Growing up in the suburbs didn’t allow Deborah Stacey an opportunity to spend time with horses. She had to find other ways to feed her passion, which she did through reading and learning about horses, drawing horses, and watching every program and movie she could find.

The fascination with horses remained strong through high school. After graduating, an opportunity arose to take English riding lessons near her family home. One day at the barn her riding instructor asked if she wanted to work as a groom at a small, private hunter and jumper stable outside of Montreal. She jumped at the chance.

Around this time Humber College in Toronto started up a two-year horsemanship program. Deborah graduated with an Honours Degree in Horsemanship in the mid-seventies and went on to work with hunters and jumpers, at a hunter-jumper breeding farm, and boarding stables with a focus on dressage.

Years later, she had a family of her own and a daughter who loved horses. In school, her daughter struggled with math. Using the math worksheets her daughter brought home from school as a reference, Deborah started creating math questions based on the real world of horses. She began seeing math everywhere in her work with horses, and Horse Lover’s Math (HLM) was born.

When kids have the freedom to pursue their own interests, learning happens naturally. It is Deborah’s hope that HLM will open the door to learning for horse-crazy kids.

HLM is now an active website for kids ages 8 and up devoted to horses, math, and science offering print and downloadable STEM resources. Website posts and content are free and open to everyone.