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The Stable Life
Horsing around in high style has come home to western Kentucky all for the love of these magnificent animals.
By Darlene M. Mazzone

It’s not about the ribbons and the loving cups. It's not about high-priced thoroughbreds and fancy English saddles. It's not about the championships and the Grand Prix. It's about love... Jill Love to be more exact and her long-time friend and trusted trainer, Cathie Fergus.Actually it is about all those other things and more, but those are the effects of the cause. People ride, compete, invest and become involved with horses – because they love them. And according to Jill and the enthusiastic equestrians who trot in and out of her life each day, they’re born with it!

“We have people come in all the time, mostly parents, who say their son or daughter wants to learn to ride,” Jill says. “And they quickly follow that with, “We don’t have a horse. We don’t’ know anyone with horses. We’re not around horses. Where did this come from?Dabney Haugh, whose daughter Mary Marshall, has been training with Cathie and Jill since she was eight, recalls that same scenario. “I can remember when Mary was probably three or four, she just looked at me one day while playing and said, “I want to ride a horse.” I had no idea where the notion came from. But now that she’s been riding for more that ten years, I know she was serious!” Dabney added.It’s in the genes, says Jill. It’s a passion that can’t be bridled and a desire that can’t be denied. Both Jill and Cathie were obviously born with it and now have the joy of living it out at their one-of-a-kind new Four Rivers Sport Horse Center located on Lovelaceville Road in Paducah.

“Our new facility is the only one of its kind in Western Kentucky.” Jill explains. “We’ve been dreaming of this since Cathie and I reunited here in Western Kentucky more that ten years ago after having met in Lexington. We have worked for years now to put all our experiences and desires and knowledge into the design and construction of this beautiful facility and I cannot put into words how we feel seeing it become a reality.”Looking for words? Well how about impressive or amazing or magnificent? When you peer into the traditional half-opened cross-barred doors of this imposing structure, the word barn is barely sufficient. And when Secretariat’s son, Farley, Cathie’s 19 year old thoroughbred, stretches his head outside his 12x12 rubber matted stall (read condo) with auto water system, insect control, and a professional staff to attend to his every need, you’ll swear the grass is blue in the adjacent pasture!

The centerpiece of this unique facility is a 20x40 meter infoor 4 dust-controlled arena built to USDF specifications. A 100x200 foot all-weather outdoor arena lies just outside the door. Rows of immaculate stalls line up on opposite sides of the center ring and a custom-built riders’ lounge and observation deck looks down on it all from the second floor. A pleasing aroma of polished leather enfolds you in the tidy tack room and a state-of-the-art bathing area meets with a gleeful grin from Jill and Cathie.You see it simply wasn’t always this grand.After graduating from Northwestern with a degree in Allied Health Administration, Jill packed up and moved from the frigid climate of Chicago to the sunny shores of San Francisco. “I was living a rider’s dream life there. I boarded my 3-year old thoroughbred at the Golden Gate Park and had become involved with dressage in and around the California wine country; the premiere dressage region in the country.” Jill then met and married her husband, Riley, and plans changed. (Doesn’t a man always do that?) They headed back towards home making a brief stop in Lexington where Jill met Cathie.When Riley accepted a position as an anesthesiologist in Paducah, Jill soon realized, “There simply wasn’t a place for me to pick up where I had left off on the west coast.” So she convinced her newfound best friend to leave the Lexington horse world and head for western Kentucky. When Cathie Fergus arrived, she bought a farm in western McCracken County and the little red barn that came with it became the seat of power for the two passionate horsewoman and the infant Pony Club, now a decade old and growing.“We knew what we wanted of course,” Jill recalls. “And we knew it would take time and tenacity to build a program for riders and students that would grow to the point where we could put all of this in place.”

In November of 2004, the two women arrived at their destination–on a 30 acre soybean field.With the help of Amish builder Eli Borntregar and his crew of a dozen of so men, posts were pushed into place, rafters began to criss-cross the clear skies of early fall and a building began to take shape. Metal work was designed and developed by Metal Mall, a Mennonite company led by Nelson Hershberger. The final touches were put in place just before winter and before Christmas a lot of horsing around was taking place much to the delight of residents like Maarten, Patch Nickel, Shy Sherry and Farley just to name a few.And not only have Jill and Cathie built their dream house, they’ve created a dream team. “We couldn’t be more fortunate than to have these incredibly talented people around us.” Don Watson is the accountant turned farm manager. “Don was in between jobs in accounting, has a love of the land and the horses, so he came to work for us which worked out great for everyone,” Jill says. It was at this point that she pointed to the immaculately groomed arena. “Can you tell he’s a bit of a stickler for detail?”Adding to the unparalleled expertise of trainer Cathie Fergus, is Mark Schwarm, a trainer with many years of experience in all aspects of equine behavior. Mark provides private and semi-private lessons on site. “With as many horses as there are in Kentucky and the surrounding states,” Mark says, “people need education for their horses but more importantly to educate themselves. Jill Love and The Four Rivers Sport Horse Center offer a much needed place for education at every level of horsemanship. From beginner to a great asset to Western Kentucky.Also on site for private and semi-private lessons is trainer Jill O’Donoghue.

Jill owns LeCheval de Boskydell Farm in Carbondale, Illinois, home of the Dunnabeck Horse Trails where annual competitions are held.And of course, there’s Cathie. Cathie Fergus has more than 25 years of experience in dressage, eventing and thoroughbred training and competition. She is a United States Dressage medalist and is currently competing at the Prix St. George level with her beloved Farley. “I’ve ridden all over the country,” says Jill, “from New York to California and Cathie is the most talented rider and trainer I’ve ever met. She brings so much to the sport. She’s bright, she’s artistic, she’s caring; she has that Mr. Rogers sense of demeanor that both kids and adults respond to and she has been instrumental in our success of  bringing this center to fruition.”Success that can be measured in the nearly 75 young people and adults who either board and train or receive instruction at the new Four Rivers Sport Horse Park. “But there’s always room for more!” Jill adds. “We have room to board three more horses and we also have horses which can be leased to ride.”And the dreams don’t stop here. The building continues. “We’re working with the US Dressage Federation to assist us with the implementation of a therapeutic riding program for handicapped children and adults in the future and we would love to create a dressage team for high schools. Equestrian college teams are the fastest growing NCAA sport in the country at the present,” Jill explains. In fact, veteran rider, Mary Marshall Haugh will be attending The University of the South in Tennessee this fall and will be competing with the school’s hunter/jumper equestrian team.

But then again, it’s not about the competitions of the trophies, the polished bridle bits or the grand stage which is now set to welcome western Kentucky equestrians. It’s actually about–Love.