Our Staff
Laurel Jones, Owner
Laurel Jones
My first experience with horses was in high school, when my parents bought my sister, Sierra, an old Tennessee Walking Horse. My love of animals and nature led me to the University of Mount Union in Ohio, where I completed an undergraduate degree in biology and onto Mercer University in Georgia, where I received an MBA.
While in Georgia, I was re-introduced to horses and discovered the world of endurance riding and long-distance trail riding.
As an endurance rider in Macon, Georgia, I competed in cross country races earning several Top 10 finishes in the Southeast division. While riding Arabian horses - on a trail, in a race - I realized how much I loved horses, admiring both the grace and athleticism needed to form a true relationship between horse and rider.
My work transported me to Dobson, NC, where I became a farm owner for the first time. It was in North Carolina where race horses became a bigger part of my life, having the opportunity to see first-hand the business of the track and the required training regiment. My involvement with horse racing culminated as a part-owner of Sassy Image, an accomplished Filly who won the 2009 Pocahontas and Golden Rod, the 2010 Sweetest Chant, the 2011 Princess Rooney and Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs.
Life took me to King, North Carolina, where I was reunited with riding and was first exposed to the beauty of the North Carolina mountains, enjoying long rides at Blowing Rock, New River Trail and Hanging Rock State Park. I eventually made the decision to go back into farm ownership and founded Winsome View Farm in 2015 where I could express my passion for the environment, nature and animals. It's the true connection between a person and a horse - a relationship I understand and appreciate - that forms the foundation and shapes the values of Winsome View Farm.
Sierra Conn, Manager
Sierra Conn
I was raised on a 37 acre farm in North Eastern Ohio were I had the opportunity to have horses starting when I was 8 years old. My first horse was a 22-year-old Tennessee Walking Horse, a retired show horse named Little John’s Magic. My dad liked to tell our guests “…he was three times the Kentucky State Champion.” John turned into a child’s trail horse and was my best pal for many years. During this time, I also owned a half Arabian/Quarter horse named Penny and a TWH filly named Amber. I mostly trail rode, but did have the opportunity to take riding lessons and show from 1992 - 1995. I was a member of a Paso Fino Horse Club and 4-H and trained a few young horses in my youth.
After high school, I attended Kent State University earning a BBA degree and then moved to Georgia to begin a career in the Insurance industry. Fast forward to 2010, when my husband and I decided to purchase a horse for our children, Jacob and Michaela. I wanted them to experience some of the same childhood memories. Since then, they have participated in fun horse shows, riding lessons, summer camps, birthday parties, natural horsemanship clinics, parades, horse clubs, and many trail rides. In 2015, my daughter had the opportunity to compete in both English and Western riding with her horse at a State level. I also provided beginner riding lessons to a few students while in Georgia.
In 2016, we relocated to North Carolina to be closer to family. We currently own two horses: Watch Jo Jacks Jewel, an American Quarter Horse and CHC Ragnar, a Belgian/Unicorn cross that we purchased from Copper Horse Crusade, an equine rescue in Ohio specializing in saving slaughter bound horses. My daughter is active in her 4-H club, where Jewel is her project horse. We have also volunteered at an area Therapeutic Riding Center for a couple of summers.
I have always had the dream to manage a horse stables that would allow adults and children alike the opportunity to experience the world of horses. I’m now living out that dream.
The love of horses has always run deep in my blood. I can recall while living in a small neighborhood in the city, before even knowing that my family was going to move to that Ohio farm, I would say my prayers at night and ending with “…may all the good people be nicer, may all the bad people be nicer, and may I have a horse one day. Amen.”