Taking the Reins

Bianca Brasher celebrated two huge milestones in June:the opening of BMB Horsemanship, her training and boarding stable, and her 21st birthday. She may be younger than the average barn owner, but Brasher is confident she has what it takes to run her own business.

“It’s past a passion at this point,” said Brasher, who grew up in Trussville.

BMB Horsemanship is located in Clay on Mountain Heights Road. Brasher renovated the 55-acre property, including its 21-stall barn, indoor and outdoor riding arenas and multiple pastures, and opened on June 4. Since she started riding at age 6, Brasher said she feels like everything has naturally led to the point where she’s taking the reins — literally — on her own business.

“I think I’ve kind of always known I wanted to do it,” Brasher said. “I don’t think I realized it would be this soon.”

When she first decided to buy the barn, Brasher was afraid it was too far away from other stables to be successful.

“There’s none of this around here. There’s not horseback riding in the Trussville and Clay area,” she said.

Instead, it’s something of an advantage. She said several of her riding students come from the local area and are happy they no longer have to make a 30-minute drive or more for their lessons.

Brasher began giving riding lessons around age 18 after working with several trainers. Her age can be a surprise to some people, but she said it’s rarely a problem. Her current students range in age from 5 years old to an 81-year-old who “had a blast” at her first lesson in June.

“I love my students; I love being around them. I love taking them to horse shows. Sometimes they’ll just come hang out with me, to help me clean stalls and stuff like that,” Brasher said.

She primarily teaches Western riding styles, including Western pleasure, barrel racing, obstacle courses and trail riding, though Brasher said she also teaches the basics of English riding. During the show season of March to August or September, Brasher is at shows almost every weekend with some of her students.

She continues to compete in speed events such as barrel racing and pole bending, though Brasher said she didn’t get into that sport because of a love for the thrill of it.

“That’s actually a fear of mine. It took a long time to gain that confidence to go 30, 40 miles per hour at a standing object,” Brasher said.

Instead, she enjoys showing because of the atmosphere, similar to football tailgating, and the friends she gets to see while she’s there.

Getting the barn and property into shape to open took long hours for Brasher and her family. She said it’s a whole different experience to be responsible for the safety and care of horses and riders on her property, rather than being a trainer at someone else’s barn. There’s also no such thing as a day off.

“Me having other people’s horses out here, it’s, you know, a huge responsibility on my part that I make sure the horses are taken care of,” she said.

Brasher wants to increase the number of riders and boarders at her stable and eventually grow to the point where she can host shows of her own. She also has an interest in one-on-one training work with horses and, at some point, offering therapeutic riding for children with mental or physical disabilities.

BMB Horsemanship is still new, but so far Brasher said it doesn’t feel like going to work.

“I don’t look at it as a job,” Brasher said. “It was my hobby and my sport for so long; now that I get to do it full time, I don’t see it as a job.”