|
Vet Wife and Farrier Husband Team Up on Horses
By
Kellie Henderson |
|
When
Covington County native Lynn Hall and her husband Tim Reed felt their
lives in Shelby County were becoming too busy and over-crowded, Lynn
knew exactly where she wanted to move her family.
"When
Tim came to Pleasant Home, he said he couldn’t see living in any place
as flat and as sandy as this, but it grew on him," Lynn said as she
smiled at her husband who kept his face turned down toward the floor of
the barn to hide a smile of his own.
Together
Lynn and Tim are Large Animal Services and, with her years of veterinary
medicine and his experience as a farrier, the couple has built a
business that makes them happy and offers their customers their combined
expertise.
"We
just felt overextended in Shelby County. I loved what I do and I wanted
to work. I just didn’t want to work all day and all night," said
Lynn.
Her
mind turned back to childhood days she spent with her aunts in the
community of Pleasant Home and the house of one particular aunt, which
Lynn and her family now call home. |

Lynn Hall held a horse for her husband, Tim Reed, as he inspected one of
its shoes. |
| "The
house belonged to Ruth and Fletcher Alderman. Ruth was my dad’s sister
and I split my summers between my three aunts in Pleasant Home. My
cousins and I rode every horse we could and I fell in love with
them," said Lynn. |

As a child
Lynn Hall, seated right, ran up the steps of this porch to visit her
Aunt Ruth. Now Lynn and Tim Reed, her husband, standing left, with their
children, Will and Kim, walk from that same house to the barn where they
care for their own horses and those of their customers. |
Lynn,
at age 15, got the first horse of her very own, a palomino Quarter
Horse.
"I
showed all-around from halter to timed events with that horse. Who does
that?" she quipped.
And
Lynn’s love of horses was what led her to her occupation.
"Ever
since I can remember I wanted to be a vet," she said.
A
1980 graduate of Auburn University, Lynn has been a veterinarian for
more than 25 years. And Tim has been a farrier for more than 20 years.
"We
married in 1982 and Tim went to farrier school in Oklahoma not long
after. He also worked with some talented, established farriers after he
finished school, so he has a lot of excellent experience with shoeing
performance horses and corrective shoeing for horses with lameness
issues," Lynn said.
Working
together provides an enhancement to both their individual services. |
| "The
really good thing about Tim and I being together is the work we can do
for lame horses. I have an x-ray machine and ultrasound equipment, which
can really be helpful to a farrier working with a horse with problem
feet, and our customers don’t have to relay messages between the vet
and farrier. We can work together to find a solution that works for that
horse before it leaves our barn," Lynn said. |
| Large
Animal Services has what is called a "haul-in" facility, which
means they can see and care for customers on their place.
"I’m
set up to do an on-site Coggins Test, and I have stocks and IV fluids
for horses needing that kind of therapy. I can also do reproductive work
on horses for people in the horse business. Having a facility where
customers can bring their animals means I can save them money and me the
time it might take to ride around all day," she added.
Tim and Lynn have also
passed along their love of horses to their children, Will, 23, and Kim,
13.
Will has recently moved
to the family place in Pleasant Home where he breaks young horses and
trains Western Pleasure horses.
"He’s worked with
trainers in Alabama, Louisiana and Texas over the past several years and
he’s excited about making his own business," Lynn said. |

Long days for farrier Tim Reed (left) and veterinarian Lynn Hall mean
they sometimes have asked neighbor and Andalusia Farmers Co-op employee
Russell Lassiter to bring them a few bags of Tizwhiz horse feed to span
the days until they can make it for a Co-op visit. |
| Kim
is also an equine enthusiast, but she likes her horses in the fast lane. |

Lynn Hall and her daughter, Kim Reed, checked the heart beat of Kim’s
timed-event horse Jessie. |
"Kim
has competed at the American Quarter Horse Youth Association World
Championship Show for the past two years in timed events and in 2007 she
was in the top 15 in poles," Lynn proudly said.
The
family has a total of eight horses and enjoys going to Quarter Horse
shows. Lynn serves as Advisor for the Alabama Quarter Horse Youth
Association and Kim is the group’s vice president. Tim also serves on
the board of directors for the Alabama Quarter Horse Association. They
also go to open horse shows and Kim participates in Junior High School
Rodeo.
"Our
favorite show every year is the Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus,
Ohio. Everybody works hard to make sure they make it to that show,"
Lynn said.
While
building their practice, a new barn and fences, Lynn and Tim said they
have been thrilled with their local Quality Co-op store, Andalusia
Farmers Co-op. |
| "They’ve
been great. Actually, we couldn’t ask for better service. Anything we’ve
ever asked, they’ve never said they couldn’t do it. Times when we’ve
been out of feed but unable to make it into town before the Co-op closed
because we still had customers, Russell (Lassiter, Andalusia Farmers
Co-op employee) would bring us a couple of bags of feed on his way home.
We had a hard time finding a feed in this area our horses would eat, but
they love the Co-op’s Tizwhiz and the horses have done great on
it," Lynn said.
Andalusia Farmers Co-op
has been a valuable part of their business in other ways as well.
"They’ve given our
business cards to customers and we really appreciate that. They were so
helpful when we were moving in and building the barn. Nobody was too
busy to price fencing or other supplies for us, and that great service
makes a difference," said Lynn.
Lassiter returned the
compliment, "You just won’t meet better people than Lynn and Tim.
It’s nice to feel like you can help good people when you go to work,
and the horse owners in Covington County need them here. We’re glad to
have them."
And Tim and Lynn are glad
to be there.
Lynn added, "My goal
now is the same it’s always been: to practice good medicine. I want to
make enough money to pay my bills and go to the horse show, and Tim
feels the same way. We want to do the quality work we’ve learned and
been trained to do, not doing anything half-way, and have a good time
doing it. If you’ve done your best and made your customers happy, you’ve
done a full day’s work."
Kellie Henderson is a
freelance writer from Troy. |
| |
Affiliated
Sites...

|