Starting A Business To Support An Animal Habit

By Cindy Johnson | cjquimby@gmail.com

Tina Stankewicz is a mom, a wife, an animal lover, and a business woman. She knows what she wants and has set her sights on accomplishing her goals. Since she is an avid collector of equines, goats, chickens, cats and dogs, she needed to develop a plan to care for her expanding herd.

She said, “I don’t get a ton of grief from my husband when I rescue animals, and the animals with special needs seem to find me. Thankfully, he just rolls his eyes.”

Before her animal collection started, finding the right mate was her first priority. Luckily, after being set up on a blind date by friends, Tina and Kym formed an attraction that led to marriage two years later

To make sure they were compatible, Tina said, “When we were dating, I made a list of 10 things I liked and10 things I couldn’t stand. Kym made one too. We compared the lists and one of the top items on both our lists was our love of animals.”

Horses were on the top of Tina’s list. She said, “As a little girl, I was horse crazy and pestered my parents to let me take riding lessons. When I was 6, I rode a couple times a week but living in Metro Detroit limited my riding opportunities.” She was compensated by attending summer horse camps.

Still horse crazy at the age of 12, Tina got into showing with a leased Morgan for Saddle Seat competitions. She showed some on the Morgan circuit, at local shows and participated in 4-H. Between shows, she took to the trails. After high school, Tina attended Western Michigan University and joined the equestrian team showing both Western and English. Post college she depended on friends who let her ride their horses.

Kym and Tina lived in Jackson, Michigan until his engineering career took him to Angola, Indiana. They purchased a home on 13 acres and began accumulating animals.

Tina said, “The first winter we moved out here after having quit my pharmaceutical sales job, I wasn’t sure what to do. We had gutted the whole house. We didn’t have kids yet, and I got bored during the winter.” She had an idea for selling tack and started small by buying and selling online and to friends. The business has grown and changed throughout the years.

Tina said, I now operate an eCommerce online store, a blanket laundry with repair and waterproofing, and also offer consignment sales.” Having her own business Rugged Rider Tack gives her the freedom to care for her family and animals. As her business grew, so did her collection. First to arrive was Nacho the goat, soon joined by Izzy the mini donkey. As fencing and barn additions were added Pumpkin, a retired foundation Quarter Horse arrived followed by goat #2 Olive, and 2 mini horses named Zena and Sophie. This spring, 10 baby chickens are residing in the basement until warmer weather arrives.

Along with animals, Tina and Kym welcomed son Liam, who is in the first grade and son Luke, now 4 years old. Luke had a rough start as he was born with Down’s Syndrome and a heart con- dition. He spent his first 5 months in and out of hospitals, eventually having open heart surgery at Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital. Tina said, “If I had a corporate job, I would be fired within a month due to the amount of time I would have to take off for child care when the kids get sick. Luke has OT, PT, music and speech therapy every week. Any illness hits him hard. His heart is good, but he gets sick a lot.”

Her business is home-based featuring both Industrial washing and sewing machines. The blanket portion of the business is very intense and averages between 1500-2000 blankets during the summer months. Two part-time employees help throughout the year, and she pulls in more staff during the summer months for this short season of work.

The inventory for Rugged Rider Tack deals specifically with quality, used tack, in the mid-to higher level featuring English and Western tack, blankets, and stable supplies. Tina is currently making more than enough to provide income for her “animal habit ” She said, “I’ve added animals as my income has increased and am now able to support and provide the very best care for them.”

Additional long term business goals include eventually opening a store front and expanding the eCommerce store.

Besides work, there are personal goals Tina wants to explore. She said, “We bought an old RV to rehab it. We’re also shopping for a replacement for our horse Gomer who passed this winter We hope to go trail riding at various parks starting close to home at Salmonie State Park in Indiana, then Fort Custer and the Bluffs in Michigan. I want everybody in our family to be excited and confident around our horses.”

Dreaming big and working hard has helped Tina accomplish her goals for her human and animal families.

Cindy Johnson has been a horse owner since she was 13 years old. She is also a freelance writer. If you wish to have an article written about your equine pursuits, please email her at: cjquimby@gmail.com