By Laura Scaletti
Portraits by Kacy Brown
As soon as KJ Pearson graduated from high school, she drove from Tallahassee to Ocala with her two horses and everything she could fit in her Jeep. “I got a job working for Caroline Searcy and Kim Burnette of Kimberden, enrolled in the college down the road and leased my first apartment the same day,” KJ said.
After working at Kimberden, KJ spent some time working for Bobby Braswell at Terrapin Hill Farm while she was still pursuing her degree at the College of Central Florida. “During these years in Ocala, I learned so much about the ins and outs of the business, whether it was talking to clients, preparing horses, selling horses or running the barn,” KJ said.
Although KJ had only driven a two-horse trailer when she first started working for Bobby, it didn’t take long before she was pulling a six-horse trailer from Florida to New York. “To this day, we joke that I’m going to get my CDL so I can be a real truck driver,” she said.
Bobby not only helped KJ improve her long-haul driving skills, but he also inspired her to set goals of what she wanted to do in the horse industry and where she wanted to be. “He gave me Hunt Tosh’s phone number one afternoon and within a few days that same Jeep was heading north to Atlanta,” KJ said.
A native Floridian, KJ got a bit of a shock when she opened the Jeep’s doors upon her arrival in Atlanta. “I thought, Surely I can handle Atlanta in the winter. The very first day it was 27 degrees and I was wearing one jacket, rethinking my decision of leaving the Sunshine State,” KJ said. “It’s been almost four years now and, after adding several layers to my wardrobe, I couldn’t love it more.”
Little Girl’s Dream
KJ gives her stepmom, Lindsay, the credit for fueling her horse-girl passion. It just took one trip to the barn with Lindsay for KJ to get hooked. By age 5, KJ was happily riding horses. “My childhood with horses was any little girl’s dream. When I was young, my parents built a four-stall barn behind our house,” she said. “I’m one of six kids and all of my siblings know how to ride, but I’m the only one who stuck with it.”
KJ was fortunate to have her own ponies and horses growing up. When KJ was 9 years old, she got her first pony, a 2-year-old named Look At Me Now. “As you can imagine, we quite literally grew up together; we taught each other everything and then some more,” KJ said.
While Look At Me Now is a Pearson family farm lifer, Lindsay and KJ bought a lot of young ponies and horses for resale throughout the years. “We constantly had horses coming and going,” she said.
Throughout KJ’s school years, she was a working student for Amy Center and Janet Cawley at their Cavallo Farms. “I went to school in the morning, would work and ride for Cavallo in the afternoons and then would go home, ride my own horses and take care of the barn chores there. It definitely wasn’t your normal teenage girl’s schedule, but I loved every minute of it,” KJ said.
As a teenager, KJ never turned down the chance for time in the show ring. “I pretty much showed anything and everything that I had the opportunity to,” she said.
One of KJ’s favorite mounts as a Junior was her horse Enamored. “She was a Children’s jumper when we bought her, and she fulfilled every dream of having an equitation and derby horse. Today she’s retired and lives with Look At Me Now and a yearling I bought last year and sent to the family farm,” KJ said. “My brother, Bo, who’s another horse lover in the family, loves to take care of them for me, so maybe there’s hope that we will have another rider in the family!”
Team Tosh
Since KJ started at Hunt Tosh Inc in 2020, she’s noticed that what makes the barn different than some other operations is that success really takes a team approach. “We all divide and conquer at the end of the day to get the job done,” KJ said.
While everyone is wrapping things up in the barn, Hunt’s daughter, Maddie, and KJ can be found debriefing the day while making grain. “Maddie is definitely my partner in crime, and I can’t say enough good things about the Tosh family,” KJ said. “The team at Hunt Tosh Inc has become my family. Fabian, our head guy, is known at the horse shows as Grandpa. He introduces himself to all my friends as Grandpa and has quite literally become my bonus grandpa.”
Hunt encouraged KJ to find her niche within the barn when she first started working at Hunt Tosh Inc. KJ loves every aspect of working with horses, from the care itself to lunging, riding and teaching. “Everyone pitches in on a day-to-day basis to get the job done. So I wouldn’t say I have a certain defined role; it’s more of pitching in where it’s needed to make sure that everything gets taken care of in an efficient and professional manner,” KJ said.
Although KJ helps wherever she’s needed, she’s found her niche in preparing the horses for the show ring. KJ and Hunt do most of the lunging themselves and ride the horses in the ring each morning. “I love spending time with the horses, and knowing them so well makes the preparation of them going to the ring so much easier. The job comes with pressure, but for me it’s more rewarding than anything,” KJ said. “I watch them grow into themselves all year, so when we get to an event like Derby Finals or indoors and it’s their time to shine, the feeling of pride outweighs the nervousness.”
A few of the special horses KJ has been fortunate to work with are Cannon Creek, Autograph, Salute, Twain and Ulysses. “I’ve watched them go from young Pre-Green horses to top derby, Junior, Amateur and working horses. I have truly enjoyed being a part of these horses’ stories,” KJ said. “At the end of the day, they never fail to make me proud.”
Young Professional
This past year, KJ has stepped back into the show ring herself. “This winter I showed Kelly Wilson’s Guggenheim, Douglas Wheeler’s King Of Hearts and Alice Goodwin’s Paraduxx. Showing the horses during the week and getting them ready for their owner on the weekend is a different type of preparation than I’m used to, but I loved getting the chance to do it,” she said. “I’m so thankful to the clients and team for giving me these opportunities.”
KJ is now aiming to compete at the WCHR Developing Professional Challenge at Capital Challenge this fall. “During WEC Ocala’s WCHR week, Paraduxx helped me gain points on the ranking list with the national derby, wins in the 3’3” Performance division and earning champion,” she said.
From her earliest interactions with horses, KJ always knew that horses would one day be her career. In addition to an early leg up by her stepmom, KJ has had several strong women in the horse industry that have supported and motivated her throughout the years. “I grew up riding with Karen Harnden Smith. She was there while I learned the basics all the way to today. I still send her my most recent videos and ask for her opinion,” KJ said. “I have always had the drive to work to get where I wanted, but I give her all the credit for setting that dream on fire and helping me get there.”
Dr. Kate Stephenson is another longtime role model of KJ’s and is the veterinarian at Hunt Tosh Inc. “Kate is someone I truly look up to in the industry and she’s taught me numerous life lessons that have carried me through my career. Through her, I’ve learned the value of having a strong work ethic and the ins and outs of horse care,” KJ said.
As a young professional, KJ feels fortunate that so many people are in her corner, whether it’s owners giving her the opportunity to show their horses, other professionals giving advice or a pat on the back and, of course, her family watching on the livestream at home.
KJ has found a group of young professionals to bond with over their shared experiences. “There is such a strong group of upcoming young professionals that do nothing but cheer each other on. Haleigh Landrigan is one of those, who I am lucky to call my best friend. She is my go-to on the best and hardest days,” KJ said.
Part of what makes KJ such a team player at Hunt Tosh Inc is that she understands every aspect of what goes into running a successful training operation. “I love all of the parts to it: preparing horses, selling horses, teaching clients, showing horses and even the unenviable task of hanging the curtains at horse shows,” she said.
KJ sometimes must remind herself that everything comes with time, and she needs to be patient. “My advice to other young professionals is to slow down, take it all in, learn the good and the bad and let that mold you into the professional you want to be,” she said.
“I’m eternally grateful for the Tosh family; they’ve had my best interest at heart from day one and have helped me in every aspect along the way. Eventually I’d love to have a barn full of my own horses and clients, but I still have so much to learn while I’m young,” KJ said. “I don’t know what the future holds, but for right now I’m enjoying where I am and who I get to do it with!”
Follow KJ on Instagram @kj.pearson
Photos by Kacy Brown, kacybrownphotography.com
