About Us

Emerald Acres is situated in the beautiful North Western Florida Panhandle.  Our family purchased this property in May of 2005 and we are slowly building our breeding operation to be one of the finest in the area.  The property is gently sloped, and remains high and dry even during the worst of the storms.  There are many hardwood trees on the property - primarily live oaks and dogwoods (including a record breaking "Heritage" dogwood).  Our stalls are all 12 x 14 and are designed for maximum ventilation.  There are video monitors in the stalls for our foaling mares, and the owner, Anissa Cottongim, lives on the property.  Our horses, both young and old, are handled daily.    We welcome visitors by appointment.

Our Staff

This operation is the fulfillment of Anissa Cottongim's life-long dream to breed and raise horses.  Being a Air Force "brat," she was lucky enough to follow her parents to Bitburg, Germany in 1980.  Here she met the Portz family, who owns  Gut Hungerburg and who breed Trakehners.  This began the love affair that Anissa has with this breed of horse.  The family was stationed in Germany for 7 years, and while there, Anissa was given the opportunity to not only take lessons in dressage, cross country, and jumpers, but also assisted with the day-to-day life of running a busy breeding and training barn.  She also began learning about the Trakehner bloodlines, and the history of the breed.   Anissa stayed in Germany an additional year from her parents to attend the Universitat Konstanz in southern Germany.  Click here for photos from her time in Germany.  After leaving Germany, she attended Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio.  While there, she primarily focused on dressage lessons from Charlotte Bailey and even riding in a clinic with Betsy Steiner.  Eventually she transferred to Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida and obtained her BA in German.  While in Jacksonville, she worked, rode, and trained at a hunter/jumper barn in the area, Windemere Equestrian Center.  This is where she bought her first mare, Encore, and took the first steps to fulfilling her dream of breeding Trakehner horses.  Click  here for other photos from shows, clinics, and just around the barn.

None of this could have been possible without the support of her parents, TJ and Ann Cottongim.  Both mom and dad are retired officers with the United States Air Force.  TJ was an F-15 pilot, and Ann was in Public Affairs/Personnel.  Neither parent is particularly "horsey," but both are enjoying learning about the breed and are slowly being won over by the horse's natural beauty and friendliness.  TJ is the carpenter, fence builder, heavy lifter, electrician, and general all around handy-man.  Ann is actually volunteering with the American Trakehner Association to help with Public Relations now that she is retired, and has even bought her first horse, the mare Tanzania.  Ann is also Anissa's main support at the many shows we attend every year, and has become very proficient in hauling horses.  Click here for pictures of mom and dad hard at work!