Dr. Nancy Ferebee viewed equestrian activities as a way to bond with her daughter, who started riding when she was 7.
They took riding lessons together when the family lived in Great Falls, Va. Soon her daughter, Rachel Stein Ferebee, started competing, something she continued when the family moved to metro Atlanta in the mid-1990s.
When Rachel moved to advanced competitions, Dr. Ferebee sought a better dressage horse, which took her to Germany. She eventually bought three stallions and started Through Connection Ltd., a training and sales facility for German-riding pony breeding, in Alpharetta.
"She thought [the German riding pony] was perfect for children to learn horsemanship and competition," said her daughter, today a grad student at Tulane University who no longer competes. "She developed the same love and passion that I had for the sport. She became equally impassioned and saw the connection people can have with horses."
The family closed the farm in November when Dr. Nancy Stein Ferebee was diagnosed with cancer. She died on Feb. 18 from complications of the disease at her home in Alpharetta. She was 63. A private family service has been held; Southcare Cremation Society and Memorial Centers handled arrangements.
Dr. Ferebee was born in Chicago but moved to Washington, D.C., as a teen. She earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Duke University, then completed a postgraduate program at the Washington School of Psychiatry.
For eight years, she was a staff psychologist at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C. She also co-founded, in that city, Women's Psychotherapy Services, a business she ran until the family relocated in 1996 to Alpharetta.
Initially, the psychologist had wanted to major in architecture, but she changed her mind after taking a few college psychology courses, said Spencer Ferebee Jr., her husband of 41 years.
"She was a brilliant lady," he said. "She found out she loved psychology, and it just exploded from there."
In 2000, she started Through Connection Ltd., the breeding business, by importing from Germany three stallions: Benno's Dream, FS Daily Hero and Chicco B. That country is known for breeding sports ponies suitable for children to ride in national and international competitions.
"She fell in love with the breed because children could ride these special horses and compete," her daughter said. "She saw how the Germans rode and that there were children involved."
Additional survivors include two sons, John Spencer Ferebee III of Norcross and Matthew Louis Ferebee of Washington, D.C.; a sister, Lois Stein Cohen of Potomac, Md.; and one grandchild.
About the Author
