DRC/Barron Ludlum

Monica Millan-Barbera saddles up her black mustang, Bruno, at Black Mustang Ranch.

A year ago, Monica Millan-Barbera moved out of her Trophy Club home, quit her international marketing job with Bell Helicopter and bought a five-acre ranch in Pilot Point to spend more time with her black mustang, Bruno. “I was tired of the corporate world,” she said. “I thought to myself, ‘What do I want to do?’” Millan-Barbera’s lifelong passion for horses started when she was a young girl growing up in Northern Spain. Her initial business plan, a full horse boarding facility, broadened with the addition of trail rides. “People came out asking for rides,” she said.

DRC/Al Key

Christy Blankenau, owner of Curves at 2324 San Jacinto Blvd., stands by one of her fitness center's machinees equipped with CurvesSmart, a system that monitors how users perform during each workout. "Since the CurvesSmart computer knows your fitness level on each machine, it will keep you focused and push you through your workout for maximum results," Blankenau said. "The computer doesn't lie."

Although she admits she doesn’t really like to exercise, Dee Barnes decided she’d give Curves a try. Three years later, Barnes credits CurvesSmart — her new personal trainer of sorts — for continued motivation. CurvesSmart is billed as an electronic personal coaching monitor that gives users a more accurate reading of their workout. The system was introduced last year at the Curves workout center in San Jacinto Plaza in Denton.