In October, the youth club at Cash Lovell Stables & Riding Academy, Lovell’s Little Bits, threw a bridal shower for their instructor/assistant trainer Christy Absher. More than 50 of Christy’s young riders attended serving hot dogs and hamburgers to all the parents.
The Little Bits presented Christy with a blanket for her special mare, RWC Our Wild Irish Rose, with all of their names embroidered on it. They also presented Christy’s fiance Brandon Johnson with a gas grill. More than 200 Lovell riders and friends joined in the celebration.
Christy and Brandon were married in a small, private ceremony in November and enjoyed a honeymoon cruise through the Caribbean. Christy is a graduate of Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. She has worked as an instructor, and more recently as an assistant trainer, at Cash Lovell Stables for seven years. When she began working, she said she would do anything - except work with children!
How things change, Today Christy teaches more than 50 youngsters a week to ride. As one longtime horse-owning parent, Stephanie Wellington, put it recently, “She’s the best I’ve ever seen at starting a child and encouraging them to love riding. The youngsters love Christy as much as they love the horses!”
Brandon is a graphic artist. He’s the quiet, handsome guy standing in the middle of the warm-up ring at every academy show, patiently holding Kojak and the other school horses while Christy barks orders.
The Little Bits also recently donated $250 to the Riverwood Therapeutic Riding Academy near Winston-Salem, NC. In the past year, including proceeds from their Fall Fun Show which they held at the farm in October, the Little Bits have raised more than $2000.
The group plans to take a field trip to Kentucky in 2002 with some of their funds. They also use the money to support other charitable causes as well as volunteering their time to support these worthy organizations.