CTBA Member
PROFILE
KATIE FISHER BY EMILY SHIELDS
K
COURTESY OF KATIE FISHER
COVERING ALL THE ANGLES FOR STATE-OFTHE-ART EQUINE R&R
atie Fisher gave the question some thought, then summed herself up with: “Two farms and two kids. Tat’s me.” Fisher can hardly be defned so succinctly. She hails from a show horse and agricultural background, worked alongside mentor Tom Hudson at Magali Farms for 12 years, and now has her own pair of farms just miles apart. To top it all of, she is the mother of twin toddlers, helping her children to grow while simultaneously helping some 40 horses through the rehabilitation process. Fisher grew up showing Arabian horses and working at an Arabian farm. She was known at the Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center when Magali manager Tom Hudson put out the word that he needed an assistant. Hudson asked Dr. Ed Hamer if he knew anyone, and the veterinarian confrmed that he did, urging
Rehabilitating horses properly is a priority for the multi-tasking Katie Fisher
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CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED ❙ August 2018 ❙ www.ctba.com
Hudson to hire Fisher straight away. Te instant Fisher showed interest in Hudson’s proposal, he answered, “Great! See you tomorrow morning at 7.” Tus began a 12-year partnership. “Tom and his (late) wife, Gayle, were family to me,” Fisher said. “Tey were the epitome of perfection as far as running a horse farm. I learned so much about health and cleanliness.” “We taught her how to do things the right way,” Hudson said. “I’m so proud of her.” But then Fisher dropped a bomb: She wanted to start a family. “Tom said, ‘You want to do what?’ ” Fisher laughingly recalled. “I left Magali six years ago now. I actually bought the Arabian farm where I was working before I went to work for Tom, and now I have twin toddlers.” Fisher praised her “saint of a husband,” Travis Burnett, for handling the children without question so that she could spend extra time with the horses if needed. “He never tells me no,” Fisher said, only half-joking. Te rejuvenated farm has been christened Kingfsher Farms, after Fisher’s family’s farming business. “I come from a fourth-generation farming family in Blythe,” she said. “Te farmers have water rights to the river, so my family farms there, producing alfalfa, lettuce, broccoli, and melons. If you go to Costco, you can see the melons with the Kingfsher bird stickers that say Fisher Ranch. Tat’s my family. Teir farm has been around for 100 years, so I named my farm in homage to my family. It’s really special to me.” Fisher had returned to showing Arabians, but still had one California-bred Good Journey flly on the property. She called Hudson, asking if he would take the flly. “He kept saying ‘wow’ when he saw the property,” Fisher recalled. “I reminded him I had a good teacher.” Hudson showed mild interest in a second barn on the property, which stood empty. He said nothing for a month, then contacted Fisher about using it for layups for his independent clients. “He said, ‘You know my program better than anybody.’ And I really did miss it,” Fisher said. “Tere’s something soothing to the soul about helping a horse to heal and making it better.”