Joyce Stratton is a NASMA Charter Member
and Director from Zone 1. She lives in Oregon in the Willamette Valley
about an hour south of Portland on a farm where she raises mules and
operates Snow Peak Equine Enterprises, Inc. She buys and sells to fit
the “hard to fit” animal and professionally assists in her daughter’s
training barn .
She has been a rider all of her life having grown up on a farm. Her
interest in showing started out early with her first show at 8 years
old. In those early years she showed horses and ended her youth career
with a Purebred Arabian. In 1980 she saw her first mule show and was
hooked. She got her first in mule in 1981 and entered her first mule
show in 1982. She hasn’t let up on the mule shows since. She has many
open and amateur high points to her credit with some of the most
memorable being a 1995 National Amateur Champion title and a 2003
Battle of the Breeds Champion title. She has achieved top ten year-end
championships in several organizations including NASMA, Oregon
Horsemans Association, and American Mule Association.
Joyce has been active in bringing mules to the Oregon horse show
world. Her awards in the Oregon Horsemans Association have been
against horses. This is a group that 5 years ago did not let a mule on
the show grounds. Not only does Joyce attend their shows but she is an
active member of the State Board. In this role she has seen ample
opportunity to not only promote mules and donkeys to the equine world
but to also see the role equine owner’s can have in horse legislation
and laws.
Joyce has shown LS Windjammer for the last 9 years. She is also
showing a young mule now as Windy starts to get some age on her. This
mule is known as Dewey at home but the show pen will know him as
Double Dare. He’s the mule pictured here.
When not on her mules, Joyce is a High School Principal and Special
Education Director. She has worked in education for over 30 years
primarily with special needs students including work in the field of
autism.
Joyce asked in 2005 to rejoin the NASMA board. When NASMA was first
forming she had been a Director for several years but other activities
pulled her away for a season. As a Director, Joyce is especially
interested in efforts to have a unified rulebook for mule and donkeys
shows. This rule book would be universal no matter what association
was sanctioning the show. She is also interested in unification and
cooperation from all mule and donkey groups and organizations to gain
recognition by USA-E. This unification could allow mules and donkeys
greater acceptance in all equine events.
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