Margaret grew up in the Orting Valley, falling in love with horses at seven years old when she joined Carbon River Pony Club. She knew early on that her passion for horses lay in their care and management, and she thrived in the Pony Club environment. Margaret moved to her family’s small farm in Sammamish in 2007 to attend the University of Washington, earning her B.S. in Psychology—and also earned her Pony Club HB and C-3 certificates in that same year. In 2011, Margaret was preparing to further her career as a foreign language teacher (Japanese and French), but the lure of working professionally with horses proved too much to resist.

In early 2012, Margaret ran away with the circus, and spent the next five years working for Cavalia. Starting in the front of house as a ticket taker at Marymoor Park, she eventually held every position within the stables (except for farrier!) until she settled into her favorite role as Head Veterinary Technician. She began her long distance education in Veterinary Technology through Purdue University, and managed to complete all of her textbook-based curriculum while working full (or double full) time in Australia, Europe, and Asia. She is grateful to have worked alongside top veterinarians in 10 different countries, and to have made many friends in her travels, both of the two-legged and four-legged varieties.

Margaret finally returned to her home in Sammamish in 2016, where she was reunited with her Pony Club mount Paris, as well as one of her retired Cavalia favorites, a trick horse named Echo. After completing 10 weeks of clinical practice at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Margaret joined the Tacoma Equine Team in April 2017. Later that same year, her Cavalia heart horse Llicenciat retired to her home.

With a little help from Dr. Watson, Margaret made her dream of getting a foal by her stallion a reality and welcomed Leo to the world in 2020. Her passion for equine reproductive medicine continues to grow, though she also enjoys surgical assistance, anesthesia, and general pharmacology. She may someday return to school to finish her veterinary technician degree, but suffering through a year of small animal nursing internships is not very appealing, and she is very happy where she is.

Margaret continues riding and training horses in whatever discipline catches her eye, and serves as a fieldmaster for Woodbrook Hunt Club and as a club level examiner for Northwest Region Pony Club. In August 2022, Margaret completed the world’s longest horse race, the multi-day, 1000km+ Mongol Derby. She successfully finished the race without falling off a semi-wild horse, and even came across the finish line a day early! When not dreaming about or living out her next overseas adventure, Margaret can be seen doing objectively silly things on horseback in the Pacific Northwest, snuggling her retired foxhound Kenya, and making awfully good (or just awful) puns.