The next person in our highly popular, 10 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me series, is Elizabeth “Spike” Brewer of Wilson, North Carolina. Most people in the horse industry know her as “Spike.” She grew up in a little farm town called Cable, Ohio on her family’s 240-acre farm. Her mother still lives on the farm today, and it was the only home Spike had growing up. “It will always be where I consider home to be,” Brewer shares. Spike has been married to her husband, Jody, for eight years this October and the couple has one daughter, Addison Winwood, who just turned 4.
Assuming Brewer can make it to the APHA World Show this year with Hurricane Florence wreaking havoc on the Carolina coast this weekend, she plans to show her four year old gelding, Biggie Smalls, in the Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle Maturity Stakes, Amateur Junior Hunter Under Saddle and the Breeders’ Trust Stakes Three and Four Year Old Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle. Then, her trainer, Laura Spell, will show him in the Green Hunter Under Saddle. Spike also has a Two-Year-Old stallion, Rise Above, who is a full brother to All Rise. Laura will be showing him in the Breeders’ Trust Two Year Old Hunter Under Saddle Stakes class. She is also very excited to show him next year in the Non-Pro Three-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle futurities.
Brewer may also show her husband’s western pleasure gelding, Only One Missing, in the Non-Pro Western Maturity. “I’ve only shown one western horse in over ten years, and that was his mother, Shes Inviting (Rosey). So I want to try to show him just because he’s one of her babies. I typically have no desire to show the pleasure because it’s too complicated for me, but I love him, and he’s a lot of fun to ride.”
Shes Inviting is the last baby from her youth mare, HF Skipa Tizzy. She is a 5-time APHA World and Reserve World Champion mare and Spike mentions that she will be Addison’s future walk/trot horse one day.
Spike along with her business partner, Megan Brown, is also well known in the industry for starting, Boo Yah Custom Clothing in 2011. “The idea came from Megan, and she had the connection with the tailor and had him make some hunt clothes for her. That’s where the idea hatched. We both focused more on the hunt seat, but finding quality and affordable clothes was always a struggle.”
Read more about Elizabeth “Spike” Brewer below.
1) My real name is Elizabeth and when I was in school, everyone called me Liz. Spike is a nickname that most people know me by. Everyone asks me how I got that name, but my parents don’t remember how I got that name, so it’s a mystery, but the name sure has stuck.
2) When I was at the Columbus airport heading to the APHA World show in 2007, I ran into the Ohio State Football coach, Jim Tressel. Being a typical crazy Ohio State fan, it was pretty exciting. We chatted briefly and he was extremely nice and later emailed with congrats because I won a class that year at the world show.
3) The first horse I showed was a white pony with gray dapples named Silver Streak. She was 42″ and we had a lot of success on the 4H level. It was her and my second horse, an AQHA Grulla gelding named Smokey (pictured left with a shirt her mother made) who spurred my love of horses at a young age. The first Paint horse I was showed was a sorrel/overo mare named Clever Chic in 1987. So I have been active in APHA for over 30 years.
4) My dad passed away in January of 2010, and that was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with. Not a day goes by I don’t think of him. He was passionate about the breeding part of the business, and I’ve tried to carry that on. The win photo of 2007 APHA World Champion Amateur Junior Hunter Under Saddle with I Got Game (right), is my favorite because it’s the only one my dad was in. He could never come to the world show because he was always making hay, but he came in 2007, and it’s the only time he saw me win at the world show. Also, my 2016 bay/overo stallion, Rise Above was born on my dad’s birthday. His barn name is “Donald,” named after my Dad, of course.
5) When I was about 13 years old, my saddle broke and I fell off my horse while he was standing still when I had ridden to the neighbor’s house. My horse, Smokey, didn’t leave and just stood there with me until help arrived. I suffered a concussion and was knocked out for three days in the hospital and had no memory of what happened.
6) I dislike hurricanes. As we speak, we are preparing for Hurricane Florence, a giant storm that is about to hit the Carolina Coast this weekend. It is very nerve-wracking trying to prepare for a hurricane at your house and for your horses. Friday, September 14th, we were initially supposed to be leaving for the APHA World Show in Ft. Worth, Texas but that isn’t going to happen. We are hoping to be able to leave early next week. I’m supposed to show Tuesday, but not sure I will be there. It all depends on how bad we get hit and when we can leave. It’s bizarre to be in a state of limbo right now just waiting for this monster hurricane to hit and all you can do is pray and hope everything is okay.
7) I am a huge college football fan and of course, love The Ohio State Buckeyes. My favorite Saturdays in the fall are spent watching College Gameday and various football games throughout the day. I don’t follow any other sports except college football.
8) I’m not a big fan of clowns. They always give me the creeps.
9) If I could go back in time, after I graduated college, I would pursue a career as a sports announcer. My goal would be announcing for college football games.
10) I am a very finicky eater. I don’t eat any chicken or seafood. I will eat red meats and some pork. With my husband being in the pork business, I get a lot of slack for not being a big BBQ and pork fan.
