EY Directory Entry

EY: Hello, Lucy.  We appreciate you trotting away for a few minutes to do an interview.  Can you start buy telling us how Top Tack Inc. got started?

Lucy: Top Tack got started from necessity.  I have been teaching people to ride horses for approximately 30 years and I needed more effective training tack in my work.  A friend said, “We could make these!” And so, we did! 

EY: Sounds like you two were a good fit, but what exactly makes Top Tack different from other suppliers?

Lucy: First : It turns out that other riders and trainers also need longer lungelines, sliding side reins and other training tack that is effective on the horse and easy to use.  We make very specific items that are not available from the larger manufacturers in the equine industry.  We sell our tack to the  public via our website, top tackinc.com, and thru equine catalogs and tack stores throughout the US and Canada.

Second:  We are a home-based company.  The people who manufacture our items work out of their homes or businesses and I run the office from my house.  This arrangement has enabled us to run a business while taking care of children, grand children, spouses and, of course, the horses!

EY: Talk about work-life balance.  How long have you been juggling all this?

Lucy: This is our 17th year in business here in Yakima.

EY: Quite the staple around here, I see.  Any long time Yakima businesses you'd like to give a special nod too?

Lucy: The 3 Yakima firms that help us the most are Yakindo Web Designs (website development) and the Yakima Bindery ( office supplies and copy service) and Dietzen & Lakey, CPAs.  We could not operate without these people!

EY: I'm sure, it takes community to build a successful business!  How about a funny experience you've had while doing business?

Lucy: I get some very strange questions over the phone from customers, who mostly want to tell me about their horses.  Horse owners can really TALK!  Some of the things that people try to do while training a horse can be very odd.

EY: I may just have to let sleeping horses lie on that one.   So what's you favorite thing about Yakima?

Lucy: The weather is fabulous here with lots of sunshine.  This climate is ideal for horses and there’s lots of horse activity.  I like the agricultural atmosphere of this area and the economic advantages.  I knew when I first arrived here as a young newlywed that we would be able to buy a house and that I would have horses here.

EY: How about your favorite Yakima pastime?

Lucy: Do you mean other than riding horses?  I like the recent upsurge in the performing arts that are available in Yakima: The Capitol Theatre, the FolkLife series, the Seasons.  I am also appreciative of the amount of movies that are available to us at the theatres.  And one of the very BEST things about Yakima is the public library, which offers services not found elsewhere!

EY: I'm a bit of a bookworm myself.  Although I'll be honest, i never read Black Beauty.  Do you have a favorite snack?

Lucy: Right now it’s yellow peppers but that can change at any moment.

EY: And the million dollar question: if they made a movie about your life tomorrow, what famous actress would play you?

Lucy: Haven’t got a clue!  Does Sandra Bullock know how to ride a horse?

EY: Ha ha ha.  I think she did in Runaway Bride - with tennis shoes and all. 

Well, thanks again Lucy!