Owner of animal supply stores honored at dinner

Rick Wills

A love for horses and a desire to start a business from scratch resulted in a thriving four-store animal supply business for Rick Wills, the owner of Rick's Saddle Shop, and now have earned him the title of 2006 Horseperson of the Year.

Wills was presented with the 2006 Governor's Trophy at the 50th annual New Jersey Breeders' Dinner in Free-hold, which celebrates the state's best in the equine field.

New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Charles M. Kuperus said, "Rick Wills has done so much for the equine industry in New Jersey, providing the necessary support to help keep the industry strong. He is deserving of this award for his generosity and commitment to educating those in the industry and in the community about the importance of horses and other animals."

What began in an old beauty salon in Englishtown blossomed into four stores in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: two stores in Englishtown, Rick's Heritage in West Chester, Pa., and the new Rick's Saddle Shop in the Cream Ridge section of Upper Freehold Township.

Wills began his career driving a route for the Coca-Cola Co. in Asbury Park and eventually worked his way up to supervisor of a sales team in the New York region. He left Coke in 1977 to follow his dream of starting his own business. His hobby was trading horses, as well as the equipment that came with the animals. He began selling tack through classified advertisements and at the Englishtown Auction Sales, Manalapan. This led to the rental of an old beauty shop and the establishment of Rick's Saddle Shop in Englishtown.

In 1982, Wills purchased a feed store in Cream Ridge to open the second Rick's Saddle Shop.

Wills and his wife, Rose Marie, have a daughter, Kathy, who is vice president of the business, and have three grandchildren.

Other awards presented at the Breeders' Dinner were:

+ New Jersey Stan-dardbred of the Year Award: Glidemaster, son of Yankee Glide, won the Triple Crown of Trotting in 2006 on his way to winning eight of 15 starts with seven second-place finishes. He earned $1.9 million for his owners, Robert B. Burgess and Karin Olsson Burgess of Ontario, Canada, Marsha A. Cohen of Asbury, and Brittany Farms of Versailles, Ky. He will begin his stallion career at Walnridge Farm of Pennsyl-vania in 2007.

+ New Jersey Thoroughbred of the Year Award: This is the second consecutive year that Park Avenue Ball has won this award. Bred in New Jersey by C.J. Hesse Inc., Park Avenue Ball is a 4-year-old chestnut colt by Citidance, out of Road to the Ball, by Cahill Road. A winner of seven races in 18 career starts, Park Avenue Ball joined the ranks of the top-five New Jersey-bred earners of all time after a successful 2006 campaign that saw him win three of his six starts. Park Avenue Ball won $317,000 in 2006 and has career earnings of $946,600.

+ The Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey honored Allen and Connie Skolnick's South-wind Farm in Pennington as 2006 Breeder of the Year, for the Skolnicks' long-standing support of the New Jersey standardbred breeding program during more than 20 years that the farm has been in operation.