Tina Batchelor

Region: Central

“That pony that you stop and pet every afternoon on your way home from school…..she’s yours!”  So began a lifetime of loving horses when my parents gave me that news when I was 12….a little girl crazy about horses who had finally pestered her parents enough into getting a pony. Little did they know what they had started!  That one event blossomed into incorporating my entire family into relationships with horses! Soon we owned a 100 acre farm in Concord, NC where we operated an American Saddlebred show stable and breeding farm. My dad, my mother and my sister and brother all rode in different divisions of the shows…we joked we could put on our own horse show just by showing up!!  It was a fun and wonderful way to grow up…going to horse shows on the weekends….and kept our family close and having a wholesome activity in common for many years. Those days for me are fond memories now but still more than fifty years later I carry on a love affair with the most magical and empathetical of all creatures….the horse.  

Eventually I had a career in veterinary medicine as a licensed Veterinary Technician working in private practice veterinary medicine, a Teaching Hospital associated with a School of Veterinary Medicine, humane animal shelters and veterinary pharmaceutical companies.  A few years ago I began studying Healing Touch for Animals and am presently a Level 2 Practitioner. Along the way I also owned, trained, showed and bred several breeds of dogs including Dalmatians, German Shorthaired Pointers and Boykin Spaniels. I have also trained and competed in Road Trials with my Dalmatians and my horses together.  I was employed by the American Kennel Club as a Subject Matter Expert for almost ten years and I worked with the NC Horse Council for eight years. I retired from fulltime employment a few years ago which has given me the time to become an active volunteer along with my ASB “Jackson” in equine therapy work, as well as serve on the Equine Welfare & Advocacy committee of the American Saddlebred Horse Association. I am a member of the ASHA, the American Saddlebred Museum, VERSA, the American Saddlebred Association of the Carolinas, the NC Horse Council and the Livestock Conservancy.  

I am always learning and willing to learn from anyone who has a genuine interest in fostering better communication and relationships with animals.  We are going to be facing some challenging times in North Carolina as we become more and more a popular destination for urbanization as well as retirement living. People moving to NC will be bringing their horses with them to enjoy the outdoor beauty of our state.  People already living here are discovering the benefits of including horses in their lives as the scientific community continues to validate how horses can heal and help the emotionally disturbed and the physically disabled. As our cities and towns expand, we have to make sure that the horse community is not left out and has the opportunity to become part of the growth of new parks and trails in our state.  Our laws need to foster encouragement to employment in the horse industry as well as be fair to the keeping of the backyard horse that is part of the family unit. The NC Horse Council strives to address these issues for all horse owners and lovers regardless of what breed they love or what discipline they ride or where in North Carolina they live. NCHC has no political agenda other than the horse and its well-being so for me it’s a no-brainer….I’m a NCHC member because I love horses!!!