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  • Writer's pictureRandy Bearden

Horse Boarder to Celebrate 12 Years of Riding at Shel-Clair

Updated: Oct 7, 2020



Sharon Jones spends 4 days a week working as a nurse--that's 10-hour days. How does she de-stress? She rides her horse on the beautiful trails at our farm, and has been doing so since 2007. "I was one of those girls who loved horses, had posters of horses, since I was a child," said Jones. At age 9, her grandfather bought her a horse that stayed at her uncle's property in Pell City.


Some lose interest in the hobby when they get older. Not Sharon. No matter where she was, she kept riding. For awhile, she was in Tennessee with her horse and 40 acres of property.


But when she moved back to the Birmingham/Leeds area, she didn't have the property for a horse. By a chance, right as we started offering horse boarding services, she saw our ad in the local newspaper. She tells of the coincidence of first driving out to the farm with her dad who said he recognized it as the War Eagle Ranch (before we bought it) where he used to hunt and fish.


The attraction of our place, said Jones, is the variety of types of trails, including through woods, through pastures, over hills, etc. And we have 1,000 acres of property for her to use. "I've never had that much land to ride on," she said. "It's unique to the Birmingham area."

Over the years, we've gotten to meet the family. Sharon brings her grandchildren out now, brings her children, sometimes just to enjoy the property and even to have a birthday party out here.


We always call her when we notice a concern with her horses (she now has 2 with us).


Sharon said she misses caring for her horses every day, but the trade off to boarding is that she doesn't have to spend as much time providing for the horses or keeping up the property. She just comes out and enjoys the rides, now 3 days a week most weeks. And she can go on vacation without worrying about daily feeding.


As you can imagine, riding the horses has a therapeutic effect, much needed from the high stress work of being a nurse. "It's my refuge," she said. "I like riding by myself and being at one with my horse and nature."

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