WE GIVE HORSES WINGS!
P.O. Box 26
Ben Wheeler, Texas 75754
(903) 469-3578
Content copyright © 2023. The Pegasus Project LLC. All rights reserved.
Jan Cooper
Jan spent her early years in the Boston, Massachusetts, area, but moved to Europe when her father’s job took the family to Germany. She spent the next several years there, attending German schools, graduating from Munich American High School, and then attending The American College of Switzerland in Leysin, Switzerland. While working for Radio Liberty in Munich, she met her husband, Michael, a native of Washington State, who was in the Army at the time. After returning to the States for a short assignment at Fort Riley, Kansas, she and her husband returned to Munich, and took jobs at The Army and Air Force Exchange Service European Headquarters, the company which operates the Post Exchanges for both the US Army and the US Air Force. After the birth of their identical triplet daughters, the company transferred Michael from Munich to the worldwide headquarters in Dallas, Texas.
They settled into their home in Duncanville, and Jan took a break from her executive secretary position to care for their babies. She became actively involved with the PTA and The Dallas Mothers of Multiples organization, ultimately being elected president of the Texas Mothers of Multiples. Once the girls were older and in school, Jan returned to work, first with the local school district and then at The Dallas Morning News and WFAA-TV, Channel 8. While at The Morning News, Jan has spent many years as executive secretary to the VP/Community Services, SVP/Sales, VP/Financial Planning and Strategy, and VP/Controller. During these years, she has forged many connections to the community and the media in the DFW area.
Her insight and experience in these areas will be a great asset to the visibility and viability of The Pegasus Project. Although Jan has always loved horses, and has ridden some since she was a child, she was not able to realize her dream of having a horse until the children were grown. She started as a volunteer with Therapeutic Riding of Texas (TROT), soon had a horse of her own, took riding lessons and eventually was elected president of TROT. It was through these new adventures that she met Allyson and Mike, at a cow clinic, and a lifelong connection was forged. She was there at the start of the Pegasus dream and is ready to do all she can to make it thrive. Michael is an avid golfer, and Jan has one Pegasus horse, a pony, and a rescue cat. Together they have the three daughters and six grandchildren.
Anne Ellis
Anne Ellis graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BBA in Accounting. She is a CPA and worked as an Auditor for Ernest & Young in Dallas for several years before leaving to join a Dallas-based public company as Corporate VP of Investor Relations in charge of the President's speeches, Annual Reports, and relationships between the company and its investors and analysts. Later in life, she left the corporate world to complete a Ph.D. in Psychology. She is currently a licensed psychologist in private practice in Dallas. Throughout her life, she has felt an intense passion for protecting the rights of animals, and supports and volunteers at several nonprofits including the SPCA of Texas, Friends of Dallas Animal Services, and Mercy for Animals. One day in 2012, she met Allyson and Mike and immediately fell in love with Pegasus and one beautiful colt born at Pegasus named Bobby, who she adopted. The rest is history. Bobby now has a herd of his own and Anne is committed to helping Pegasus fulfill its mission for life.
ADVISORS TO THE BOARD
Bruce Logan
Bruce Logan has a long-term relationship with The Pegasus Project. He has trained several of the Pegasus rescue horses and continues to work with Pegasus to prepare our horses for adoption.
When asked how he got his start with horses, Bruce Logan's response was simple, "I didn't have a chance not to love horses. It was in my blood." He was born into a family that produced cutting horses on their ranch in Texas, and he began riding at a very young age. By the time he was in his early teens, he was already starting colts and winning cuttings. Bruce has dedicated his life to studying horses and has been fortunate to learn from some exceptional horsemen. He credits his father, Jerry Logan, and Ronnie Willis with being the most influential. Bruce continues to develop ranch horses and performance horses that he shows in cutting and cow horse disciplines.
Bruce's horsemanship philosophy is based on a foundation that helps the horse stay confident and supple. He believes in "putting the horse's mind, body and spirit first to accomplish the goals set for the horse and rider." This is achieved by giving the horse responsibilities to maintain and choices to make. Bruce states, "That is the difference between training versus developing the horse. In training, there is no choice. In developing, a horse must be held accountable for his choices, right or wrong, then shown what he is asked to perform. This is repeated as many times as needed over as much time as necessary. If the horse does not understand, then it is the rider's responsibility to adjust until he does."
Bruce is a gifted colt starter and is known throughout the US and abroad for his ability to help challenging horses work through problematic patterns and behaviors. Bruce has started thousands of colts and worked with countless horses trainined in all disciplines. He says, "The only reason I have had success with horses is because I have always adjusted to what the horse needed and would search until I found what the horse needed at the moment." His goal is to share his experiences with his students, so that they are able to offer their horses the same understanding.
Bruce lives in Texas on a 7000 acre, working cattle ranch. He offers several clinics at the ranch each year, covering horsemanship, cow work and colt starting. In addition to offering quarterly clinics at the Pegasus ranch, Bruce has a small number of dates available for clinics at other US locations and abroad.
Mark Rashid
Mark Rashid (pronounced RASH-id) is an internationally acclaimed horse trainer known for his ability to understand the horse's point of view and solve difficult problems with communication rather than force. He began working with horses at age 10, when he met the "old man," who taught him to work with the horse, not against the horse, and to listen to what the horse is trying to say. Mark's clinics center on one-on-one work with horse and rider and are immensely popular with people around the world. When Mark decided to study the martial art of aikido as a way to improve his horsemanship, he brought the same quiet determination to it that he exhibits in his work with horses. After years of practice, he has earned a second degree black belt in Yoshinkan aikido and now teaches the "way of harmony" in the local dojo. Mark worked full time on ranches for many years, gathering herds, managing stock and training horses. When time permits, he still enjoys working on ranches near his home in Estes Park, Colorado. Mark has been a guest on NPR's The Horse Show and was featured on the Nature series on PBS. He is the author of ten books - Considering the Horse; A Good Horse is Never a Bad Color; Horses Never Lie; Life Lessons from a Ranch Horse; Horsemanship Through Life; Big Horses, Good Dogs & Straight Fences; A Life with Horses; Whole Heart, Whole Horse; Journey to Softness; and a novel, Out of the Wild, which is being made into a movie. Mark met the DeCanios in 2012 when they hosted him in a horsemanship clinic, and their relationship has grown ever since. Mark fell in love with The Pegasus Project and has declared it to be the best run horse rescue he has ever witnessed. Mark and his wife Crissi McDonald (an acclaimed horsewoman in her own right) have adopted two Pegasus rescue horses, Sundance and Ally. The Pegasus Project is honored to have Mark, whom many believe is the world's greatest living horseman, serve as an adiser our board of directors.