Page 28 - Winter 2022

s| AGRARIAN
Horse lovers help each other thrive
Story by Cyndee Perdue Moore Photos by Michael Prochaska
In November 2010, Amanda McCoy started a Facebook page for a newly formed group, Athens Area Horse Community, on a whim.
Now approaching its 11th anniversary, the community has launched a website and grown to more than 1,200 members.
“We are dedicated to sustainably stimulating growth of the local horse community,” said Amanda, her passion for the mission evident in her voice. “Everything else I do is in support of that.”
McCoy’s love of horses is in her blood. Her mother, Stacey McCoy, matriarch of Allison Creek Farm, is a local trainer and breeder originally from Grand Island, Nebraska.
Both Amanda’s mother and father served in the United States Army. When they completed their service, Amanda’s father got a job at Fisher Stove in downtown Watkinsville, and Amanda’s mother set about building her horse business.
Amanda learned at Stacey’s knee. Now with a daughter of her own—born fittingly on Veterans Day—she is continuing the family’s legacy.
Through Athens Area Horse Community, Amanda provides valuable information to local horse owners.
From merchant information, classified ads to horse-related volunteer opportunities, she has created a one-stop site for horse lovers at all levels of expertise.
Amanda is also instrumental in hosting sessions to teach important skills, such as how to take a saddle apart and how the different aspects of the saddle affect both rider and horse. Upcoming training sessions will focus on horse trailer safety and maintenance and equine wound care.
Amanda’s organization seeks to fill the training gap for those who keep their horses at home rather than in boarding facilities. Those people account for two-thirds of local horse owners.
Although Athens Area Horse Community has existed for more than a decade, it has become more structured within the last year thanks to some significant “lightbulb moments.”
Moving forward, the group will work toward two primary goals: land conservation and youth education.
sCyndee Perdue Moore is an Oconee County resident. PAGE 26 | OCONEE THE MAGAZINE | WINTER 2022
Amanda McCoy, left, and Sarah Beth Hernandez, right, help fill the training gap for those who keep horses at home, rather than in boarding facilities.