“I don’t usually enter contests,” said Carrie Hurd of Weatherford, TX, “partly because I’ve always taught my children that to get the important things in life, it usually takes hard work, not free winnings. But the free winnings sure are nice when they come.”

Hurd is the Grand Prize Winner of the 2004 Purina Mills Horse Owners Workshop (HOW) Sweepstakes. Her journey to the prize started back in Spring 2004 at a reining demonstration held at an area arena.

Actually, it’s Carrie’s 18-year-old daughter Monica who is the horse aficionado in the household. “We have a very large family–11 children–so we can’t focus a lot of time and energy on one particular child or one particular activity. Monica’’ done it on her own,” Hurd said proudly.

Monica doesn’t compete, but she has two horses, including an older horse that used to compete. Said Hurd, “She raises collies to pay for the horses, and we pay for the upkeep