Karina
was born and raised in Iowa, the youngest of three children (Sister Gretta
is a naturalist and runs Threshold Learning Center in central Iowa; Brother
Jayson is lead animator for Ghost Productions, Inc., a computer graphics
company, specializing in medical animation, and lives in St. Pau). Her
parents were both teachers in the public education system. Everywhere the
Slingers have lived, since Karina was about 10 years old, she has found
friends who owned horses. When it
became clear that she was willing to do any job caring for horses just to be
able to ride one, her parents knew she was serious about her love for them.
Over the years she became acquainted with horses that were pets, horses that
worked with cows, show horses, pleasure horses, Friesians, Perchurons and,
of course, Arabians. The rest of her family knows nothing about her chosen
field. She now owns four horses - a Half-Arab gelding; a Half-Arab mare
and her two offspring - a two-year-old filly and a yearling colt.
Between her 9th and 10th grade years in high school, Karina's parents moved
to the San Bernadino
Mountains of Southern California to establish a hands-on, physical science
program for middle school students for Guided Discoveries, Inc. For two
summers, Karina lived on Catalina Island at a marine science camp, which was
part of the parent company. While there, she learned to snorkel and scuba
dive, sail and wind surf. It was a great move for Karina and helped guide
her in her career decision.
Over the years Karina has helped her parents in outdoor education programs,
doing everything from teaching, hiking, canoeing, working on maintenance,
serving as a lifeguard, leading summer camps and cooking with the kitchen
staff. Her skills are myriad. Good organization is one of her positive
traits. She has a talent for presenting information in equine breeding
that is clear and simple but grounded in her knowledge of the subject.
Outside of work, Karina's chief joy is being "Aunt Kari" to her three
nephews and two nieces - Cameron, Hannah and Jacob Reischauer and Cyrus
and Roya Slinger. She offers them love and adventures beyond those which
their parents and
grandparents
provide. They and she are fortunate to share in each other's lives.
Karina has been Breeding Manager at Anoka Equine Veterinary Services, Ltd.
since 2002. She graduated from Rim of the World High School in Lake
Arrowhead CA. Then she attended Cal Poly - Pomona for two and one half
years, majoring in Equine Science. In the summers of 1993 and 1994 she
worked as a groom at Cedar Ridge Arabians in Jordan MN, returning to college
for the winter and spring quarters. In the fall of 1994, Karina remained at
Cedar Ridge to become breeding manager and to get more experience in the
field. After a couple of years she moved to Iowa and continued her education
at Iowa State University in Ames, majoring in Animal Science. After she
graduated from ISU, she worked for Gordon Training Center, where she met Dr.
Tom Juergens. She returned to Iowa and worked with her parents in outdoor
education, leading horse camps and teaching. When Karina learned of the
opportunity to become Breeding Manager at Anoka Equine, she was eager to
return to active participation in the horse industry by serving in that
capacity at a large equine clinic.
This site was last updated 02/28/08