and a big selection of stuff at the sale, so just the shopping is worth going.

Jackie Turnbull 11:36

Well, I have a lot of people, Rose, who come back every year for the sale. They come to enjoy and to watch and see awesome horses perform and of course to stop those vendors. And yeah, I have 'em coming really from uh all over the country. We have people not only uh selling as vendors, but people that fly in to buy horses. I've had uh horse now with uh online purchasing. People can call up from California, Texas. California buyer bought our high selling horse and um that was 72,000 this year. It was a beautiful gypsy banner.

Rose Cushing 12:18

It was beautiful.

Jackie Turnbull 12:22

So that opens up a whole new uh opportunity also for buying a horse in today's market.

Rose Cushing 12:29

Absolutely. Today's market is a different marketplace, and um it it's wonderful that you guys have embraced it and brought it to our area to teach people that there's a a lot of different things out there to use technology for now.

Jackie Turnbull 12:42

Absolutely, absolutely, right.

Rose Cushing 13:45

So what else are you guys doing? What were some of your clinics this year that you'll be repeating next year?

Jackie Turnbull 13:52

Well, we had some uh we just finished uh a clinic called Confident Rider, Confident Horse. And we had a full group coming there um that really got so much out of it. You know, that that phrase is very important because a horse being the herd animal has to have the leadership, and that leadership can only come through confidence, and confidence can only come through having skills. So, right from the beginning, our our help is to show people tools that they need to be able to handle their horse on many different levels, and so those tools uh we call them skills, tools, whatever. You have your toolbox, and so if something presents itself on the trail or in the show ring, you're able to say, Okay, this is what's happening, now how can I handle it? And by having skills, you can say, sometimes I I I've thought how I'll have five different ways that I can deal with the horse if they shy or spook. And so that then enables me to decide what do I need to do here, how do I handle that spook, and how do we move forward on down the trail or in the showroom. So that uh having those skills in your toolbox allows you to have that confidence, and that's what we were teaching at the clinic and showing people.

Rose Cushing 15:29

You know, I've interviewed thousands of people through TV and and the podcast and things, and the best piece of advice I ever heard was from you. And you said to me one day, when you walk in that ring, it's a herd of two, and only one of you can be the alpha. Now, you know, I've heard that phrase a million different ways, but the light bulb came on the day you said that. So your advice is certainly worth a gold.

Jackie Turnbull 15:56

Oh, thank you, Rose. And you said something right there that is the key to what I think all clinics are about. And that is we may hear something, and by having the three clinic clinicians in my group, which is JCO Horsemanship, we always tell people, you know, all three of us may have a different suggestion to you to handle the same problem and with your horse. So it doesn't mean that one is better than the other or there's only one way. There are many roads to success with your horse. And what we like to present are the different roads. But like you said, it takes hearing something, maybe just in a little different manner, that the light comes on and you go, Aha, I get it. And you may have heard it from other people, like you said, but when it's explained in another way using a few different words, it really turns on that light and understanding.

Rose Cushing 17:02

It absolutely does. And um I wasn't training a horse at the time, but I have you know, I have horses and and I have a breeding farm. But just to hear you phrase it that way made so much sense to me, and I have never forgotten it. So thank you very much once again.

Jackie Turnbull 17:18

My pleasure. And Rose, that just hearing that from you, um, brings joy to my soul. And as a trainer and a teacher, and I feel I'm equal on both, my desire for both, uh to be both, um when you teach, that's all you want to hear. That's my payment right there. That means more to me than whatever I would have gotten paid for the clinic that day or to give someone a lesson. That means the most to me. That they were able to hear something or several things that they could go home with and that would stay with them for the rest of their life and writing riding life.

Rose Cushing 18:04

Absolutely, and and I am sure that there's a long line of those people that feel that way because you know, the blend of the three of you guys is an amazing chemistry and it just works so good. And all three of you are so experienced but different. So to have three opinions, you know, and three people that have different ways of doing things, you really, really can learn a tremendous amount.

Jackie Turnbull 18:29

Well, and the other thing, um, as opposed to the one clinician format, a lot of people, let's say we usually have anywhere from twenty people, but we divide ours up into three groups so that you don't have twenty people sitting there waiting to work or waiting to go, um and it moves the clinic along so that you're moving from each group. And we divide up into um um what we call the novice writers, intermediate, and more advanced. And you keep moving to each clinician, each group does, and so that you get to hear and and take from three different people the message that you need to hear.

Rose Cushing 19:19

You know, that's so helpful too, because I I've interviewed people that talk about training and they are so far above my head, I have a hard time understanding what they're telling me, so it's hard to know what to ask them, and much less put it to use at the house. So it's really great that you separate folks up into their skill levels so that they can hone the skill that they're at and then be ready to move up to the next one at the next clinic.

Jackie Turnbull 19:45

Yes, that's exactly right. And uh you know, right oh about ten years ago, uh, when the clinician thing was was very big, um I I felt there was what was called clinic speech. And you're right. Useing terminology that the majority of people don't understand doesn't doesn't help the general people that are coming there wanting to learn.

Rose Cushing 20:14

You're right.

Jackie Turnbull 20:15

have to present our our lesson in a way that they really can understand.

Rose Cushing 20:22

You're right.

Jackie Turnbull 20:24

That they can understand. That's a good point.

Rose Cushing 20:27

It don't do me no good for you to be able to ride my horse if I can't.

Jackie Turnbull 20:31

That's exactly right. And as a horse trainer and how I started the in the beginning, um that was always an aspect that we all knew. Sometimes you know the trainer can ride the horse and go and compete at a world show, but it doesn't mean the owner does. And so as a trainer if you've got a client that you know wants to go show you've got to be able to train that horse in a manner that and work with the rider so they can show it also.

Rose Cushing 20:58

Absolutely. So how did you get involved in horses in the first place?

Jackie Turnbull 21:03

Oh good question. Well I believe that the love of horses comes from your DNA. You can't make somebody love horses that doesn't you can't make them want to ride if they don't want to. It truly is a desire that you're born with and it it comes in your DNA so it comes through another family member. Now many times it skips generations because I'll have a family say our daughter wants to ride but we don't know where she got that from because none of us you know have ridden but believe me somewhere in her genetics there was someone who loved horses and it has come back to be to that younger person. So my mother loved horses um as a young girl there was a stable not far from her home and she would ride her bike there and clean stalls just to be able to ride and like she always said he cleaned way more stalls than she rode horses so that that's usually the case. But um so when I was about 11 years old a friend of my mother's she bought a horse for her daughter actually was a pony horse a little bit bigger than a little pony but not quite a big horse. And so that friend invited my mother and my sister and I to come look at their new horse. Well we were able to ride the horse and uh w we were just done from that point on. But prior to that I used to cut out pictures of horses and I would paste them in little folder books and I would read all the black beauty stories and so all of that was preparing me for that day and my mom said we're going to have a horse and and believe me financially that that was not something to come easy. My family my mom and dad were working folks and so for us to be able to own a horse we gave up things. But my mom loved it my dad loved horses too and then of course my sister too and so that's how we got started with the horse.

Rose Cushing 23:18

That I believe you're right about it being in your DNA if you love 'em you can't help it and you can't not love 'em.

Jackie Turnbull 23:24

You can't. It's just it's gonna happen. And the funny thing, um when I was about so I guess uh oh I had already started showing. There were some local shows and uh we decided oh we've got to just find somebody who can haul our horse to a show. Well I was smitten. I knew that I loved showing um I've uh since then come to find out I'm a very competitive person. I enjoy competing and uh although I don't like to lose I've learned that's part of it so I can handle it. Many people can't handle the losing or not winning first. You don't necessarily lose but um you know some people think if you not first uh anything lower than that is losing but I don't look at it that way. I look at it as the way it's building and so that's what started me to understand that I'm not always going to win but I'm sure going to work hard to try to make that happen.

Rose Cushing 24:27

Well your work ethic is incredible there's no doubt about that and you've been very successful in coaching a lot of students you know to going on and doing things in the horse industry. I I followed a few of your your kids.

Jackie Turnbull 24:39

Well thank you I'm very very proud of uh some fine uh riders that I've been able to work with and have gone on and done quite well and I would tell the story that um I gave my first riding lesson when I was 14 years old. The uh we were at a a huge a larger boarding barn and a a mother came up who had about four kids and she said I need you to work with my kids I'll pay you if you work and give them some riding lessons and like I said I had already started the show then and um so oh to me I can make money working with kids and teaching them. And of course I realized that she was telling them the same things I was but kids don't want to hear it from their parents.

Speaker 3 25:31

Right.

Jackie Turnbull 25:32

And this is what makes writing lessons succeed. Sometimes the parents can be very knowledgeable but a child would rather hear it from someone else. And so I started there and once I started giving writing lessons other people asked me and then by the time I was 16 Rose and showing um one day a judge didn't show up for an open show and I got a phone call about nine o'clock saying can you please come judge this show our judge didn't show up. So I was judging my first show when I was 16. Wow that's amazing and and the showing truly um is my heart I just enjoy it I love teaching how to show and ride um and and showing isn't for everyone like I say it it's a lot of hard work and it's it's something that uh not everyone can do. Uh I'll tell you a quick story here. I had um my my when I got my first horse, my own personal horse, I worked all summer taking little trail rides out and leading people on trails and cleaning stalls and the people who owned the facility said they would give me a horse for working all summer. So um I did that and I got a thoroughbred mare. Actually back towards the time she was nice looking though for a thoroughbred. She probably um uh had come from the track and didn't succeed so I started riding her and taking her to a few shows and then the next summer I decided they told me there was a new thing called a quarter horse the stud and they those people bought a quarter horse stallion and so I decided I was going to breed my thoroughbred mare to this beautiful quarter horse stallion. Now I was about sixteen right and so the next the following year I had a beautiful colt and I always tell people I was one of the first appendix breeders before people knew what an appendix horse was. Right on uh being breeding the quarter horse to the therapist so I raised this colt and learned all about handling, leading doing you know just by doing it. And I took him to a show when he was probably about coming three year old and he won high point of the day. Wow and first show well when people saw me winning then I started really winning on this this gelding he was a wonderful horse and I trained him all myself well people started asking me will you show my horse people who had some very nice horses and so I started showing their horses also in other classes this horse with me went on to win a year end awards and championships uh he was my my breakthrough because I trained him myself and that brought me the recognition that then opened up my whole life to people wanting me to train their horses or their kids.

Rose Cushing 28:53

That's really really neat accessible without your donation now tell me as a woman in the horse industry what kind of struggles have you had to have that you feel like was mostly because you were a girl well that's that's a great question too Rose um you know in the show ring um we have uh males females they're showing against each other and the more as I showed I realized um back in my day um there was not many trainers out I'm I'm sorry there's trainers who gave writing lessons so um you just had to learn on your own and so uh although we had male and female showing together as I got older and was showing and competing I realized that there were more men that were placing and winning in the classes than women and one day I was sitting at at the Quarterhorse Congress up in the seat with my husband at the time and we were watching the class and there had been almost two hundred in the Western pleasure class and they had elimination classes.

Jackie Turnbull 30:37

He you know were uh were they uh uh cuts we call 'em where they div divided on down to the top fifteen. So we're sitting in the seats there and there were fifteen finalists and there was only one woman in the class.

Speaker 3 30:54

Wow.

Jackie Turnbull 30:56

And I looked over and I said to him I said look at that now there was a bunch of women showing and there's only one woman in there showing against the 14 men and I said that makes me mad what is that that's not fair and he said to me most women don't have the same kind of heart to get from a horse what's needed to win. Well I had to think about that and I and I analyzed what he said and I saw and he he was trying to explain it to me like a man would explain and I didn't like it. I didn't like what he was saying. But the horse rose the more I thought about it this is what I have come up with God made women as nurturers. That is what we are it is in us and we always will be the one who want to nurture save heal protect whereas men their job is to get out there and to take care of us and succeed and to make things happen and to work harder go to war fight and do. Right so when you put a woman on a horse now this isn't all women believe me this isn't myself but it took me this to learn that I had to demand more from my horses and when I say demand I don't mean that I let me change that word. I had to ask more of my horse than I had been right women have tendency to want to pet on the neck and quit and say oh good boy good boy when actually that wasn't a good ride. You don't need to be petting and saying good boy when actually that's that really wasn't good enough.

Rose Cushing 32:57

I agree I think we tend to make excuses for why they did something bad.

Jackie Turnbull 33:02

You're exactly right Rose that is what women have a tendency to do more so than men and that is not the talent because women have the talent but so in all my clinics I tell that story and I teach them you've got to ask more of your horse. You're allowing them to give a behavior that is not acceptable. You're allowing them to rub on you and itch on you when that's bad behavior. Absolutely so that's what so there's not a discrepancy in who's better or who's not or if judges like men better than women that's not the point. It really comes down to the horse and if women don't step up and realize that if you're going to compete or even just own a horse on your own and go on a trail ride if you allow behavior and then let it go by improper behavior and don't respond to it immediately and correct it you're not going to do your horse's service or yourself.

Rose Cushing 34:28

You're absolutely right you know and I think as women with myself trail riding my mayor does everything perfect except one thing. And when she decides she wants a bite of grass she stops dead still and gets a bite of grass. And I have a tendency to say well that's okay that's the only bad thing she does which is not proper or good but I see exactly what you're saying.

Jackie Turnbull 34:52

Rose do you know that that's one of the first things I teach in my clinic it's uh funny I was doing a ladies clinic all ladies and I always start off with the talk and showing uh ground manners so I was talking with him and the horse I had was not my horse that I had brought to the clinic it was my sister's horse and um I was using him and as I'm talking he dropped his started lowering his head. Well the first sign is that his head got down by my knee. Well I knew where he was going so I'm talking to the ladies well as he lowered it down I took my boots and bumped him under his chin right on the bones made his head come up and the ladies I could hear him go oh and I ladies lesson number one you cannot allow your horse to eat once now this is me. Some people you know uh are a little different but I never allow my horse to make decisions on their own to choose to do something once that halter goes on or the bridle's on. And now if I want my horse to eat grass say we're we're talking and and relaxed and I I reach down I pick up the grass and I hand it to them and feed them and that's their cue to eat.

Speaker 3 36:15

Right.

Jackie Turnbull 36:16

But I never let them make that decision because once you do on the trail and each once you allow that on the trail um you are then uh gonna allow them it becomes a terrible habit that you can't break because they the horse is saying, well you've let me do this for three years why are you stopping me now?

Rose Cushing 36:38

Oh I know we'd be trotting along and she'd decide to get her a bike nearly throw me over her head because I I didn't know we were stopping. So you're absolutely right.

Jackie Turnbull 36:47

Yeah. So that is part of the um leadership that is so necessary because uh I teach this what you allow you are training for. So if you allow bad manners with your horse you're training them it's okay because you allowed it.

Speaker 3 37:07

Yep.

Jackie Turnbull 37:08

So what we allow and what we don't do. So when you don't correct you're you're training it. Absolutely and so many people don't realize they are allowed by what they allow and what they don't do they are training their horse to do. Absolutely so that eating grass is one of my pet peeves I start with it when my horses are young when I'm training a young horse that that's not allowed unless I give them the cue and then I never allow them to eat with the bit in their mouth ever.

Rose Cushing 37:41

That's a smart move for sure.

Jackie Turnbull 37:43

Yeah well so if we come back and to finalize that question um women are as great a trainers as men are if they can overcome that tendency to want to to want to pet and nurture when it's not the right time.

Speaker 3 38:04

I agree.

Jackie Turnbull 38:05

And when to they want to allow behavior or performance that is really not to the top of what that horse can give.

Rose Cushing 38:15

Right now the podcast is has become a a very good mentorship let's say for young women coming into the horse industry. So what kind of advice would you give young horsewomen so that they can make their mark on this industry and be remembered?

Jackie Turnbull 38:34

Well that is what I like to see uh young women working towards that really if they want to have a career in the industry it's not an easy industry to succeed in only because financially it's hard sometimes to be able to go through the steps necessary to survive in the beginning to be good enough then to be successful for people to pay you to work with their horse.

Speaker 3 39:09

Right.

Jackie Turnbull 39:11

So you just have to have the love of it. My sister and I and my sister uh Pam Treadway she's in the rodeo world and um we both knew as young girls when we were driving after school every day to go feed, clean stalls, clean the barn, feed horses and ride and train our own horses for showing we knew that this was something a lifestyle that we wanted to have for the rest of our life and so I guess the young woman would have to really ask herself deep down inside is this a lifestyle that I want to be part of because it's it's hard, there's long hours and there's times that you just can't uh you you have to ask yourself, can I handle this, you know? And um but the key it would be if you are able to connect yourself with a an established trainer or an established barn where you can learn and be able to put in the hours and still be able to survive financially if you have uh some help with that or family that's behind you and encouraging you. But there's so many fields through college, you know, there's colleges and now there's so many riding teams at colleges that young girls can be part of. And I always say there's so many fields Rose for girls uh and women to be involved in whether it's the agricultural side to working for feed companies or working through companies uh that are in the equine industry. Um and then that still would allow you um after work or on the weekends to maybe still participate in uh competing and showing.

Rose Cushing 41:09

I agree it's a very diverse field and I I did an article for the magazine once and I found three hundred and sixty five jobs that were part of the equine industry.

Jackie Turnbull 41:20

Absolutely yes yes they're there big industry sometimes they you have to take a job that won't be a job that'll last forever but it's a stepping stone. Yeah to the next job and till one day you say, you know this this is works for me.

Rose Cushing 41:39

This is what I really feel good at I agree with you 'cause you gotta pay the rent need in the middle.

Jackie Turnbull 41:46

Yes you do. And and it's uh it's a hard industry to make money uh enough to survive and call it um you know your profession.

Rose Cushing 41:57

Right. It is a hard industry to make money in, there's no doubt about that.

Jackie Turnbull 42:03

But it's a money that requires it's a job uh an industry that requires money. Yes, very very much so it certainly does. Um but it's a rewarding to it's a rewarding to job that uh in your heart uh can bring you great joy working with horses. Um I I still love watching horses out in the pasture. Um I've been blessed to be able to do that and and when I can look out and see 'em out there grazing and and uh walk up to the fence and pet 'em, you know, that still is a great joy and it's something that anybody can be able to do.

Rose Cushing 42:47

Um I agree with you. When I when I can get my big stallions to do what I ask 'em to do just simply because I ask 'em to and he does it. You know, that there's no reward greater than that. I didn't have to be mean to him or make him. He respects me. We had build a relationship and he does it because I ask him to.

Jackie Turnbull 43:06

You're exactly right. They they they know. And when you establish that relationship you feel that connection and it brings joy to our souls.

Rose Cushing 43:16

It does. It does for certain. Well how can our listeners get in contact with you if they want to come to your clinics or your sale or get more information.

Jackie Turnbull 43:27

Oh okay. Well of course I'm on social media so uh you can go to my Facebook page which is Jackie Turnbull and uh friend we send me a friend request um and I will be glad to have you as part of that. Then you can send me a message with any questions you may have or um any information you may need. I'm always uh open to trying to help people and talk with them and and answer any questions I can that might be helpful. I also would like them to go to my Great American Ranch and Trail Horse Sale Facebook page like that page and you can follow us and we'll have information about the horse sale which will be April 7th and 9th we hold that at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington Virginia and um it it's a fun event just to come watch if you're able to even if you're not looking to purchase the horse um we have ranch competition and a trail competition where the horses can sign, they compete for uh awards uh for money, saddles and um uh people come a lot of them from all over the country just to watch that and then of course watch the horse sale but they enjoy watching the competitions and um the people caravan and come together and many have been coming every year since the beginning.

Rose Cushing 44:56

Absolutely it's one of the most fun events that I've ever attended and and I I learned a lot of things from it as well. Well thank you for being with us today Jackie and thank you guys for listening. I hope you enjoyed today's show. Even though we may not know each other