The next person in our highly popular, 10 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me series, is Kari Craft of Greensboro, Georgia.
Originally from Minnesota, amateur exhibitor Kari Craft grew up in Georgia where she has an eight-year-old son, Brooks, who is going into the second grade. “He loves horses and loves to show, and I’m hoping to find him a walk/trot horse for next year,” Craft shares.
Under the guidance of Jason and Jamie English, Kari is currently showing her 2014 stallion, Gone Viral, at all the major shows and maturities in the western pleasure.
Jason English will also be showing him in the Junior Western Pleasure while Kari just recently finished up qualifying the stallion for the AQHA World Show in the Amateur Western Pleasure.
“I have been friends with Jason since I was 15, and he’s been my trainer for nearly 20 years,” Kari reveals. “He is a brother to me, and I’m pretty sure he loves Monkey (Gone Viral) even more than I do, which I don’t think is physically possible, but if it is, he does. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful horse and get to experience his success with Jason. It’s what I’ve always wanted for him.”
Craft is also showing James Deen Daydream in the Limited Open Western Pleasure and will be adding the Amateur Western Riding soon. Jamie English will continue to show him in the Junior Western Pleasure and Western Riding.
Kari also has a two-year-old gelding, Its a Southern Dream, that they hope to have ready by Congress.
“And of course, I have lots of wonderful Gone Viral babies on the way next year. I cannot wait for 2019. We had such wonderful mares breed to him this year. It’s going to be so amazing to watch all his babies.”
Read more about Kari below:
1) Not many people know what I do as far as work. I started an embroidery business in 2015. I randomly decided that I wanted to learn how to embroider and walked into a local sewing machine store and asked them to set me up with what I needed. At the time, I was looking into purchasing a boutique in Fairhope, Alabama, but decided I wanted to try to start my own business where I could work from home and set my hours. So, I started the “Crafty Momma Company.” My shop is on Etsy, and I specialize in men’s dress socks. I feel so blessed to have a successful business where I can work from home, travel to horse shows and set my hours.
2) I also love deep-sea fishing. My dad taught my sister and me how to fish, and we regularly compete in fishing tournaments where we go about 150 miles offshore and stay out at sea for three days. The sky at night, that far offshore, is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen and probably my favorite part of it all. We probably see a shooting star every couple of minutes. I’ve won several tournaments while fishing – one where I caught a 146 pounder that took me five hours to reel in. He was a fighter, and while I was reeling him in, a thunderstorm rolled in, and there was lightning everywhere and a waterspout close by. I wanted to cut the line, but they wouldn’t let me. The next year, I also won the Tuna division again with a 196-pound tuna – that one took three and a half hours to fight. I now joke that I have “retired” from tuna fishing. Those were probably the most miserable eight and a half hours of my life.
3) I started showing AQHA when I was 14. I didn’t compete at my first AQHA World Show until I was 24. I had qualified to go to a few of them while I was a youth, but I had lameness issues with a couple of horses, so I was never able to go and compete. However, in 2007 I finally went to my first AQHA World Show with my horse, Mostly Chocolate, and we walked away AQHA World Champions in the Amateur Horsemanship, which was a life-long goal for me. I never imagined it would happen at my first one. I would love to eventually win an AQHA World Championship in the Western Pleasure one day.
4) I have a Bachelors Degree in English Literature from the University of Georgia and have a Masters Degree in Secondary Education. But, after my horrible student teaching experience, I decided that teaching was not the right route for me. I finished my Master’s and never set foot in a classroom again. Teachers don’t get paid enough for what they do.
5) I recently traveled to San Martin De Los Andes in Patagonia, Argentina. It is by far, my most favorite place on earth. While I was there, I did quite a bit of hunting for red stag and wild boars and shot a 200-pound boar. Unfortunately, when I went after a stag, the gun I was using wasn’t sighted in correctly (at least that’s what I tell myself, haha) and we didn’t get him, but there’s always next time.
6) Whenever I travel, I like to find that city’s best burger. I love a good burger, and I have them rated by location…
1. Maui, Hawaii
2. Fort Jones, California
3. Fairhope, Alabama
4. Patagonia, Argentina
5. International Falls, Minnesota
6. Duluth, Minnesota
7) I love, love, love to run. I usually try to get in six miles a day. It varies according to my stress level though. Sometimes, it’ll be four miles and sometimes 14 miles, depending on the day. I’ve done one half-marathon, and that was enough for me. I always wanted to do a full marathon, but after the half, I gave up on that idea. I do have a goal of doing part of the Patagonia run in Argentina. While I was there, we watched several people cross the finish line while the race was going on. Some of these people ran 120 miles! One man did 65 miles, and he was blind. My friends and I sat there at the finish line in tears watching him cross.
8) One of my guilty pleasures is watching “The Bachelor” on Monday nights while eating Dominos pizza and having a glass of my Lamarca Prosecco. I am a tiny bit obsessed with Prosecco. I regret not buying stock in it when it first came out.
9) I have plans to eventually go back to school for a degree in Counseling/Therapy. I have always been so interested in Psychology and plan to eventually become an LPC with hopes of helping teenage girls with life struggles. I would love to try to incorporate a therapy program with horses for these girls. Horses have always been so grounding for me and have helped me through everything I have been through. I would love to introduce people to the same type of therapy.
10) I want to add that my childhood horse, Boog, is still alive. He is 35 this year and again doing wonderfully. He is the best horse in the world, and we cut up fresh apples to put over his feed every morning. He is super spoiled.
Photos © KC Montgomery, Ruele Photographix, Lisa Lee, Kari Craft
