August 28, 2002

Family shows strong horse sense

Casalae Farms in Traverse City grooms generations of champion horse riders

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       At just 11 years old, Brittany Perry has a promising career ahead of her showing horses.
      Returning in June from the Arabian Horse Association Region XIII Championship Horse Show, held in Indianapolis, Ind., Perry and her horse Silent Thunder had a unanimous championship in Western Pleasure riding for age ten and under. This is the second year in a row she has garnered that honor. Perry also received top honors in Western Pleasure Equitation at the competition.
      "I felt good about the ride," said Perry, who has been riding for three years. "It is fun to show, competitive. I love Arabians, they are pretty and they are sweet."
      Perry comes by her talents naturally, with her mother and two aunts, brother and four cousins all steeped in horses and riding. With all three families living on a 50-acre stretch of land on East Silver Lake Road, horses are the focus of their lives. From riding and boarding to showing and teaching, the family business of Casalae Farms has everyone back in the saddle - again and again.
      "If we had a cot here, Brittany would sleep here," said her mother, Kris Perry, who shows English riding and won top 10 honors at Canadian nationals last year. "All six of the cousins would."
      Brittany Perry's aunt, Karen Hamilton-Duell, is the manager of Casalae Farms, which is owned by her parents, Jerry and Noreen Hamilton of Mainstee County. Hamilton-Duell has been riding and showing for more than 30 years and was the Reserve National Champion in Lady's English Sidesaddle in 1992. Over a 15 year span, she has won 21 top ten championships.
      At the recent Region XIII show, which included riders from Michigan and Indiana, Hamilton-Duell was named the reserve regional champion for Western Pleasure riding. She will attend the national championships in October in Louisville, Ky.
      "It is very intense when you get to national levels, intense competition," Hamilton-Duell said.
      As a veteran of many competitions, Hamilton-Duell is not nervous about her upcoming time in the ring with the nation's best Arabian horses and Western Pleasure riders. She said that keeping up with her riding every day is one of the best ways to prepare.
      "I've been doing this for 30 years and when you ride certain horses their athletic ability is so strong they guide you," she added. "Arabians are really personable horses, they tend to be very sensitive."
      Hamilton-Duell believes that her niece has great potential with her riding. Her talent, coupled with a rare natural affinity for horses, will take Brittany as far as she wants to go.
      "It is a pretty awesome team, this girl and this horse," Hamilton-Duell said. "Brittany is a very competitive, complete rider and she really loves what she does."
      "Her potential is much greater, because she has so many resources - a mother and two aunts with decades of riding experience," she noted.
      The three Hamilton sisters, the third is Connie Lowe, are natives of Manistee County. The trio began riding when a grandfather brought nine wild ponies to their farm for all the grandchildren to share. Hamilton-Duell, especially, took to riding and began showing. Years later, when she moved to Traverse City to attend college, she began looking for a place to board her horses. When she discovered the farm she visited with her parents was for sale, an idea began to grow. When her father offered to purchase the property, Casalae Farms was born.
      Years later, her two sisters moved next door and the family tradition of riding was passed to the next generation. Even before the Perrys returned to the state three years ago, Brittany would ride at Casalae Farms on every visit. But living next door provides the perfect opportunity to perfect her skills.
      "I want to work with horses all my life," Brittany Perry said.
      Encouraging their children to pursue excellence - whether in riding or roping, as Hamilton-Duell's two sons prefer - the three sisters are merely drawing on lessons they learned while growing up.
      "Our mom and dad have always been extremely supportive and loving," said Hamilton-Duell.
      "We grew up with horses, the farm is kind of the glue to us," added Kris Perry.