Welcome, Stable Secretary fans! We want you to know how much we appreciate you and your business, so each month, we will highlight our phenomenal customers in our new blog series: Stable Secretary Success Stories.
This month, we talked to Crystal McDonald from Lewisville, North Carolina. A mother of two and an avid horse person, Crystal originally heard about Stable Secretary through Instagram (the lovely power of technology!). Find out below about Crystal, her passion for horses, and her thoughts on Stable Secretary!
Where are you from?
I’m originally from Maine! I spent many years of my childhood living in Central Texas, but I was born in Portland, Maine. Most of my immediate family is there and it will always be home to me.
What is your current role within the horse industry?
I manage Oak Grove Farm and Equestrian Complex in Lewisville, North Carolina. We board and house between 20-25 horses at any given time. We have a mixture of performance horses, pleasure horses, and retirees. I live on-site and manage all aspects of the day-to-day horse care.
How did you become involved with horses?
Horses go way back in my family, and it was my grandfather who really fostered my love for them while I was growing up. He made sure that I was always around them and he taught me much of what I know today. As a child, I was one of those kids that was always in a barn somewhere. From as young as 9 years old, I’d clean stalls for lessons, saddle horses for extra ride time, and as I got older I would exercise ride in exchange for coaching.
As a teenager, I really started to focus on building a career as an equine professional and began working at breeding and training young racehorses. By the time I finished school, I had a very solid foundation and a foot in the door in the horse industry. I consider myself to be extremely blessed to have been able to build a career out of a life that I chose as a young child.
Five fun facts about you:
I don’t compete very often, but when I do, I enjoy versatility trail challenges and ranch horse versatility.
It is extremely rare to see me without my sidekick, Cinch, who is a 5-year-old blue heeler.
Although I am predominantly a western rider, I did go through an English “phase” where I competed in training and first level dressage and even rode hunters and jumpers for a bit.
I got a trainer’s license and raced a small string of harness horses in New England for several years before moving to NC
I was homeschooled for several years growing up and would often do extra schoolwork ahead of time so that I could spend my days in the barn!
What do you do when you aren’t at the barn?
Well… most of what I do for fun is at the barn! However, I have two children and most of my time outside of the farm revolves around them. We go to church on Sundays and participate in church events as well. We are very outdoorsy and enjoy activities like hiking, swimming, fishing, and gardening. I also LOVE music and try to catch as many concerts and live shows as possible!
How did you hear about Stable Secretary?
Instagram! I had actually seen a post that they shared and had been looking for an app or program that would help me organize my horse’s records all in one place, and decided to look into Stable Secretary. I’m so glad that I did!
What do you like the most about Stable Secretary?
The convenience of having everything I need right at my fingertips! I am a very busy person and am almost always outside on the farm. The last thing I want to have to do is drop what I’m doing and run into the office to dig through paperwork and find a hardcopy of a record to refer back to. Stable Secretary allows me to be able to check dates and records in seconds on my phone. I can be mid-conversation with a boarder or client and can pull up anything form their horse’s last deworming date and what he was dewormed with, to vet/farrier appointments, their feed schedule, and a number of other things.
I have had the good fortune to be able to work in a variety of facilities over the years and have seen a number of record keeping systems. One thing that I have seen to be a consistent struggle is paper organization and scheduling. From feed charts to training calendars to dry erase boards and notepads and filing cabinets, keeping things organized is a challenge in most equine facilities. Stable Secretary eliminates that struggle altogether and provides such a simple, easy to use solution.
We are so glad that you enjoy the product, Crystal!
