Age: 37

Family: Wife, Joanna; sons, Silas, 13 and Caleb, 12; parents, Jim & Judy Himes.

Hometown: Albany, Georgia.

Education: Homeschooled for high school and then attended the two-year Miracle Mountain Ranch School of Discipleship program in Spring Creek, Pennsylvania.

The facility: JH Performance Horses is located in Albany, Georgia, and consists of our residence, 18 stalls in two barns, a shop, roundpen, pipe arena, two large pastures and smaller turnouts. The barn includes an attached apartment where our assistant lives. We built the facility ourselves and it is a constant work-in-progress but has been a rewarding process.

How I got my start: I first took training horses in Land O’Lakes when I was 16. I had been riding my own horse and working some cows.  I would drive all over and start colts, and deal with problem horses, teaching loading, etc. I then spent several years at Miracle Mountain Ranch first in their apprenticeship program and then on staff. From there I spent two years running the horse program at Warm Beach Camp in Washington before we moved back east.

The operation: For open events Trail is my main love and where I have found the most success. I like the control and mental game of it. I also show in Western Riding, Pleasure, Performance Halter and Ranch Riding. We are currently branching more into the Ranch Horse Versatility which has been exciting and getting back to my roots. I coach all the all-around events Horsemanship, Equitation, Trail, Pleasure, Hunter Under Saddle, Halter, Western Riding and Showmanship.

Horses I trained and/or showed: Some Kinda Radical, multiple Congress Top 15 in Trail, Reserve Champion Show For Dough Trail, NSBA Fun In The Sun Trail; Eyellbthebestmartini, Top 5 NSBA Junior Green Trail; Got It Going On, ABRA World Champion Green Pleasure, Reserve World Champion Green Trail; and Only A Natural, Congress Top 5 & L2 World Show Top 10 Performance Halter Geldings.

Favorite part of the job: Training, showing and coaching. Basically all the stuff that is truly about the horse and riding it. What you thought it would be when you were a kid dreaming of riding horses for a living.

Affiliations: AQHA, NSBA and ARHA.

Best advice I ever got: Lew Sterret always said. “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly,” meaning if it’s worth it you have to start somewhere so jump in and keep working hard until you aren’t doing it poorly anymore.

Outside the barn: I like to fish, especially saltwater fishing. Recently we started growing blueberries, we have over 400 plants to start off with and would like to expand on that. Caleb our youngest is not into horses, I enjoy watching him play sports.

People would be surprised to learn that: I don’t like to shave. Just kidding that is probably pretty obvious from looking at me. I really enjoy working on my boat, I have done a lot of fiberglass work including rebuilding the transom and building a leaning post.

Contact: You can call Jonathan at (229) 296-5457. You can also connect with him via the JH Performance Horses Facebook Page.