LEXINGTON, Ky. — Jessica Stith first connected with horses when she was still in the womb. Her husband Kevin wasn’t far behind, and the Kentucky natives have never strayed far from working with horses.

Kevin started working on a horse farm when he was just 12. His middle school basketball coach and teacher had Walking Horses, and as Kevin says, “I was looking for something to do, and he asked if I wanted to help him out with his horses on his farm.” Kevin worked with his teacher-turned-mentor on the farm as if it were a job, pitching in every evening after school and showing horses most weekends. Kevin says he didn’t ride for the first year or so, but he got used to being around the horses, and within a year or so, he began helping break horses. Then they opened the barn and began training and showing horses for outside clients in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee, and Kevin began bull riding as well. When he graduated from high school, his teacher resigned from education, and the pair opened the barn full-time to outside clients. At that point they were working about 40 horses a day, Kevin recalls.

After a year or two, Kevin moved on, but he always stayed around horses in some capacity. He now works for Kentucky Utilities as a training consultant, training new linemen throughout the state. He also operates a hay business, traveling to various farms, including Thoroughbred farms, which gives him the opportunity to be involved with horse racing. “The farms rely on us to keep everyone fed,” Kevin says. “It’s a good feeling, and I enjoy it.” He is also learning to rope along with a variety of horse community friends, including a podiatrist, a farrier, and a number of others in the riding circuit. “It’s amazing how the horse world expands and introduces you to other breeds and disciplines,” Jessica says.

Jessica’s mom was born into the horse racing business. Jessica’s grandfather was a successful apprentice jockey and trainer in Texas before moving his family to New Orleans. As a result, Jessica’s mom always had a passion for horses, and she met Jessica’s dad, a jockey, at Ellis Park. They were the first husband and wife to race against each other in an official race at what is now Turfway Park on September 11, 1976. Jessica laughs as she recalls the newspaper headline: “Jockey John Oldham Beats His Wife.” (Neither of them actually won the race, Jessica says.) Jessica proudly recounts that her mom rode three races, winning one, at Churchill Downs before she “washed off the dirt, powdered her nose, threw on a wedding dress, and got married.”

Jessica was riding races from the time she was in her mom’s womb and spent her youth at the track. She never had horses of her own, but she spent time with the horses at the track. She didn’t enjoy the English riding lessons her mom signed her up for when she was a kid, and as she got older, she realized she wanted to be a jockey, though she was never particularly encouraged in that direction. Jessica says, “I remember thinking that my my high school principal was going to be disappointed in me because I was going to skip college to work at the track,” she recounts. “‘Why would I be upset with you for chasing after your dreams?’” her principal responded, and she says, “That support meant so much to me.”

Jessica worked for Buff Bradley at Ellis Park after high school. She rolled the saddle in her first track experience and afterward got tough lessons from two veteran exercise riders, but she says that she is grateful for her difficult start in galloping.  She also learned to groom and served as a hot walker. Over the years, Jessica has worked in several different roles. After galloping for a few years, she started working in press and television with TVG. She also served in the military for a time. Eventually she joined Chris McCarron’s jockey school and was the first graduate to participate in an official race. “I rode a couple of races but just wanted to gallop,” she says.

Kevin and Jessica met through a family connection. This lady told Jessica that there was a particular cowboy she needed to meet at an upcoming rodeo in Cynthiana. “He had his cowboy hat on in the rain, and I had my baseball cap on in the rain,” Jessica remembers. Kevin asked her out soon after, and they both laugh as they recall that he wanted to take her to a truck pull. She was not especially disappointed that she was busy that night. They started dating shortly thereafter, though, and got married a couple of years later. They have now been married for 15 years.

Jessica had her first and only Breeder’s Cup horse while working with Kenny McPeek, a great experience for her, but she took a final spill in which she hurt her head; at that point Jessica and Kevin decided it was time to take a break to start a family.

For the first several years as new parents, Jessica and Kevin felt somewhat secluded from horse activities as they raised their young daughters, McCarron and Reagan, so they would invite racetrack friends to bring over their Quarter Horses and cow horses to help them get up cattle on their farm in order to stay in touch with their previous equine-centric life.

McCarron is now 12 and Reagan is 8. “We’ve tried to make cowgirls out of them, but we haven’t done it yet,” Kevin jokes. However, the girls enjoy dressing up as cowgirls and being the center of attention; they are all about performing, their parents say. The girls are natural riders, and Jessica says that Reagan is empathetic and connects easily with horses. McCarron is very comfortable and trusting once she builds a bond with the horse. They lost their pony two years ago to colic, but the girls haven’t had an urge to get another one. While Jessica and Kevin hope to be able to enjoy trail riding with their daughters one day, they want the girls’ interest in horses to develop organically.

Jessica says it wasn’t until after they were married that Kevin bought her very first horse, Rummy, who just turned 20. Rummy is a star performer in the annual Battle in the Saddle celebrity team-penning event and loves to be the center of attention, just like McCarron and Reagan.

Kevin added his own horse named Boon, who is nine, to the crew at their Stamping Ground farm a couple of years ago. He did a lot of work with Boon at Dan James’s facility with Patrick Sullivan and has been riding him for roping.

The Stiths also have a Tennessee Walking Horse named Frosty, who is close to 30, and is gentle enough for inexperienced riders and is great for the girls. Frosty hangs out in the paddock with miniature donkey Daisy. Daisy loves to show off her overbite and lets Reagan practice sitting on her and falling off. Rounding out the family are their three-legged Pointer, a Texas Heeler, a hermit crab, and a Russian Dwarf hamster. “We have a lot going on here at our little ranch,” the Stiths say.

As to life in Central Kentucky, Jessica says, “I love that horse racing has always been a diverse industry with people coming from all over the world to be here in this place where there’s so much love and passion around a particular animal and sport and lifestyle. I love that the racing industry opens doors to other industries.”

Kevin appreciates the very special connection he has to the foals he feeds at the horse farms where he delivers hay: “I love to see the new babies running around with the mares and the yearlings. I get to watch them grow.” He has a stake in the horses’ well-being that is completely unique.

The Stiths also love that it’s likely they’ll run into someone they know from the horse community wherever they go. “It’s so beautiful to drive around and see the horse farms and green grass,” Kevin says, and despite her self-proclaimed “fence envy,” Jessica adds, “It’s comforting. When you return to Central Kentucky after being away there’s a feeling of ‘I’m home.’” They agree that they are blessed to live in such an amazing place.

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