Ask Alan Fisher what his idea of perfect happiness is and he’ll quickly tell you, “I’m living it.”

Married to his “best friend,” Shannon, Fisher owns and operates his own training facility on 100 acres in Eastover, North Carolina, on land his family has owned for 150 years.

Since his father, Leslie, bought his first horse on the day Alan’s mother, Joyce, told him she was pregnant, he says he was “born into the life of horses.”

As a youngster growing up in North Carolina, Fisher attended Cape Fear High School and Fayetteville Tech Community College. He says he never had time for school or extra curricular activities because he spent all his time riding. After high school, Fisher moved to Pennsylvania to ride Reining horses but soon after he was offered the opportunity to work for Pat Odell so he jumped at the chance to return to pleasure horses. He later worked for Wes Wetherell, where he had the opportunity to help start leading performance sire, A Sudden Impulse.

“He was a great colt and went on to be a World Champion,” Fisher recalls.

But Fisher most treasures the time he spent working for the late Guy Stoops.

“Guy was a great horseman,” Fisher says. “One of the most important things he taught me was when to trust my horse and stay out of its way and let it do it’s job!”

Fisher had been away from home and family for 10 years and his grandparents were getting older, so in 1996 he moved back to North Carolina and started his own training facility. Over the years he has continued to build and today his facility consists of a 10-stall, heated concrete show barn, complete with an office,  wash bay, tack and feed room. Another training barn houses 10 stalls, a wash bay, plus a tack and feed room. In addition, the facility boasts a 175-by-225-foot outdoor arena with several turnouts and three large pastures.

There Fisher specializes in the preparation of Western Pleasure and Hunter Under Saddle horses, but he is also experienced with other disciplines. Fisher coaches clients that have horses in training but enjoys helping anyone that needs it. He says he keeps his training methods as simple as possible.

“If you make what you want the horse to do easier than what the horse wants to do then they will usually take the easy way out,” he explains. “Consistency is the key. Show them what you want them to do and once they learn it stay out of their way and let them do it.”

Fisher has had World and Reserve World Champion Paints, Pintos and Appaloosas.

“Whata Famous Chex was in the Top 5 in the Color Classic at the 2011 Reichert Celebration,” he says.  “Skips Hot Cookie was the 2013 Reserve Champion in the 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure at the Reichert Celebration. I was Reserve in the Intermediate Color at the 2013 Reichert Celebration with A Kiss Of Fame and I won the Limited and Open 3-Year-Old Western Pleasure Slot Class at the 2013 APHA World Show with Invite The Artist.”

Fisher says he has coached everyone from a Reserve National Champion in Leadline to a National Champion in Western Pleasure.

“Some of my clients have been World and Reserve World Champions in Youth, Novice Amateur and Parent’s Western Pleasure,” he says. “Last year Shannon was a four-time Reserve Champion at the Reichert Celebration in the 2-Year-Old Non-Pro Reichert Pleasure Series and was in the top 10 at the Congress with Skips Hot Cookie; She was a two-time Reserve Champion at the Reichert Celebration in the Non-Pro Western Pleasure Reichert Pleasure Series with Back To Zip, and aboard A Kiss Of Fame she was the Reserve Reichert Champion in the 3-Year-Old Non-Pro Color Stakes.”

When he is not riding Fisher enjoys hunting. “I have had the opportunity to hunt elk in Colorado with my buddy, Larry Williams,” he says. “But my true passion is whitetail deer hunting with my bow.”

You can reach Fisher via the Alan Fisher Performance Horses Facebook page or by calling (910) 308-1294.