OWNER AND TRAINER - NANI BARNES
Nani Barnes was raised on a ranch in the San Fernando Valley in
Southern California and has been involved with horses since before she could walk. During her pre-teen years, Nani
took over the training chores at Lakeview Farms and began hitting the local American Saddlebred shows in California.
One of her first horses, Lakeview's Bourbon Princess, would become the first winner of the first ASB Western pleasure
class when it was first introduced in the 1970's.
Mentored by one of the best High School horse trainers in the business, Nani incorporates that specialized
knowledge into the training of all of her saddlebreds. In addition, she has worked with some of the most reknowned trainers
in Southern California and Kentucky over the years, including Frank Dye, Royce Cates, Morgan Smith, Chuck Hamlet and Jim Koller.
Nani is also an accomplished
singer and lyricist. By the age of 18, Nani had sung all over Southern California as a solo artist and as a session
singer for numerous major artists. Nani has continued to write songs and has had many songs placed in motion pictures
and television.
In the late
1990's, Nani spent time in Kentucky under the tutelage of Jim Koller at his training barn in Kentucky. On her
return to California, she brought with her the experience of countless hours spent watching and learning from someone she
still regards as one of the best horseman in the business.
She has spent the last several years focused on building a strong training barn in the Southern California
area and it is her goal to produce gifted horses and riders.
