Faces of Pin Oak: Nancy Naschke Simonds

There are few people out there who can say that they have witnessed how the Pin Oak Horse Show has grown and expanded for as long as Nancy Naschke Simonds.

Naschke Simonds has been involved with the show as a competitor, board member, award presenter and spectator for all but the first seven years of her life. Throughout that time period, she has watched as the show moved from its original location to the Great Southwest Equestrian Center, celebrated the competition’s 50th anniversary in 1995 and has helped the Pin Oak organization strive toward its goals.

“My involvement with the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show began when I was 7 years old, competing in the American Saddlebred Division. I competed throughout my elementary, junior and senior high school years under the training of Charlie Smith and equitation instruction of Dorothy Dukes at Tri-Oaks Stables in Houston, Texas,” Naschke Simonds wrote.

Dukes proved to be a highly influential force in Naschke Simonds’ riding career. After taking a break from horses while attending the Pratt Institute to achieve her art degree in New York City, Naschke Simonds returned home to Texas, where she continued to learn under Dukes’ tutelage.

“I reunited with Dorothy Dukes at Bayou Park Stables and resumed my love for riding and showing again at the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show,” penned Naschke Simonds. “I continued to ride and show with Dorothy at Bayou Park Stables until her passing on January 1, 2004.”

Naschke Simonds was not the only horse lover in her family to ride with Dukes. Her sister, Geraldine “Gerrie” Naschke Bielefeld also rode with Dukes growing up and into her adult years. “My younger sister, Gerrie, shared the same love for riding, instilled by our beloved mother, as I did,” Naschke Simonds remembered. “Gerrie and I shared two American Saddlebred horses: a five-gaited horse, Blue Diamond, and a three-gaited horse, Glorious Leading Lady, which we showed at Pin Oak each year along with many other horse shows throughout the country.”

A love of horses was instilled in both Naschke Simonds and her sister thanks to their mother, Geraldine Naschke, who encouraged both girls to pursue their passion for equestrian sport. “My beloved mother, Gerladine Naschke, gave me her love and spirit for equestrian riding, without her encouragement and steadfast guidance I would not be here today,” Naschke Simonds reminisced.

Naschke Simonds is still riding at least once a week today with her current farm, Lone Star Saddlebreds, and she remains involved in the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show.

Beyond her personal involvement as an exhibitor at Pin Oak, Naschke Simonds has also had professional involvement with the competition, working as a board member in the 1990s. Today, she serves as part of the Host Committee, working alongside her husband and 26 other committee members.

Thanks to her long history of working with the competition, she remembers several pivotal moments in the competition’s history. “I became a Board Member of Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, and in 1995 we celebrated Pin Oak’s 50th anniversary at the Sam Houston Race Track,” Naschke Simonds recalled. “The following year the Great Southwest Equestrian Center opened, and the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show relocated to the equestrian center, where we are today.”

Naschke Simonds gives all the credit for her long riding career and passion for horses to her mother, Geraldine Naschke, who sadly passed away on July 12, 2011. Winners of the five-gaited show pleasure championship may remember Naschke’s name. To honor her memory, Naschke Simonds dedicated a memorial trophy in her honor.

“To honor her passing and her endless emotional support and guidance throughout Gerrie and mine’s many years of riding and showing, we established and presented the Mrs. John H. Naschke “Geraldine” Pin Oak Charity Horse Show Five-Gaited Show Pleasure Championship Perpetual Memorial Trophy in 2012,” Naschke Simonds said.

To make the trophy even more sentimental and meaningful to the whole Naschke family, Naschke Simonds used the Liberty Lions Club Charity Horse Show Five-Gaited Show Pleasure Championship Trophy for the award, re-dedicating it to her mother’s memory. This trophy is the exact same one that her sister, Naschke Bielefeld, won aboard Blue Diamond all those years ago in 1969.

Of course, there is no one better to present the award than Naschke Simonds herself. “To this day, I continue to volunteer and present my mother’s trophy each year at the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show.”

On occasion, an organization will come across an individual that is destined to play a large role in shaping its future and molding its growth. The Pin Oak Charity Horse Show has been lucky enough to benefit from the support and dedication of just such a person over the last several decades– Nancy Naschke Simonds.