We want you to know how much we appreciate you and your business, so each month, we will highlight our phenomenal customers in our blog series: Stable Secretary Success Stories.
At just 16-years-old, Ella Doerr is the chair (youngest ever) of the USHJA Youth Committee and an ambassador for shopUSHJA clothing. In 2016, she was the recipient of the USHJA Youth Leadership Award. Since she was very little, she has self-funded her riding. From buying her first pony, paying for all of her lessons, paying for shows, to qualifying for Pony Finals. Ella was also the 2017 recipient of the USHJA Foundation Gochman Pony Finals Grant, and has scored in the top 24 of the country in the USHJA Horsemanship Quiz Nationals and competed in the finals for the past two years.
Where are you from?
ED: Avon, North Carolina
What is your current role within the horse industry?
ED: Besides riding and competing I’m often found at clinics and workshops learning as much as I can. I’m an active blogger so I like to share what I learn with fellow junior riders who are also interested in the topics. I am the Co-Chair for the USHJA Youth Committee, a spokes model for Kathryn Lilly Equestrian and a writer for The Chronicle of the Horse. I started a little company called One Good Pony llc. I created and manufacture games that teach horsemanship. Such as my game Horsemanship Colic Watch Out. It’s a fast horse education game that’s played a little like slap jack and also teaches the symptoms of Colic. It’s available on ebay.
How did you become involved with horses?
ED: I started riding when I was about 4 yrs old on a tiny Shetland pony named Oreo. I still have him. Sometimes when I was riding him, he would just decide to run back to the barn with me. Once, I fell off of him and he jumped over me, which was pretty thoughtful. He is my horses babysitter in the field now. I bought myself Wind in the Willows when I was 7 years old. He is the one who really made me fall in love with the sport. He will always be my “onegoodpony” who started it all for me.
Five fun facts about you:
1) I love to read and read all the time! I don’t allow myself to bring books to horse shows anymore because I don’t want to get distracted.
2) I get overheated in the summer when it’s really hot. First my face turns read, then green, then while its green my cheeks turn crisp white. That’s when my trainer knows I’m in big trouble and that I’m going to throw up soon. Its just one of those weird that I have trouble staying cool enough. I’ve even thrown up in an under saddle and kept going to win the class. It was worth it.
3) I love dried Mango. I take it with me everywhere!
4) My favorite TV show is The FLASH and ARROW. Just don’t ask me which one I like better because that will start me on a 30 minute debate.
5) I’ve been studying Sign Language for more than 4 years. I’ve taken all the classes I can find and now work with a private interpreter once a week. She is amazing.
What do you do when you aren’t at the barn?
ED: I’m always reading or working. If I’m working that means I’m either I’m either doing my own barn work and cleaning my ponies stall, working in the restaurant or tutoring reading to kids. I’m always busy but I like being busy.
How did you hear about Stable Secretary?
ED: I was taking care of many horses and ponies in my barn and showing two of them. It was getting really hard to keep all of their files up to date. Showing was tricky because we needed to take so many forms and keep them in order. So I started looking for a way to keep the documents on my phone instead of in these huge bulky binders. I also wanted something that would remind me when one of their shots were coming due or a reminder for a procedure like getting their teeth floated. It seemed like no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t keep them all on the same schedule. So I looked online and found Stable Secretary.
What do you like the most about Stable Secretary?
ED: I always have my ponies records with me at the touch of an app. Just recently I got a call about a pony of mine that is leased out. I pulled up the app, took a screen shot of his coggins and vax history and sent it back to the people within a minute. That would have been a whole production for me in the past. I would have had to go home and dig out my old binder with all the papers and look for that ponies records etc. I was able to answer their question instantly. I also just really like not having to carry around all those papers anymore.
