July 22, 2007 — St. John resident Dana Bartlett was a woman with a dream. She wanted to work for herself and she loved animals. Carolina Corral was the result.
"Being persistent is the key," she said.
She now has nine horses used for taking people on horseback rides in the hills above Coral Bay. Bartlett also has a stable full of donkeys used for wagon rides, but said she still needs to train some males because the females run off while chasing the male donkeys.
She started out small with one donkey named Pepe, which she still owns.
Bartlett, now 44, was working at the Colombo Yogurt stand on Centerline Road when Pepe began hanging around.
"I gave him a carrot," she said.
A halter came next and by 1994 she and Pepe opened Carolina Corral.
Bartlett, a graduate from Kent State University with a bachelor's degree in Education, and her former husband owned a not-to-successful restaurant in Akron, Ohio when they spotted an advertisement for a chef on St. John in the Akron Beacon Journal.
"I'd never heard of the Virgin Islands," the Wooster, Ohio native said.
They took the chance, and her husband got the job at Shipwreck Landing. Bartlett worked at the now-closed Tiny Jewels gift shop in Cruz Bay before moving on to the yogurt stand.
Carolina Corral grew slowly, with Bartlett adding horses and donkeys one by one. Many were like Winter, a pasofino breed abandoned in Tutu, St. Thomas. When she adopted him, he was skin and bones. While he now takes visitors out riding, others are still on the frail side and don't have to work for a living.
Bartlett said she faces several challenges. The logistics of getting food from Puerto Rico are among them, but she said that situation is getting easier as transportation improves.
Then there's the problem of keeping the horses and donkeys healthy. "Bacteria can get out of control so quick," she said.
She also faces marketing challenges. She said she advertises in magazines, the Internet and on cable TV's tourism channel.
"Keeping the word out there is a struggle," she said, adding that she wishes more local residents would come out to Coral Bay to enjoy a ride.
And she faces the same challenge as many other St. John businesses — finding good help that sticks around.
She said that anyone who wants to work with horses should give her a call.
When she's not tending her animals, which takes considerable time every day, or taking visitors on rides, she attends a non-denominational church, sails dinghies, and sings with the St. John Singers.
All in all, it's a full plate.
"I wish I had more time," she said, echoing the lament of many small business owners.
Call Carolina Corral at 693-5778.
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