The story of Tuffy and me begins when I was ten year’s old and Tuffy was four. The owners of Tuffy, Paula and Linda, owned several ponies and their farm was nearby. Early on, Paula invited me to her farm. In exchange for cleaning stalls, she would give me a lesson on Tuffy.
In retrospect, Tuffy wasn’t the best looking pony. He was scruffy and rather plain when we met. My dad said that he looked like a mule. I didn’t see that at all. To me, Tuffy was everything. I loved grooming him and attending to him. Paula allowed me more time with Tuffy. My parent’s noticed, and the following Christmas my mother sold her snowmobile for seven hundred dollars and she bought Tuffy.
The next month on my birthday, we moved Tuffy to Fox Meadow Farm. With the Howards’ oversight, we trained harder and we accomplished more together.
We both learned a great deal and grew our partnership. With attention, Tuffy no longer looked like a backyard pony and we qualified for Pony Finals in our first year. In our second year, we were competing on the ‘A’ Circuit, we qualified for Pony Finals again, and we were invited to Indoors.
By the time I was fifteen, I’d outgrown Tuffy. I rode him for four years and during that time, we came in fifth at Pony Finals, we were State of Michigan Champions, we were 3rd in our Zone, and we earned multiple championships at the HJAM year-end awards. Later, Tuffy and I earned perpetual trophies presented in our names.
The story of Tuffy is one of love, earned opportunity, vision, training, discipline, fun, caring, bonding, support, growth, and incredible memories.
It is with those memories and honoring Tuffy’s importance in my life, that I name my farm Tuff Competition Farms. It is my wish that the farm creates a similar experience for you.