For Joan Sadler, the childhood memory of her parents taking her to Virginia Beach for pony rides at the carnival makes her beam. “We’d go round and round and around,” Sadler says. “I was five years old, and I was crazy about ponies.”
Today, Sadler, 59, carves wooden flower planters adorned with the sculpted heads of ponies, among other equestrian-themed items, such as saddle and bridle racks and tack trunks. She hones her craft in a cozy woodshop tucked inside her home’s garage in Gaetna, Virginia, a tiny town of around 1,250 residents about 50 miles from Roanoke.
From there, she hits the road throughout the year to attend horse shows in the southeast. That’s where she peddles her hand-hewn designs. Sadler’s Dragonfly Woodworks display is typically tucked under a tree alongside the rings of brightly painted jumps. It’s a buzzy meeting spot for trainers, competitors, owners, and grooms, who might grab a seat on one of her large wooden tack trunks to chat, admire her goods, and place custom orders.
“This is heaven. I get to sit here in my chair and watch the most beautiful horses walk by all day long,” she says. “It’s a carnival. It’s like the one I went to as a kid. It’s that high-energy atmosphere of excitement.”
Sadler started her horse-themed woodworking business in earnest about four years ago. But her love of horses ...
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