Denise Nelson, a board member since early 2008, has been an animal lover all her life. She always had cats and dogs, but only got her first horse, Adelio, a Paso Fino gelding, in 2001. That sparked her passion, and she now owns two other horses - Rocket (a.k.a.

Rocky) a solid Paint gelding she adopted from Rainbow Meadows, and Sundance, a beautiful Peruvian Paso gelding. She competed in her first competitive trail ride (CTR)

in October 2006 and loved it! Her sister, Julie, also rode that CTR and is Denise’s riding partner most of the time.

Denise’s husband Bob is an optometrist in Wichita, and both are great supporters of Rainbow Meadows. Bob rides with Denise from time to time, but mostly does the composting! Denise has a stepdaughter and a stepson who are fantastic young adults.

Denise first met Karen Everhart through a mutual friend and began meeting with her to learn how to “really ride right” in 2003. Denise credits Karen for not only teaching her riding skills, but also teaching her many lessons in understanding the nature of horses. The two became fantastic friends, and Denise introduced Karen to Julie, who she also worked with on basic riding skills and CTR training. Denise and Julie hope to compete

at a CTR again in the near future. Denise and Julie own Truffles Catering and City Bistro (the café located in Wichita’s City Hall). Denise is the Business Manager/Event Coordinator and Julie is the Executive Chef.

In her spare time when she’s not riding, Denise enjoys jogging with three of her four dogs (all rescues), hiking, waterskiing and reading - and of course, helping out any way,

any time she can with Rainbow Meadows.