Shelly Boyle and Alisha Casamona met at a local horse show when they were just ten years old. These Pennsylvania natives have been best friends ever since.
After a long hiatus, with a bit of prodding from Shelly, Alisha has started showing again. Both friends are excited to see more of each other at the horse shows. Casamona also wants to show to honor her father, who unexpectedly passed away from COVID-19 in 2021.
Boyle has had a long and successful show career with her gelding Jack And Koa. They were the 2023 AQHA High Point Amateur Hunter Under Saddle team and just returned from the NSBA World Show with a Reserve World Champion title in the Open Pleasure Driving with her trainer Melvin Yoder and Bronze in Amateur Pleasure Driving.
Alisha and Shelly reminisce about how they met and their friendship.
“Shelly also had a chestnut-colored gelding, and we became better and better friends as we kept meeting each other show after show. She was like my twin, who loved horses like me,“ Alisha recalls. “She was the sister I never had as an only child. We, of course, ended up at each other‘s weddings. Shelly being my matron of honor.”
Shelly adds, “We have one of those friendships where we can go a month or more without talking but immediately pick right back up where we left off. When she lost her dad, I flew down as quickly as I could to spend a few days with her. I remember her (now) husband telling me – ‘please come, she needs you.’ We can be brutally honest, bicker, and get irritated with each other, but at the end of the day, she’s like my sister.”
When Alisha got engaged, she and her fiance tossed around the idea of looking for a new home to build a life together. Dave, her now husband, is into boating and wanted to be on the water, and she wanted land for her horses. They found the perfect property in Eustis, Florida.
“I am sure my dad and God arranged our current farm for us,” Alisha explains. “After purchasing our property, we would see many (red) cardinal birds. I always believe ‘that when cardinals appear, angels are near.” Our farm quickly got the name Redbird Cottage and Farm.”
Along with Shelly, Alisha also believes her father had a hand in helping her find her current horse. After meeting Shelly’s trainer, Marion Troyer, at the Florida Gold Coast last December, Marion presented her with the opportunity to own her dream horse, a tall, handsome, seven-year-old, bay Hunter Under Saddle horse by Allocate Your Assets.
“Little did I know his registered name is, You Red Me All Wrong. It has the word Red spelled RED. I knew this was also a gift from God and my dad. My dad knew this was my dream,” Alisha reveals. “I don’t think this is a coincidence at all. I do believe this is divine intervention.”
Casamona, a mental health counselor who also uses horses in her therapy, knows how special horses are for healing trauma and loss. Getting back in the show arena has helped her heal, too.
“Things have changed in the show pen. Nothing major but little things, and I quickly realized I needed to learn to show again. I was seasoned in the show pen, and I’m now truly learning from being a Level One. Marion has been so patient and wonderful with me. Shelly has been a little more stern…sometimes I need that. The friendship we have allows for that. Shelly is part of the family. She is my show family. Even during my time away from showing, our friendship remained strong. I feel so blessed to be back in the ring, showing with my best friend again.”
Watch for both of these friends at the upcoming shows. “I have full confidence that Marion will have him ready to go for me, and we can go out and show the world how handsome he is,” Alisha says. “The next show will be Congress. After that, I will show in the AQHA World Show Champion of Champions class. I was Reserve Champion at the Level One Championship in April. I was so excited to receive this placing. Of course, I’m hoping for a gold trophy this go around.”
Click to view Shelly and Alisha in the August issue of GoMag.
