No, "Bonnie" has nothing to do with "Yvonne". My father was Scots, and I'm a "bonnie lass"! I grew up in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles when it was still orange and walnut groves, horse ranches and wheat fields. Well, not quite all fields and farms, my father was an aerospace engineer in the 1960's heyday of the space race. So it was only natural that I entered UCLA as a physics major. But after a downturn in engineering, I graduated with a degree in psychobiology. Then I joined Volunteers in Service to America (now AmeriCorps), and returned to graduate school in computer science, which led to a twenty-five year career in technology. In 2007, I was convinced to return to grad school, this time for a master's degree in Information Technology. For two years all I did was work, study, write papers and take exams. But it's done ! I graduated in May 2009 with a 4.0 GPA, earning me an Award of Academic Excellence and induction into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. I don't know how I'd have done it without David's incredibly patient support.

 

Through it all there have been horses. My high school buddy and I would scour the neighborhood for horses needing exercise. I cleaned stalls for riding lessons. I braided and groomed for show fees. I finally owned my first horse in my early 20's, an Oldenburg originally half-leased from a friend. After riding other people's green horses in 14 years at Foxfield, I started my own Thoroughbred, leaving hunter/jumpers for Three Day Eventing. After navicular syndrome limited our eventing, we concentrated on dressage, eventually working our way up to USDF 4th Level.

 

Along the way, I met and married my wonderful husband, David, and we raised an imaginative and highly gifted son, Quinlan. When our tiny tot wanted to ride my 17h Trakhener colt, we faced the inevitable and bought him a pony. Also inevitable were the years grooming for him at horse shows, from pony classes to Pony Club (I even became a District Commissioner), to Beginner Novice eventing through Young Riders and Preliminary.

 

Now Q is grown and on his own. I have his wonderfully talented Thoroughbred and my young Irish Sport Horse. Life has thrown us a few challenges recently, but we're still looking forward to getting back to work, soon I hope!.

 

In June 2007, David and I found a beautiful spot in the San Antonio Valley in south Monterey county to spend our retirement years with our horses. The Valley I knew is gone, but we have a new valley where we can ride again without traffic or encroaching development, at least for a while yet.