Eleise is a North Texas native, born in Gainesville and residing in Whitesboro since 1982. She has 5 children and 8 grandchildren. After 4 of her 5 children were grown and out of the house, Eleise began showing again in the amateur all-around division of AQHA. In the mid 1980’s Eleise’s husband became disabled due to a complication of heart surgery. A two income household became a single income with nothing left over for horses and horse showing. With her extensive experience in business management, accounting, and computer knowledge, she had the option of seeking employment in Dallas, which would have paid much more than she could earn in the Gainesville area. While this plan would have afforded her to keep the horses, there would not be sufficient time left over to ride and show. She began to dream of a way to support her family, and have enough funds and time left over to remain involved with the show horses.
Often, main stream accountants don’t understand how to distinguish between a horse hobby and a serious equine business. Therefore, they either shy away from them altogether or fail to know the full range of IRS allowable deductions afforded to the equine business. Eleise’s unique combination of business, accounting, and extensive knowledge of the equine business turned out to be a valuable commodity. She began marketing her skills to equine professionals carving out a niche in the equine industry for herself. Launching Equine Services Unlimited in 1990 answered the dream.
At the time, few equine professionals, veterinarians excluded, were using computers. Not only were computers becoming invaluable for financial accounting, they could also be a terrific tool for tracking individual horse health, training, and breeding records; while simultaneously creating the invoices for customers. Eleise quickly recognized another niche she had just the right skills to fill. Computer installation, repair, support, and personal training was added to ESU’s unlimited list of services.
In 1997, with the encouragement of her friend, the legendary Carol Rose, Eleise passed the 2 day exam and was honored to be one of only 8 selected to receive an AQHA Judges Card that year. The next year, she fulfilled the testing requirements and was accepted by NSBA to receive their Judges Card. When NSBA introduced their Category I rating for judges, she immediately passed the testing requirements and later was selected to judge their premier $100,000 “Masters” event held in conjunction with the All American Quarter Horse Congress. For more than eleven years she enjoyed judging many events, both domestic and internationally.
While judging kept her participating in horse shows and striving to always be a more knowledgeable horsewoman, what Eleise really wanted was to learn how to ride and show a Working Cow Horse. Again, Carol Rose encouraged her to go for it!
Today, Eleise remains very hands on consulting with ESU’s every growing client list and directing ESU’s team of professionals to deliver the highest quality of service.
