Meet the Driver

In the Saddle

Owner-operator balances trucking with love of horses

MeetShon Osborne

Working with his American Saddlebred horses, owner-operator Shon Osborne uses the same values he carries with him in his job — a commitment to working with others and putting in the right amount of time and effort.

“When I was growing up I had them,” Osborne says of horses of varying breeds. “Once I moved back to Louisiana, I got back into it.”

Osborne, 37, lives with his wife and two children in Ruston, La., and is leased to Schneider National. When not on the road, he can often be found in the saddle. Osborne currently owns the most horses he’s ever had at one time — five mares, one stallion and three babies.

With his trucking business occupying much of his time, when he’s not able to ride the horses, he relies on other people to help work them. “I don’t have much time training,” he says. “I have a couple of guys that ride, and I get one of them to at least break them.”

After raising the horses, Osborne sells most to friends interested in getting into gaited horses, show horses with a naturally smooth walk. He hopes to keep the young stallion as a breeding horse. With an American Saddlebred stallion, Osborne has the chance to break into a new breed of horses as he crossbreeds it.

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“I say I’m going to get me an Arabian mare and crossbreed with the American Saddlebred and have a national show horse,” Osborne says.

 

Q&A

Q: What is your favorite city you have traveled to?

A: Dallas, because I have a lot of relatives that live out there, and I can stop by and visit.


Q: What is some advice you would give to other truckers?

A: Get with a company and get a pretty decent relationship with them and try to stick with them rather than trying to jump from job to job.


Q: What is one thing you always take with you on the road?

A: With the company I’m with now, I take my laptop, because that’s the way I dispatch myself.


Q: What is your favorite food?

A: Catfish.

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