Welcome to Snowy Owl Publishing: Author Bio

Cynthia D. Graham was born in 1952 and grew up in Philadelphia, PA. A love for animals came naturally to her, when as a little girl she became the animal caretaker of cats, dogs, rabbits, hamsters, and birds. Completely horse crazy, she learned to ride at an early age and always wanted to own her own horses.

Enrolled in an Agriculture High School, she pursued her dreams by learning everything that was entailed in owning a farm and caring for animals. When her family moved out of the city to a small farm, she was able to get her first horse which was the foundation of the breeding program she developed and has today. She continued her agriculture education at the local technical school.

High school Future Farmers of America and 4-H affiliation with competitions strengthened Cynthia’s interest and knowledge of agriculture. 1968 brought a year of change for FFA when she became the first girl to unofficially compete in FFA State competition in Public Speaking on “The Appaloosa Horse” at Penn State University. At this time girls were not officially able to compete in competitions. This opportunity opened the door to the charters being changed to enable girls being recognized on a state level.

As a long time animal caretaker she started with the childhood cats, dogs, rabbits, hamsters, birds, fish, horses, chickens, pigs and ended up with a dairy cattle farm in Minnesota. She organized and lead a new 4-H club into competition in its first year. An active horse breeder and competitor since 1967, grooming became a natural occupation. Later with two daughters competing in FFA and 4-H on local and state levels with projects from sheep, dairy cattle, beef cattle, goats and horses, grooming became a necessity. Dogs were introduced as projects into both organizations and American Kennel Club competitions, which led to the opening of a dog grooming salon.

Her credentials include an Associate of Arts Degree in Business Administration and a Certification in Dog Grooming from Vance-Granville Community College, completion of the Horse protection Officers Short Course and the Animal Cruelty Investigation Short Course for Horse Management Evaluation Techniques from North Carolina State University.

Cynthia has owned and operated a grooming salon since 1986 in North Carolina. Coverage of her salon in the area newspaper was a major feature following a tour of three grooming establishments in the area. Puppy Love Grooming had been steadily gaining recognition and was growing into a well known area service.

Art and writing have been a long time passion and she stays busy attending regular college semesters for painting and drawing in addition to online classes. A regular member of the Kerr Lake Art Society, she competes in area shows regularly, in both paintings and photography. One again she received coverage in the area newspaper for a first place state award in a painting category at a major show.

Using her creative skills she actively designs and maintains the website www.boundarywatersfarm.com for the family horse breeding operation and www.bouncingwondersfarm.com for her oldest daughter’s veterinary service.

Cynthia lives with family, many cats, dogs, horses, one donkey and a mini horse named Dobby that resides in the home. Dobby has special needs that have been an ongoing commitment and his webpage covers his progress. Watch for his story to come out in a future children’s book.