← Katie Van Slyke - Katching Up With Katie
Katie Van Slyke - Katching Up With Katie
My Best Friend Is Back...And I'm Telling Her EVERYTHING
00:43:21
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- [00:00]
A
Welcome back to Catching it with Katie. We just got back from Kentucky. I am so whipped. I'm so tired. Like, we got home Saturday and then straight went into, like, mini fall watch. And y' all will have to stay tuned for more about that. But I have my bestie Danny on the podcast today. I mean, is this even a podcast? Yeah, it's a podcast.
- [00:20]
B
It's a podcast.
- [00:21]
A
It's a podcast. Yeah, we're just chatting. And so for a little backstory, because she's a fellow horse girl. So we're going to get into horse show stuff, but as a backstory. Backstory as to, like, our relationship, because we've done one of these episodes a long time ago. But when I was 16. I won't say how old you were.
- [00:41]
B
I would have been 21.
- [00:43]
A
When I was 16, she was 21. She was like, getting more into, like, university life. Adulthood life. And so she was selling her all around gelding named Calvin, AKA Zipping on top. And that's who became my youth career show partner. And when I bought him, my parents bought him, he came down from Colorado because that's where he had been boarded and trained. And I was keeping him at home. And I was, like, having such issues figuring out his buttons because he was so unique. Unique. We'll call him unique. And so Danny offered to help. And then my parents were like, well, we'll give you a ticket if you'll come, you know, hang out for the weekend and just show her how to ride. And so she came all the way from Alberta.
- [01:27]
B
Yeah.
- [01:28]
A
To help me ride Calvin. And it just clicked.
- [01:32]
B
Yeah.
- [01:33]
A
Became besties. And ever since then, you know, we've had this not only bond over the horses, but we've had. We've had really cool experiences. And so she lives here now. She came to be my maid of honor and met her husband while she was here visiting. Because she used to. Before she lived here, she used to
- [01:49]
B
visit for like a month at a time. An inappropriate amount of time.
- [01:53]
A
Well, and we never planned for it to be No a month. It's like you'd come for two weeks. Like, let's say it'd be like, oh, come for CMA Fest.
- [02:02]
B
Yeah.
- [02:02]
A
You know, and then we'll go to
- [02:03]
B
the lake the next week and we'll
- [02:04]
A
go to the lake and we'll make it a two week thing. And then they would come, like the day before you'd leave.
- [02:08]
B
And we'd be panicking. Both of us would be so sad.
- [02:11]
A
And like, we'd be calling Brian and being like, can you please swap her, you know, whatever her flight. And so her dad would, would always oblige us.
- [02:21]
B
He was like, I don't care.
- [02:24]
A
So that was so fun. And now you live here. And unfortunately, I feel like we.
- [02:30]
B
The irony of it all. Yeah, we definitely see each other less. But it's kind of cool because it was a year and a half ago now. Katie brought me on to help with working with like all of this stuff. So.
- [02:43]
A
So I feel like it was. I feel like you've been here longer.
- [02:46]
B
In October, it'll be two years.
- [02:48]
A
Okay.
- [02:48]
B
Okay.
- [02:50]
A
And so, I mean, give us a little background on what you do because a lot of people have been interested in like, you know, what goes on behind the scenes. Because I feel like the team has just grown exponentially over the last three years. So give us a little, yeah, I don't know, gist of what you do.
- [03:04]
B
So when Katie makes her video, she goes through obviously films, she edits them all herself. But then for, you know, Facebook and TikTok, those longer formats are okay, but not on Snapchat, not on YouTube, not on Instagram. So then I go through and I edit every video that needs it down to fit the standards.
- [03:23]
A
Most of them need it because I love to be four minutes long and that's just the bane of her existence as of late.
- [03:28]
B
Yeah, I'll look at them and I'm like, I hate you so much, Katie. I'll look at like a nine minute video. I'm like. And so, yeah, I, I do that. So everything gets cross posted by me. And then I also help with the YouTube channel.
- [03:45]
A
Stallion Pages.
- [03:46]
B
Stallion pages, the merch page.
- [03:50]
A
I mean, yeah, you're so. She is wildly talented in many ways. So she went to school for neuroscience and then she's also a, has a master's in mediation and like all these weird things that, that tie in together. She and her husband own a trash company. Like there's just a whole lot of things.
- [04:11]
B
Own a jiu jitsu gym.
- [04:13]
A
Yeah, that's like the big one. Yeah, so she, she's a jiu jitsu queen. And so she also kind of helps like a little bit on the hre type of things here as well. So it's kind of wild to me that that's even needed in a company that I created. Like, that's. Yeah, wild that like there's that many employees and there's that many, you know. Yeah, but it's great. We don't see each other as much, probably in a fun way, but you know, it's very nice having someone that's like in my corner that like I know without a doubt you, you have like all the intentions of loving the business or loving whatever I, whatever I have going on like for me. And it's like when you are building something, it's like you have to have those people that you like trust wholeheartedly. So like you're that, you're that gal.
- [05:03]
B
Well, and it's kind of nice because I do have other clients. But I, I, I don't know, I like, like working for you because I don't know, it's just like I feel like I'm helping build something which is really nice. I'm also corny.
- [05:15]
A
So in a good way and a bad way I'm kind of low maintenance. Like. Yeah, when I.
- [05:21]
B
Okay, it's like too low maintenance.
- [05:24]
A
Sometimes you wish I'd give some input.
- [05:25]
B
Yeah. Like I just before we were talking I just gave like a really bad idea, but it was a mistake and like double named people name the same thing. And she's just like, okay. I'm like, wait, hold on. No, that's a bad idea. You should not have just been okay with that.
- [05:41]
A
Like there's just so many things going on at once that I have to just some stuff just can't, can't take too much in my. Ha ha ha. Can't take too much space in my brain. And so my cousin Aaron, while we were gone on this past trip, she's a photographer and she came and helped out by taking some pictures while I was gone. And so I'm super close with my cousins and she's been like a sister my whole life. And so she was hanging out with my mom one of the days and she was like, my mom was asking her, well, what's it like over there? Like what's it like? Which it wasn't even a normal day because we weren't here. But she's like, what's it like working over there? And she was like, so you know on the episode of Friends where Monica goes and wedding shot wedding dress shops and she has gives everyone whistles and then she just is like, go, go, go. You over there, you over there, you over there. She's like, that's kind like how it is. And I was like, I hate that. That's the chaotic.
- [06:36]
B
It's super accurate. But the thing is, it's like you when you work with animals and this many people, like things are just unpredictable.
- [06:43]
A
Yeah. Like, you know, I have a brand manager named Abra and she is, she's the reason everything goes around. Yeah, seriously, she is the reason everything goes around. She's amazing. And she will text me and be like, why haven't you posted this yet? Or, or I need this or I need that. And I'm like, I. Charlotte's trying to die at the moment. I'm so sorry.
- [07:02]
B
Six horses are actively trying to die right now.
- [07:05]
A
I'm like, I'm driving to the vet. I can't do that right now. I'm so sorry. So it's like there's a lot of different aspects throughout the day that just cause chaos.
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B
Yeah.
- [07:16]
A
But, yeah, so you help kind of manage the chaos a bit. And you are also a good insight into like the horse show world of it. And so a lot of people had questions, you know, kind of pertaining to this last horse show because it was a lot different than anything that I've ever shared, you know, being gone that long, showing in, you know, classes that I've never shown in before. And it was interesting. So I know you had had some questions, you know, so one of the
- [07:44]
B
like, especially new for you things and you were showing three different horses.
- [07:49]
A
Yes.
- [07:50]
B
So can you kind of explain what that's like and the difficulties around it?
- [07:55]
A
And let me just say a lot of people do this all the time. This isn't special. Like, it's not special that I.
- [08:00]
B
Not special.
- [08:01]
A
It's, it's hard, it's hard to, it's kind of hard to describe because horse trainers do it all the time. You know, they've got these horses that they're, they're swapping back and forth between and they have different feel, different buttons, different attitude, different everything. Right. Well, I, I wouldn't say it's uncommon for amateurs to like have one or two horses. Like some might have an English horse and a Western horse. Some might do the all around like I used to, where it's all on one horse. Others might have like a, a three year old pleasure horse and then their senior pleasure horse. Like, I don't think it's uncommon necessarily for someone to ride multiple horses, but I was very proud of myself, I will say. Like, I, I'm usually pretty self deprecating. I was very proud of myself because other than Kennedy, I don't really have access to the other horses to ride all the time and like practice and be, you know, really synced up with them. And so I, I showed Kennedy in the Western Pleasure, I showed Denver in the Western Pleasure, and then I, for the first time and then I showed Hollywood in the Western Riding. And I don't think you could pick three horses that were more different from one another. And Kennedy being, like, the only one that, like I said, like, I'd gotten to ride at home and, you know, be a little bit more in sync with.
- [09:16]
B
But you haven't shown her that much.
- [09:18]
A
No. Which is my second. It is different. It's so different.
- [09:21]
B
Very different.
- [09:21]
A
And so this was our second show, Denver. This is my first time ever showing him. And I have ridden him, like, before I showed him. I've written him thrice.
- [09:34]
B
Yeah.
- [09:34]
A
Within the year of 2026.
- [09:36]
B
Can you tell the story of Aaron and you conversing about whether you were gonna get to show him?
- [09:42]
A
This show is really long. It was called the Premiere. It's at the Kentucky Horse Park. This show specifically has a lot of, like, futurity and maturity classes. So a futurity within AQHA and within a lot of breed associations is usually four years and under. It's like a. A class that is for these younger horses. Uh, and you usually win some money. It's usually has money tied to it. It's not just a regular AQHA class. And so it's usually in, like, a pro division, open, like, I guess I should say open instead of pro, because anyone can show in it, trainers or non pros. But then in the non pro, only non pros can show. And so they have the futurities and then they have the maturities, which is the same thing, but for, like, five and over. And so Denver being five, he has not shown in a Western pleasure class since last October. After that, he swapped to Western riding for the World show. And then after the World show in November, he was not ridden until late March at all. Yeah, not a single ride from November to late March.
- [10:51]
B
And he was breeding, right?
- [10:52]
A
Yes. And he was breeding. So that's a whole different mental swap. So then he went back into work and only went back into thinking, like, Western writing mode, which is a lot more forward. It's a lot freer. It's very different than Western pleasure. And so at this show, I was like, listen, it's been our goal that I show Denver in a Western pleasure class. And I see that there's a maturity, like a weekend to this show into the show. I. I would like to show in it. I was like, I would really like to show in it. I would really like to just rip the band aid off, if we can. And also, I was joking, but not joking. I was like. Or I could show him in the Western riding. That's Fine. I'll just show me the less writing. Arguably, I think I'd probably do better at it.
- [11:36]
B
Just testing your luck. You're like, or.
- [11:39]
A
And because his whole thing was he was like, listen, like, there's already 15 horses in that class. It's not that I think Denver is going to be bad, because he's not bad for me ever. He was like. But stallions and young stallions, specifically, and, like, fresh off the breeding train, stallions. I mean, he's only been, like, out of the breeding shed for, like, 60 days. You know, they just can. They can be kind of unpredictable and. And he gave us zero reason to think he would do anything.
- [12:05]
B
Yeah.
- [12:06]
A
Literally at all. Based on Aaron riding him or, like, me practicing. But you get into a pen of a bunch of horses if, like, who knows what if a mare that's in heat comes in, gets right in front of him and. And blocks him in and, you know, you just don't know.
- [12:20]
B
Yeah.
- [12:20]
A
So you have to ride smart while you're in there. You have to make sure you're putting him in spaces that are good for him. You have to make sure you're not putting him into bad positions. And, you know, there was just a lot to it that was making Aaron a little nervous. I. I think. But I think he also believed in Denver. And after having a couple of lessons, we were walking out to the first lesson, and I was like. And listen, if this is. If this is a stretch, I said that to Aaron. I was like, if this is a stretch. And he's like, I'm just gonna stop you right here. There's nothing about this that isn't a stretch. Like, this is a hundred percent a stretch. We're. But we're gonna. We're gonna figure it out. And so then I had two lessons, and honestly, the majority of the lesson, he's like, that looks pretty good. Looks pretty good. And so I don't think he could really tell me no at that point that I couldn't, because we had very successful lessons. I think. I think if I had gone out there and we were just having issues and not vibing and, you know, whatever, I think he would have probably pulled the plug and I would have had to listen to him. But, you know, we definitely didn't have, like, the best go ever in our. Our show. Like, we had this one class. It was clean. We didn't break. We had an even pace the majority of the time. Like, sometimes it was me that kind of got out of rhythm. Yeah, we had a good spot on the rail the whole time. You know, there was things like we got in there, and they called for the extended jog. And I was like, we didn't practice this. I don't know how fast to go.
- [13:51]
B
I don't know.
- [13:52]
A
I don't know where. You know, I don't want to make him go too fast and then not be able to bring him back down with my feet.
- [13:59]
B
I don't want, like, Aaron, the big eyes. You're like.
- [14:01]
A
And then it's like, if I. If I pushed him, I was going to have to pass the person in front of me and, like, pull him off the rail.
- [14:05]
B
Yeah.
- [14:06]
A
And I was like, I won't do that. I'm like, I know he does well off the rail, but then I don't know how it's going to be getting him back on. And I. I like my spot. And so I very much negated fancy points.
- [14:19]
B
Yeah.
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A
If that makes sense.
- [14:20]
B
You just conservative.
- [14:21]
A
I was very conservative. And Denver, like, that's where he can go in the class is like, his extended jog. And, like. Like, he's so fancy. And I just was like, no, Nope. And. And then at one point, Aaron's like, are you gonna use your feet? Because once I got in there, again, it's the difficulty of riding three different horses.
- [14:41]
B
Yeah.
- [14:42]
A
I had been riding Kennedy. I'd been riding Hollywood. I'd been riding Denver. And some of them, you, like. You know, I'd had so many. So much information put in my brain in, like, 24 hours. Some of them, you, like, put your feet in and then let them settle, and you don't use your feet to, like, come back down from the jog, like, if you want them to, like, slow down or whatever. Like, Kennedy, you don't really use your feet, like, a whole lot at the jog. She has this really cute little, like, up and down jog. And you don't really have to work for it that hard, and you don't want to push her too much forward. Denver has a very cute jog, But I was supposed to be using my feet. I got it so backwards. I got in there, and I was like, I don't remember. Yeah, I don't remember which one I'm supposed to do. I don't know if I'm supposed to go in. I don't know if I'm supposed to stay out. And so at one point, Aaron's like, are you going to use your feet? Use your dang feet. What are you doing?
- [15:32]
B
You're like, right? Yes, I am in Fact. Going to do that.
- [15:36]
A
And so at, like, one point, he was a little more forward than he should have been, because I was just like, I guess I'm. I'm riding this jog right now. I. Whatever. And we got. We brought it back. It was all good. The second way was much better.
- [15:49]
B
Yeah.
- [15:49]
A
I had a much better understanding of him turning around and going the second way. So there was things like that. And then one time at the lope, I was loping him, and I remember hearing him say outside, he can lope slow. Let him lope slow. So in turn, when I got in there, that meant in my brain, Lopez, slow as you possibly can, which isn't the best for him. He looks better going more forward. But that didn't make sense in my brain at that point.
- [16:16]
B
You're like, last cube, go slow.
- [16:18]
A
I was like, yeah. And so I'm loping down the line. He's like, you're almost trotting lope kiss bush. And so it's really funny. But then. So it's like he's so, like, from the sidelines, he. Aaron's. I love how serious and sassy. But then you get off, and he's like, that was so good, you know? Yeah. And so we had. We had an awkward little high five at the end. There's video of it, and it doesn't look nearly as awkward as it felt because he went for one, like, okay, so high five. He went for this, and I didn't. And so then it was just like, a really weird. You're like, yeah, it's a really weird handhold. Anyway, so that was riding Denver so different. I forgot the original question.
- [17:02]
B
Yeah, riding. Riding the three different horses and kind
- [17:05]
A
of their feel, because Denver's not necessarily, like, you're not pushing him the whole time. You just kind of get in there, and then you just ride his rhythm. Yeah, like, you just keep him rhythm. So, like, I counted a lot when I was on him. And you don't want him to lay on your foot, because a lot of the times, like, let's say you're on the right lead, so that means their right front leg is extending the most. And you're trying to push him forward into that, like, that leg, and you're trying to keep his hind end engaged. Well, with Denver, he'll. He'll start to just lay on your foot if you keep it there. And. And then you lose your. Your momentum. You lose your power with that foot. So you just ask him to. You. You just kind of put it on him. When he needs it and then you take it off. Whereas with Hollywood, which is my 18 year old Western riding gelding. Yeah, he was just like, there's a couple times in the pattern you can see where we like, we don't necessarily break, but we like stall out for a half of a stride and it's very noticeable. And so like I came out and Jeff Malott, who was helping me at the show was like, you took your leg off, didn't you? And I was like, yes, for like a half of a second. And he's like, yeah, you can't do that. And so he. Denver. Denver's very different in the fact that, you know, you just put it on when you needed, you need it the entire time. With Hollywood, it's like the opposite. And then his jog, it's very snaky. It's very low to the ground. There's not a lot of lift to it. And so to get over the log clean and to have like a nice cadence, you kind of have to just like use your seat and you have to really use your feet the entire time. Create this cadence. Yeah, he's not going to do it for you. Like you have to, to help him.
- [18:43]
B
Yeah.
- [18:44]
A
And so that's so different going from one where you're pushing and driving the entire time and then get on to one where you're more so thinking about just rhythm and staying soft and square. And then on Kennedy, who's a weirdo. So for instance, Kelby Hutchinson. Yeah, he trained her for like a year. And so he was watching me honor and he was like, Kennedy, I love that horse. She is the most still to this day, one of the most talented horses I've ever ridden. But she's a weirdo. And I was like, I'm figuring that out.
- [19:16]
B
I'm well aware.
- [19:16]
A
Yeah, that's like Stephanie who you know is training here at home. And then she went to this show absolutely knowing that we were going to try to get tips from Aaron and we were going to use this as kind of like a fact finding mission on Kennedy because we had multiple times of showing her and she's just, she's interesting because she's so naturally talented. But you have to really hone in on like her prep. Her prep is really important. Some horses like Hollywood, who don't want to move and don't want to go faster than they have to and whatever. Like he doesn't get lunged, he doesn't get, he doesn't get like a whole lot of prep. Like you take him out and you might, you know, get him off of his shoulder a little bit, or you might. Whatever. You might do a little schooling ride. That's about it. Kennedy, there's a full production. If you don't have her energy level down enough, she's just like a crackhead and is like, I look over there, look over there. And she's not malicious, and she's not meaning to be bad. It's just. You have to have her prep.
- [20:18]
B
She's mentally high energy.
- [20:19]
A
She's. She's high energy. But it's like, as you get her mentally prepared a little bit more, which doesn't always mean just, like, running her around. Like, it just. You know, there's some exercises that Aaron told us that made so much sense, but pissed me off at the same time, because they're so tailored to Kennedy that once we did it, I was like, I would have loved to have known that.
- [20:44]
B
And these are kind of interesting because a quarter horse normally won't do these things.
- [20:49]
A
So once Aaron got on her, because at the very beginning of the show, he's like, she's too high energy. She needs for me to. For me to accurately fix these buttons. She needs to be knocked down a bit. So we waited until I showed the first day, which. The first day, there's a literal picture of me loping down the rail, and it's from straight on, and you can see me. My legs are just completely off of her.
- [21:14]
B
Just air.
- [21:15]
A
Because she was wildly too energetic the first day that we showed her. And I was just trying to go for a clean run and. Or not run, clean ride. And so, like, I would get her into the lope, and she's very naturally talented, and, like. Well, you never have to worry about her having, like, enough impulsion or enough hawk or enough whatever. So she's more of the type of horse that you have to try to soften to the ground. Like, she'll just get really punchy to the ground if you don't. If you don't let her soften into it. Like, if you're just pushing, she'll just get harder and get, like, choppier looking. Yes.
- [21:53]
B
Yeah.
- [21:54]
A
And so, like, the first day that I showed her, it was very much just ride what you've got. Because we can't fix this in the show pin right now. We've just gotta deal with it. And so I was just trying to create a rhythm instead of, like, push her or, like, affect her gate really that much. I was just kind of letting her do what she naturally does and try to keep it an even pace. That's, that's basically what the first ride was. So after we got through that and figured her out a little bit more as the show went on, he hopped on her. And mind you, Aaron Moses is the one who trained Kennedy. So. So he's the one who won the congress with her as a two year old. He's the one that had her in training the majority of her show career. And he and Kelby are good friends and so I'm sure they do things a little similarly. Well. Kennedy is very unlike Denver in that Denver, like I said, you have to keep him off of your foot. Like he does. He wants to lay on it. And so one of the prep things we do with him is like rollbacks, which I'll just get on the fence. Yeah. And so like I'll just turn him and lope him off quick and then I'll stop, turn him and lope him off quick and just get him like pushing off of my foot and like, like really getting underneath himself with his hind end. If you did that with her, it would get her so jazzed up and amped up and like way too energetic and it would just frazzle her. Yeah. That would not be a good thing. And so he knows that. And so he figured that out with her, that instead of doing some things that you would do on the more dull horses, you have to do things that are just for Kennedy. So I remember I was wrote, I was riding around on Denver while he was kind of doing his little Kennedy figure out session. And he comes by, he's like, oh yeah, I forgot that I taught her dressage because that, that works for her. And that's why Aaron's a freak in the show pen. And that's why he's a freak of nature as a trainer, is that he so creative. He doesn't put himself into a box and he listens to the horse and he does what the horse needs.
- [23:57]
B
Yeah.
- [23:58]
A
But in the same breath it's so annoying because that makes so. It makes so much sense. But because we've put ourselves in boxes, it's hard to get out. Right. And it's hard to think about it. So he's like, yeah, she, she's not like the other horses that you can do this or that with. So for her jog, because she wants to go really forward, but she can have this cute, really up and down, really clean jog. Like in the Western pleasure. That's probably my biggest grievance with Western pleasure is people, their dog gets trashy like, it gets to where it's. It's not a to beat. And, like, I hate that. It's basically like a fast walk, you know, it looks terrible. And so with Aaron, I appreciate that his horse's jog. Like, he. He makes sure they're doing a nice one, two, clean beat. And so with Kennedy, you can get her to achieve that really slowly because she has this really natural impulsion and carriage. But to achieve it, he's like, I taught her how to pee off, which
- [24:54]
B
we definitely need to insert a video of just to understand what it is.
- [24:58]
A
Essentially a piaffe. It's like you're jogging in place. Like, you're staying in the same spot, but they're doing a one, two beat.
- [25:06]
B
Yeah.
- [25:06]
A
And horse dancing. It looks like they're dancing. So he just stood there and had her pee offing. And I'm like, what the frick? Like, who would have thought of that? And then he's like, oh, yeah. And then for the lope, because again, she gets where she, like, skips off of her hind end. It's like she gets lazy. And because she's so naturally gifted and she can reach up underneath herself with her hind end so easily, she gets lazy. And so instead of just being slow and soft to the ground, she, like, boing, boing, boing, like, bounces off of her hind end. And so he's like, to get her to rock back. I can't do the things that I do with my other horses that are duller, I have to. To do for Kennedy because she'll get too jazzed up. So he taught her how to pirouette, which is really rocking her back on her hind end, making her be more up in her shoulder and, like, reach around and. And basically keep her butt in the same spot. Lope a circle.
- [26:00]
B
It's.
- [26:00]
A
It's wild.
- [26:01]
B
Again, another video needs to be put in here just so you can understand what it is.
- [26:05]
A
And so then he's just out in the middle of these western pleasure horses doing this stuff, and I'm like, okay, Aaron, because he was. He was geeking out. He was a little nerd, and he was geeking out. And he's like, I taught her how to peel off. I forgot. And so he was making her do it. And then she, like, looked fantastic.
- [26:21]
B
Yeah.
- [26:21]
A
And so then the next day for prep, he had another horse that he was riding, and so he couldn't hop on her the next day when I was getting ready to show in, like, the novice amateur, but he was out there. And so I I did the same things myself on her and then went and probably had like our best, most clean, most controlled ride ride ever. Yeah. And so, yeah, I'm not saying we figured everything out about Kennedy at this
- [26:46]
B
show, but big things were discovered though.
- [26:49]
A
It's wild how unique every horse is and how if you get too mixed up in having everything prepped the same, you're just putting yourself into a box.
- [27:01]
B
Yeah.
- [27:01]
A
And I think that's like really what stands out about these high level trainers is they can really read the horse and figure out what they need. And so I was very grateful that we had that at our disposal at the show so that we could figure Kennedy out.
- [27:13]
B
Yeah. And it's really hard as a rider to do what you did hopping on, like think about like if you're driving a car and then if you've ever driven a right hand drive car like in England, Australia or whatever, that's kind of what it feels like. It's like you jump out of a regular car, get in that one, try
- [27:27]
A
and drive, and then you drive a stick.
- [27:29]
B
Yeah, well, no, it's like, and then you get into a third car and when you turn the wheel left, the car goes right and when you turn it right, it goes left. And your brake is now your gas and your gas is now your brake. Like that's literally how it is on some horses.
- [27:39]
A
Like they're literally cued so differently.
- [27:43]
B
Opposite, the exact opposite, where legs on means slow down, legs off means speed up, then you have ones that are the opposite. So it's really impressive that you're able to go on three, especially ones that you with two that like, you don't get to ride all the time.
- [27:57]
A
I, again, I'm usually pretty self deprecating and I, I'm very proud of myself for that and that I was able to do it successfully. So, like Hollywood and I won the Level 1amateur circuit champion in the Western riding. We had some pretty significant bobbles in our amateur goes and so we were like 8th and 10th and like we were but out of like 20 something horses. So it's still.
- [28:22]
B
Still good.
- [28:23]
A
Still good. And then Kennedy, we were circuit champions in the level one Amateur Western Pleasure and the level two Amateur Western Pleasure. And then we were still placing pretty nicely in the level three and I was, I was very proud of that. So. And then Denver, you know, in the maturity that I showed him in, had 16 horses and they were all very, very nice horses. It was not a cheap class to enter. People weren't entering it just willy nilly you know, they were paying good money to put their horses in there, thinking that, you know, they were competing and was really cool to get third.
- [28:57]
B
Yeah.
- [28:58]
A
Out of, out of that bunch of horses.
- [29:00]
B
So, yeah, I'm kind of laughing because Katie is always very self deprecating. But then I have to laugh at the contrast of like me and Rebecca being your best friends because we're both so different and how I'm like your hype man. I'm like, yeah, that's so amazing. You did all these things. You're doing so good. Rebecca's like, ah, it's okay. No, no, I'm kidding.
- [29:17]
A
No, it's not.
- [29:18]
B
She likes to make fun of you. She does.
- [29:19]
A
She does make fun of me and she humbles me. But then in private, like, she's, she, she's. You're both absolutely like my cheerleaders and it's great to have, but. But also I appreciate the, the humbling as well.
- [29:33]
B
So Rebecca's kids train at the jiu jitsu gym I own and so her and I get to hang out once a week. And yeah, when you were gone, we were talking about like how well you did. And yeah, so she's, she's always like your cheerleader behind your back. But then I do laugh because she'll be like, ask. It's all right, Katie, you did all right to your face
- [29:52]
A
it. And. But then she'll be like, she'll call me a bad word and then she'll be like, you didn't send me your video. I want to watch your video and be proud of you.
- [30:02]
B
No, I love it.
- [30:03]
A
But yeah, it was a really good show. Sometimes you gotta go to those long ones. Yeah, you just show a million times and it's. You're so exhausted by the end of it. But then you come out like, like, had it just been a weekend show and the only I. And I only had the first half, I would not have experienced the like, aha Moments.
- [30:23]
B
Yeah.
- [30:24]
A
With Kennedy that we ended up having, which was very important in our journey because I do really want to show her. Like our plans are to show her like the NSBA World and the Congress and, And so.
- [30:34]
B
That's so exciting.
- [30:36]
A
Yeah, I'm really pumped. And so we are going to try to do the western riding with her as well. I don't know if that'll be achieved this year or not, but. But it's, it's in the plans. So. How cool, how cool would it be if next year I'm showing Kennedy and Denver in the Western riding? Oh my God.
- [30:56]
B
Cool.
- [30:56]
A
Would that be?
- [30:57]
B
That'd be wild. I've always looked at people that will take multiple horses. So Western riding is like one of the classes where you could take multiple horses in. And I'm always like, man, that must be so hard. But also such a flex.
- [31:09]
A
Like well, but then I'm like, here's my stallion and his mother. Like, I think it's so badass.
- [31:18]
B
Oh no, that's gonna be so cool.
- [31:20]
A
And, and I think that just speaks to like, I mean breeding is just so important and like the longevity and the mind and you know, we're sitting here talking about Kennedy being like, we're like, oh, she's so weird, but she's phenomenal. Like, like it's, it's because of her quirks and because of like her mindset that she is so.
- [31:40]
B
Yeah.
- [31:41]
A
Talented and freaky. You just have to. Again, I think people just get to in a box. Yeah. You know, when thinking about training and, and showing and things like that. So it was a lot, lots of, lots of mind opening experiences over the last little bit.
- [31:57]
B
So another thing with your showing, so one like you haven't shown in a long time. So this is like your first time kind of really coming back to showing.
- [32:05]
A
Yeah.
- [32:05]
B
And, and then something else like for people to understand. Katie also mostly comes from an English riding background because that's, that's my background as well.
- [32:12]
A
She shocks people.
- [32:13]
B
So this is also like as someone who's shown and shown at a high level in the English, but I've never shown at a very high level in the Western. Like other than horsemanship, I can't like it's, I'm, I fully respect what you're doing because I'm like if I got on a pleasure horse, I don't care how good that pleasure horse is, I'm not going to do well.
- [32:33]
A
Like so that's not a true statement. I've, I've gotten on some nice pleasure
- [32:38]
B
horses and it didn't go.
- [32:39]
A
So you would figure it out. You would figure it out. And what people don't understand is, is that. Okay. So I want to say this carefully. Pleasure horses, to have them at the utmost like, like to, to show off their talent at a hundred percent. It's very hard. Yes. But I think pleasure horses offer an entry level that people don't understand that they do because so like everyone, you know, Taylor Sheridan brought in reigning horses to like a lot of people's eyes right through like Yellowstone.
- [33:14]
B
Yeah.
- [33:15]
A
What a lot of people don't understand is like they might hate on Western Pleasure. But starting in Western Pleasure and understanding the fundamentals of a horse because you have to isolate their front end, you have to isolate their hind end, but you're going at a slow speed and you're probably on a safer horse than pretty much any other discipline.
- [33:32]
B
Yeah, it.
- [33:34]
A
I truly believe, after growing up in the all around and the Western Pleasure and the hunter saddle, I truly believe starting in that. I mean, I have, I've gone and gotten on a Rayner. I've gone and gotten on like, I truly feel like I could get on just about anything and understand the fundamental mechanics. Yeah. And the mechanics. And so I think a lot of people don't realize is that you might not be able to go do that sliding stop and you might feel like, oh, I can't do horses. You might not, you might not be able to understand it, to do it at like the world show level right at the beginning. But I, I feel like anybody could start in the Western Pleasure, which I think is a beautiful thing. Yeah, I, I'm not taking away the difficulty of the high level writers in the Western Pleasure, but the entry level. But the entry level, I feel like is, Is really accommodating to just about anybody.
- [34:25]
B
That's such a good point.
- [34:26]
A
And, and I wish more people knew that. And it really does give you the ability to learn so much about, about your seat, about using your feet, about again, just the mechanics. And I would really encourage those that feel like they're in a box and can't go jump grand prix jumps or they can't go do a sliding stop on a rainer, or they can't handle the jerking motion of cutting or they, you know, whatever, give it a shot. Give us, you know, those that hate on it haven't gotten on one that crack around like Kennedy or crack around like Denver. And it's, it's exhilarating, it's slow. I understand. I don't know how to explain it to you. It's exhilarating. It's amazing.
- [35:12]
B
That's such a good point about it being a good entry level because I've never thought of it that way because I always think about it at the highest level and I'm like, oh my God, that's so unachievable.
- [35:21]
A
But no.
- [35:22]
B
Yeah, like the baseline is. Yeah, like, I mean, I used to take Calvin in there before he was even a did Western. Yeah, we would move very quickly right around for sure. But I mean, we were able to do it and like, we would, we'd place like, we'd get like, you know, seventh or eighth or something. I know like a regular show.
- [35:39]
A
I was looking at my points because I'm now novice and everything. Because I've been out for 10 years.
- [35:45]
B
Yeah.
- [35:45]
A
And so I was checking out how many points I have and everything and it was like 200 and something egg points and then a whopping 30 Western pleasure whole 30 from like a decade of showing. So.
- [36:03]
B
Okay, so a question I have because it's been a long time since I've shown. It's been, I'm bad at math, I'm not even going to try it, but it's been a minute. So when I was showing, your options were like novice, youth, youth, novice, amateur, amateur and then the open. So.
- [36:24]
A
So they've leveled it out now. Yeah. And that's been around for probably a decade and I still don't understand everything about it. So like within the maturity and futurity classes, it's just non pro and pro.
- [36:36]
B
Yeah.
- [36:37]
A
So sorry, non pro and open. Yeah. So open classes mean it's usually trainers and you, if you get your pro card with an aqha, it means that you are being hired by people, you're being paid by people to train and to do things with horses. Right. And so you cannot show in the non pro events, you cannot show in the amateur events, but in the open classes it's open to everybody. So if you're a non pro and you want to ride your own horse in an open class, have at it, you're welcome to do it. But in the non pro classes and it's strictly amateurs and youths that are not professionals. So then within the AQA classes, so where it's youth and amateur, level one. So there's no more novice. Oh, no more novice. It's level one, level two, level three. So level. So level one. Same thing with green. Green is now just level one.
- [37:32]
B
Okay.
- [37:33]
A
So level one is, I believe 25 and under points in that class and you're a level one.
- [37:40]
B
So it's like ultra novice, basically.
- [37:43]
A
Like if I was going to like, it's just novice. It's the same thing as novice was
- [37:46]
B
pointing out was what, 50 points?
- [37:48]
A
No, it's 25. Before, like old school, it was 25.
- [37:51]
B
Okay. Okay.
- [37:52]
A
So I, I still probably don't know exactly on the point system for all this, but I can give you like the gist of it. So level one and at the big show it stills. It's still steep at the big shows.
- [38:03]
B
Yeah.
- [38:04]
A
Especially now that they've done it where you can go back to being novice. There's a lot of. A lot of people that were really good in the. You come back as an amateur and whip butt. So Level one is like your entry level and they do have walk trot classes now too, which I think is great.
- [38:20]
B
I think that's really good that that's
- [38:23]
A
the entry level and then they usually run it concurrently. So the only place that they're really going to split it up is it like the World Show. Okay. But for the amateur class, the regular amateur, they'll have it Level two and Level three.
- [38:38]
B
Okay.
- [38:39]
A
Same thing in youth. So Level two, it's. It's the same thing. You point out and then once you get a certain amount of points, you can only be in the Level three.
- [38:47]
B
Yeah.
- [38:47]
A
Um, so right now I. Whenever I go into the Amateur, I enter in as a Level two, so.
- [38:52]
B
And then how many points is it to go from Level two to.
- [38:55]
A
I don't know. I don't know the answer to that.
- [38:56]
B
Okay.
- [38:57]
A
But, yeah, it's. It's a little confusing.
- [39:00]
B
No, I actually kind of like that. Because that was a big issue. Is like a lot of people, you know, they. It felt like there wasn't.
- [39:08]
A
It felt like it was a big novice.
- [39:10]
B
Big jump from novice to big dogs.
- [39:11]
A
And it felt like, yeah, there was a little bit of a jump scare at the World show. They do have, like, Level two, and so it's not a big globe, but you still get a trophy and it's still its own thing. So I do plan on, if I take Kennedy showing the level 2 Western pleasure, and I'll. I'll show Hollywood in the Level two and Level three Western riding and.
- [39:32]
B
Yeah, that's awesome. I like that. That's a good change that they did.
- [39:35]
A
Yeah. So I'm really excited about it being Level one. You know, back in the day, I used to be like, they shouldn't let people go back to Level one and, you know, whatever. I was like that. That's not fair, being out for a decade.
- [39:50]
B
Yeah.
- [39:50]
A
I'm Level one.
- [39:51]
B
Yeah.
- [39:52]
A
Like, I promise.
- [39:53]
B
And I've been out longer than you. Like, it's probably been 15 years.
- [39:57]
A
I promise. I'm level one. So. The only thing is, you never won the World.
- [40:02]
B
No, I was second.
- [40:04]
A
I was gonna say, I think if you won the World, you can't ever go back. But you were second.
- [40:12]
B
Yeah, second and third.
- [40:13]
A
So.
- [40:14]
B
Yeah.
- [40:15]
A
Yeah, you. You're. You can go back then, I think.
- [40:18]
B
Yeah.
- [40:19]
A
Yeah. It's like you. You had. And then that was the thing. I skirted by the skin of my Teeth on being level one again, because I had superiors in equitation, horsemanship, showmanship,
- [40:32]
B
and what's the superior.
- [40:33]
A
50 points are over. And so I think the rules are like, you have to have not gotten a superior within the last 10 years.
- [40:42]
B
Oh, interesting.
- [40:44]
A
Yeah. And so my last year showing was 2016 and I didn't show a lot. And. And so even though I went and showed and like, went and like, showed at the Congress and was like third at the Congress, I didn't show a lot. So I didn't get a lot of points.
- [40:59]
B
Yeah. That's kind of cool, man. I would go back to. I'd be a level one in everything. Yeah. That's so crazy.
- [41:06]
A
I. I have babies, but I have.
- [41:08]
B
I know Katie.
- [41:09]
A
Half horses.
- [41:10]
B
Katie's been trying to get me to go back to showing. I mean, I still have.
- [41:13]
A
I just want you and Rebecca to come to shows with me.
- [41:16]
B
1.
- [41:18]
A
I'll.
- [41:18]
B
I'll jump on an English horse. I think I'd be too scared.
- [41:21]
A
I know I don't have any, like, yet, but I will.
- [41:24]
B
Yeah, I. I would do that. I would do 100 saddle class.
- [41:28]
A
Because there's some that like, okay. For instance, Wheezy and Penelope. I don't want to sell them. They're. They're going to be broodmares in my broodmare band one day. Yeah. So if I have too many babies coming up that we're doing in fraternities and maturities or. Or I can't decide which one I want to show as my amateur horse, I would like to like, lease the other one out, you know, and it's like, because they. I don't want to end their career too early, but it's like, I can't show all these horses at once.
- [41:50]
B
Yeah.
- [41:50]
A
And so it would be cool if I could lease them to people that I love.
- [41:58]
B
Anyway, something I love that Katie does, like, in all aspects of her life and it's like ill advised for most people is she's just like, I'm going to employ my close friends and I'm going to like, make them come and do all these activities with me, which has. I love, but I laugh at because I'm like, no one else does this. You're like, let's just all do this thing together.
- [42:23]
A
It probably is ill advised by most people, but it's all right. Anyway, so we're about to eat lunch and we don't really, honestly, like I said, get time to hang out and, and chill that much. So we're gonna go chat and have lunch. Together. Yeah, I think, I mean, I don't know if this is gonna make sense to everybody after I just realized how much I rambled. But if you like the nerding out about the horse stuff and deep diving into all the differences and I hope I, I could translate it good enough. But if you have more questions, I would love to have Danny on more because I mean, honestly, it's just fun to chat and I think we could bring in a new little. New little segment.
- [43:03]
B
Yeah.
- [43:03]
A
So if you have more questions or more things that you want to hear about the horse show side of things or, or whatever, please leave it in the comments. Um, we have so much going on over the next couple weeks. I don't know that we'll have a catching up with Katie every single week. But for the next episode, let us know what you want to hear about and we'll see you then.