Passion Inspires A Stable Business

By STEPHEN HAMMILL The Tampa Tribune

Published: Nov 3, 2007

KEYSTONE - Glenn Winograd's love of Morgan horses stems from childhood.

"I was born in the wrong place," said the New York City native.

His sister got him into horses as a child.

His first horse, Soupy, now 31 years old and slowed with age, neighs when his old friend comes near.

"We're closer than any dog or person can be," he said.

He and wife, Anne, own West Coast Morgans, a full-service equestrian facility at 17126 Boy Scout Road. The 30-stall barn is dedicated to junior exhibitors and amateur riders.

Glenn Winograd maintains the grounds, and Anne Winograd runs the day-to-day operations with head trainer Valarie Siemer. The lesson and client programs cater to owners and students ages 6 to 60.

In addition to Anne Winograd and Siemer, the staff at West Coast Morgans includes two part-time instructors, one groom and two farm workers.

The staff members teach new riders in thesaddle seatdiscipline. Once a rider has attained good control, he or she can choose other disciplines, such as long-line exercises, a precursor to driving a carriage, "so we don't have to be on their backs every day," Anne Winograd said.

Eight-year-old riding student Jessica Katz of Town 'N Country started taking lessons two months ago.

"Her first day here she said, 'That was the best day of my life,'" said Donna Katz, Jessica's mother. "One of the things I like most about this place is that they emphasize safety."

Anne Winograd stresses the facility's focus on safety.

"Horses aren't obedient and pleasant just because they want to be," she said. "They'd rather be out in the pasture."

Morgan Horses are known for their versatility.

"I equate them to the golden retriever of the horse world," she said. "They're very tractable; they're very trainable. They can do many different jobs."

The Morgan is one of the first horse breeds developed in the United States. Known for its versatility, the breed traces back to an 18th-century stallion named Figure, owned by Justin Morgan. The breed later took on the owner's name.

Riding lessons at the facility cost $35 - students spend about an hour in the barn and about 35 minutes in riding time. Afterward, they help wash and groom the horse.

"This way if they were to ever show or own a horse, they'll be comfortable with the process," she said.

Keeping a horse in the stall costs clients $600 a month. With training and lessons, it's $800 a month.

Riders train for two tiers of performing. The local, academy circuit shows are one-day farm or fairground events where the school horses are ridden. The A-rated circuit, for the horse-owning clientele, runs through Florida, the Southeast and New England, and it culminates with the Grand National World Championship Morgan Horse Show in Oklahoma.

The facility showed six horses at this year's nationals. Client Lora Dunlap won first place in the western trail division.

"You don't necessarily win a lot of money showing, but the horse increases in value," Winograd said.

Not all riders are champions or rich. Anne Winograd partially leases her horses to children whose parents can't afford a horse of their own.

"They get a sense of ownership that way," she said.

The barn has been in operation five years, and for Anne Winograd there is no looking back.

"For me this is it. I used to be a corporate person," she said, while preparing antibiotics shots for some horses that had picked up infections traveling to and from Oklahoma. She administers the medication for free.

"We don't take any chances with other people's horses," she said.

Sometimes she and Siemer stay up all night tending to sick horses, which are sensitive to change in their environment.

Anne Winograd hails from New England. She moved to Tampa and graduated from Berkley Preparatory School in 1986.

She was one of the country's first physical therapists for horses. She married Glenn Winograd in 1997. Five years later, they built their farm in Keystone.

"I come out here every day - the grass is green, the sky is blue, life is wonderful," she said.

She pores over every aspect of the facility's operations, such as the choice of transparent cotton boundary wire instead of the classic white, wooden fencing.

"It makes it easier to spot distressed horses from a distance," she said. "Sometimes we get horses here nervous or anxious with tension. They come here, and they blossom because of the open nature."

The facility is on 20 acres of cleared land with pastures, arenas and a jump field, made for all types of riding.

"It's a great place to raise our daughter," Glenn Winograd said.

Four-year-old Rachael Winograd takes her lessons on a hackney pony.

Glenn Winograd is the former president and a current director of the Florida Morgan Horse Association, a 300-member organization comprising 20 horse farms. He's a partner in a recruiting firm.

"Luckily, the barn has to pay for itself, but it doesn't have to pay for the house," Anne Winograd said.

"My husband's my best friend," she continued. "I couldn't do this without him. I'd be something, but it wouldn't be this. I would be in the rat race, climbing the corporate ladder, but I wouldn't be outside. I wouldn't be with the animals I love. I wouldn't be teaching the kids."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: West Coast Morgans

LOCATION: 7126 Boy Scout Road, Keystone

CONTACT: (813) 920-9870 or visit www.westcoast morgans.com

HORSE SHOW: You can catch Anne Winograd, Valarie Siemer, their students and horses at the Harvest Days Horse Show at the Florida State Fairgrounds at noon and 6:30 p.m. today and at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Sunday inside the Bob Thomas Equestrian Center. Admission is free.

Reporter Stephen Hammill can be reached at (813) 865-1523 or at shammill@tampatrib.com.