BarterFarm

Here at Barter Farm, my husband Jim and I have dedicated our lives to stewardship of the land, preservation of heritage, the promotion of wellbeing, and the celebration of community. And, to horses.

 

Jim's whole career has been in historic preservation, beginning first at Locust Grove, the last home of  General George Rogers Clark in Louisville, and then presiding over the restoration and management of Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Mercer County as President and CEO for forty-one years. He served as President of the Kentucky Historical Society, the Harrodsburg Historical Society, and was on the Advisory Boards of the National Trust, and the Bluegrass Trust. He has written articles and a book on a variety of preservation topics, and is a past recipient of the Ida Lee Willis award, the highest honor for historic preservation in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Upon retirement, he established Jim Thomas Consulting, LLC. Jim started riding as a child and has always loved horses.

I have championed and toiled for the protection and preservation of farmland and scenic byways, the value of local economies, the benefits of complementary therapies, and the importance of organic foods and home cooking for overall health. But horses have always been my North Star. I have written for horse magazines, traveled the world to study horses and horsemanship, held many horse related jobs, ridden, shown, bred, trained, and taught people to ride horses. For 13 years I served as the Executive Director of a non-profit facility for off-track Thoroughbreds, the Secretariat Center, located at the Kentucky Horse Park where I applied my holistic, interdisciplinary system called the Horse Centered Reschooling ProgramSM.   Currently I am the president of The Heard Leader, LL an Empowerment and Leadership Coaching business focused on helping people to find their voice, listen to and act upon  so they're heard within their herd at work, at home, and with others.

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Together, Jim and I feel profoundly grateful to have Barter Farm as a keystone, sanctuary, and abode for all of these lifelong passions and pursuits.