When editors of The Chronicle of the Horse invited me to share the show hunter column with Susie Schoellkopf, many feelings came over me\’and the first was fear! Then I thought about it for a few days and realized what an honor and opportunity this was.

For years I have tried to pass along the experiences I\’ve gained over the past three decades, and there can be no finer way to be heard than in The Chronicle of the Horse. So I\’ve decided to overcome my fear and attempt to share with you what so many teachers, competitors and friends have taught me as a way to give back to the sport in return for what it\’s given me.

I grew up in Houston, before moving 40 miles north 24 years ago to Magnolia, Texas, where I own and operate PJP Farm. I came from a large family, which include my wonderful parents, George and Claudine, and four brothers and three sisters. We\’re a close family, and I\’ve enjoyed their support throughout my riding career.

My dad gave me my first horse, for my 12th birthday, but I wasn\’t allowed to have a saddle for one year. (Dad thought that I would learn balance that way.) So I rode bareback, embarrassed to be the only one without a saddle at the barn.

When I finally earned my first saddle, I had to retrace a few steps when I realized that the kids at the barn were riding English and I had a new Western saddle. I will always remember how fun it was to watch my new friends during their jumping lessons and think how fun it would be if I could only try. Fortunately, some of the girls took it upon themselves to teach me. I went from jumping logs, to picnic tables, to anything I could find.

Little did I know where all that fun would lead me. My riding began getting serious a few years later, when I started taking “lessons.” As natural as the riding was for me, I soon realized from my first teachers\’Johnny Conn, Bill Robertson, and Joan Waterman\’that I needed to learn the nature of the horse and my place on it.

These instructors laid the foundation of my learning career, and they enabled me to advance to what I refer to as my college education, when I rode with Jimmy Lee, Bernie Traurig, Billy Glass and Debbie Stephens. Those were my fun amateur years.

After awhile, it was graduation time, and I had to put all that I had learned into play to turn professional. That was a very intense time for me, wondering if I could make it against top riders around the country and dreaming of becoming a teacher like my mentors.

As you can imagine, Texas is horse country that many top horseman have called home, including Charlie and Jenny Zimmerman, Conrad Homfeld, Col. John Russell, Bill Robertson, Walter Straus, Mike McCormick, Tracy Fenney, Shane George and Tony Font. These giants set the bar high for those of us who wanted to follow their lead. As I look back at my career, I owe so much to so many people who have made it possible for me to get to where I am today.

It has been my privilege to have ridden or trained on many top horses, such as, January\’s Best, Geste, Uncle Sam, Extra and Bohemia. I rode in the 1992 FEI World Cup Final with Uncle Sam and represented the United States on Nations Cup teams with Extra in 1999. Some of my top wins include the President\’s Cup at the Wash-ington (D.C.) International, being a two-time winner of the $25,000 Capital Challenge (Md.) Hunter Classic, winning the $50,000

Hunter Classic of New York, earning a score of 100 on Geste in the Hunter Classic of Houston, and winning the 2002 World Championship Hunter Rider Professional Finals.

I have been very fortunate in my training business. I have about 50 horses in training, along with many of their riders. It\’s funny to me that I\’m now working with the second generation of some of the families who are my friends and valued customers.

They force me to remember, “Your business is as good as the people that you have working for you.” Sandy Strack, my assistant trainer for 11 years, is as important to my business as I am. Sandy is a Texas transplant from Virginia, where she trained and managed Jill Summers\’ Knoll Farm.

I believe that it\’s vitally important for children to learn the basics, especially grooming, tacking up and care of the horses. I recently opened PJP Riding School, a place where they can really get this experience. There seems to be a need for places like this, where people can get started riding and learning about horses.

I\’m really going to enjoy writing this column. I was a friend of Victor Hugo-Vidal\’s, and I\’m sure he would chuckle out loud if he knew I was succeeding him. Victor wrote about many things, but what I remember most about his writing (which I hope I can continue) is that, no matter how harsh the topic, he always followed up with something positive. I hope you, the Chronicle readers, will enjoy my writing as much as I enjoyed Victor\’s.