Rising Talent Horsemanship Vol. 13, December 2023
Head Over Heels for Hoof Care -By Julia Rushing
Achieving the Goal -By Jacque Ashburner
Keeping an Open Mind
Enjoying the Ride
-By Krista Leutzinger
-by Kaitlyn Heckner
-& MORE!
“After my freestyle ended, I got so many hugs and compliments from the fellow youth competitors. That was my goal achieved. ” -Jacque Ashburner
Featuring 3 Up-and-Coming Trainers
Jacque and her donkey, Sterling
~Rising Talent Horsemanship~
Editorial Page Information Rising Talent Horsemanship seeks to highlight new and established horse trainers.
Rising Talent Horsemanship
Issue 13, December 2023
Legal Any views, opinions, or training techniques expressed in Rising Talent Horsemanship are not necessarily those of the editor, nor can they be held accountable. Rising Talent Horsemanship, VanFleet Mustangs or Samantha Van Fleet will not be held responsible for any copyright infringement or misrepresentation on the part of advertisers or highlighted trainers. Any correspondence to Rising Talent Horsemanship, its editor, or publisher are assumed for publication. All stories (verbal or printed), photos, news items, and any other submitted materials, solicited by Rising Star Horsemanship or not are assumed to be legally released by the submitter for publication.
EDITORS Sarah Burgner Sam VanFleet Contributing Writers Jacque Ashburner Julia Rushing Kaitlyn Heckner Krista Leutzinger
www.rthorsemanship.com
2
~Rising Talent Horsemanship~
Meet the Editors... Hey there! I’m Sarah, and I reside in Jonesborough,
Tennessee. Like most little girls, I have been in love with all things equines since I was 6 years old. From pretending I was a horse myself, to starting my own colts, loving on mustangs, to jumping in the show ring, I have never been able to get enough of God’s most gorgeous creation, the horse. Now, twenty years later I have started my own natural horsemanship business and am elated at the opportunity to be a collaborator and editor of this magazine!
Hey guys, I’m Sam, a 24-year-old trainer
whose passion is gentling, training, and rehoming mustangs to get them out of holding. My other passion is helping other horse owners communicate with their horses better. Over the past few years I've developed my business through YouTube, clinics, training, taking and teaching lessons, learning through internships, social media, etc. My goal is to help other young trainers grow their businesses as well and connect the equine community… which is why I began this magazine.
Sarah and I are so excited to bring you this magazine full of content. We hope you enjoy!
3
~Rising Talent Horsemanship~ Table of
Contents
Julia Rushing
Learn about Julia’s relentless pursuit to educate herself on hoof care! pg 5
Krista Leutzinger
Get to know Krista and learn how her road to horses began! pg 11
Jacque Ashburner
Follow along Jacque’s journey with donkeys. pg 8
Kaitlyn Heckner
Meet Kaitlyn and glean wisdom from her top three pieces of advice for trainers. pg 14
4
Winter Features
The Trainers
~Rising Talent Horsemanship~
Cozy up and get lost in our winter edition of Rising Talent Magazine!
Krista of KeEquine and Paisley
~Rising Talent Horsemanship~
5
Julia Rushing Jonesborough, TN Age 23
I’m Julia, and I’ve been involved with horses my entire life. I’m from East Tennessee, and I have two horses— a mustang mare and a grade chestnut mare. They are my pride and joy. I’ve been trimming my own horses (and any other horse I can get my hands on) for a few years now. I base my trims on simulating the natural wear of a horse who would walk miles a day on varied terrain. My focus is on building healthy digital cushion and strong hooves.One day, I would like to offer trimming services on a part time basis once I develop my skills further. My goal is to expand my knowledge in equine hoof care so that I can offer an alternative rehabilitation program for pathologies such as navicular and laminitis.
Julia’s personal horse, Lucy, and her healthy hoof after a fresh trim! Lots of time, work, and patience went into the healing of Lucy’s feet and trust in a farrier (which is now exclusively Julia.) Proof that a combination of patience and hard work always pays off!
~Rising Talent Horsemanship~
5
A peak into Julia’s past of hoof health… I remember holding my old paint mare for the farrier, as he nailed on her usual set of front shoes with leather pads. Shadow had navicular, and needed pads to stay sound. I trusted my farrier when he chose what shoe package to put on, how often to have her shod, and what products to use on her persistent thrush. I had no idea what Shadow’s feet needed to look like, but I trusted the professionals in my life to guide me along the way. Shadow lived the rest of her life in a set of fronts with leather pads, and I never once questioned if there was another way. In 2019, I acquired a little chestnut mare named Lucy who I intended to be my next dressage partner. Instead, I discovered that the pathology in her feet would keep us out of the sandbox by the time she was thirteen years old. I was desperate to find a way to help my little red dragon be comfortable again. I decided to take matters into my own hands and learn to trim on my own. Lucy was notoriously hard to shoe, she was intermittently lame, she had huge cracks in her feet, and I was having trouble getting someone to shoe her on a regular basis. What could I lose? A few YouTube videos and a cheap pair of nippers later, I’d pried her shoes off and started my journey with barefoot trimming. While I don’t recommend jumping into the deep end quite like I did, I don’t regret pulling that set of shoes off at all. My desperation to help my horse has turned into a passion for developing strong, healthy hooves. Lucy has a mile long list of reasons why she should be lame… ringbone, side bone, navicular changes, PPID and a recent laminitis episode. The digital cushion she’s built allows her instead to trot across my pasture like a Grand Prix dressage horse. My experience with hoof care has taught me that as horse owners, we need to be more involved with the management of our horses. Do your own research. Respectfully ask your vets, trainers, and farriers questions. Learn what your horse’s body condition and hooves should look like. Develop an eye for subtle lameness and signs of discomfort. Learn what your barn manager is feeding your horse.You are your horse’s biggest advocate, and expanding your knowledge is the best way to help them. You might just discover a brand new passion in the process!
I’m a huge nerd when it comes to horses. If you want to learn more about hoof care, nutrition, science based training, or species based management, I’d love to chat! Shoot me an email at juliarushing_@outlook.com I’d be happy to point you to some resources.
Julia and Lucy in the dressage ring
~Rising Talent Horsemanship~
7
As long as it takes for them to find trust and joy…
“Never again will harm threaten you” is the promise we make to every horse who crosses our path. While spending time with these mustangs, you can feel their gratitude every single day. Contact Sweetbeau for more info. email: info@sweetbeauhorses.org phone: 805-591-0533
Sweetbeau YouTube Channel “Sweetbeau Horses”
@sweetbeauhorses Located in Creston, California
8
~Rising Talent Horsemanship~
Jacque Ashburner McNeal, AZ Age 18 Lucky A Ranch
My name is Jacque Ashburner and I am located in Southeastern AZ in a small town called McNeal. I just turned 18 years old and I help care for and train the animals with my mom at our donkey rescue, the Lucky A Ranch. The Lucky A Ranch officially became a 501c3 in 2015. Since then, my mom and I have rescued hundreds of donkeys and mules. My main role at the rescue is to train these animals. I help gain these sweet creatures' trust and teach them to be their best selves so they can thrive in a new home. Unfortunately, that can't happen for them all, so we have at least 40 permanent residents at our rescue. Along with that, I have been honored to have been a part of the amazing TIP program. I have tamed and trained 15 wild donkeys and 1 wild mustang. 8 of the donkeys were for challenges and so was my beautiful mustang that I can now call my forever heart horse. I have placed in the top 3 in every one of the challenges I have competed in and they each have taught me so much individually. Since there may not be many more challenges, I am open to taking on client donkeys. I charge approximately $450 a month including feed and board depending on the situation. I offer services such as gentling, ground work, trick training, etc
9 RISING TALENT HORSEMANSHIP
Setting the Goal I have competed in the Arizona Mustang TIP challenges since I was 14. At my very first challenge, I watched a girl perform the winning freestyle in the youth mustang division, and since then, I made it my goal to be able to do what she did with my donkeys. That goal was more than accomplished these last few years, but without that initial goal, I would never be where I am now. Since I was able to achieve that goal, I have come up with another one….. to be that person for someone else. There are so many youth that have the opportunity to find a passion within these amazing animals just like I did, and if I can help that happen, I will. During my last challenge, I kept envisioning past challenges and the amazing people I had seen perform, and all I wanted was to perform so well that I could possibly be that same inspiration to someone else. After my freestyle ended, I got so many hugs and compliments from the fellow youth competitors. That was my goal achieved. It was amazing to be able to do that, but that was only part of what ignited the passion I now have. The other part is all thanks to the amazing animals I was able to train. Each and every single one of them have taught me so much, and there is no way to repay that. Being able to work with both domestic and wild donkeys is amazing. I have had the opportunity to learn how to teach tricks and all the basics. I learned off of trial and error and the forgiveness that these animals have. We all make mistakes, but because of these animals, I was able to learn from them all. I can now confidently teach the lay down, sit, bow, spin, "pick me up", smile, etc. The one piece of advice I can give, is that training is on these animals' terms. They didn't ask to be abused in the past, they didn't ask to be taken from the wild, and they didn't ask to be taught any of this. Rushing an animal to do what you want is so unfair to them. I have learned that if you let them learn on their own terms, the results are so much better. For this reason, I use positive reinforcement training on all animals I train. They become so much more confident at such a quicker pace. As much as I love all equines, I specialize in donkeys. They require so much more patients and usually way more time to be equal to a horse in any way, but they are my life. I am hoping to one day be able to train these animals as part of my career and to truly make my dream come true. These animals have impacted me so much, and I have only just gotten started!
Contact info
Instagram- jacque_ashburner Facebook- Jacque Ashburner Rescue facebookLuckyARanchInc. Emaildonkeychick16@gmail.com Phone- 520 366 7733
10 RISING TALENT HORSEMANSHIP
Letting Go of Fear Continued…. Learning how to work with my fears & discomfort has helped me grow immensely as a trainer. Instead of avoiding fear, I now try to work through it. As a result, my horses and I have become more confident and calm, more capable of meeting life’s obstacles with a sense of possibility. It is only through pushing through fear (our horse’s and our own), through being uncomfortable and trying new things, that we grow as trainers and as people.
Pictured to the bottom left is Kassie with, Dood, a gelding for the Devils Garden mustang challenge in PA.
Connect and Follow Kassi on these platforms!
Pictured at the bottom right is Kassi with Jasper, a client mule.
Facebook : Rising K Equine Email : kharpstermustangs@gmail.com Phone : 814-380-4353 I offer lessons, colt starting, groundwork, mustang gentling, & more!
Counter Canter Designs
11
~Rising Talent Horsemanship~
Krista Leutzinger Owner & Trainer at Keequine Borene, TX Age 25
Growing up, I always had the desire to be around horses. My parents did not come from an equine background, but did their best to support my dreams. At 5 years old, I began taking English riding lessons jumping, and showing in equitation. I am so grateful to have the skills and knowledge from my English background which I still use to this day! Around age 10 I decided to try my hand in Western riding, but continue showing. This is when I started taking western pleasure, and halter lessons. Here, I was able to learn a lot about technical maneuvers, and the work that goes into teaching them. Going into my teenage years, I also began taking reining lessons from Todd Martin. Todd opened many doors for me, and really put the training of all the disciplines into perspective. The more I learned and observed the professionals, the more I fell in love with training horses. Over the years, I gather (and still continue to) bits and pieces from horsemen and women such as Warwick Schiller, Ryan Rose, Clinton Anderson, Ashely Schafer, Joy Wargo, Jolene Montgomery etc. I love that there are many ways to teach and train the same ideas to horses. My “toolbox" of horse training techniques works in unison with my perception of which technique is appropriate for which horse. I tend to pride myself on the fact that I have learned to be open to new ideas, and ways of thinking to improve my skills and horsemanship.
12 RISING TALENT HORSEMANSHIP
Stay Open Minded When I began training for the public, I had made a handful of nice horses. To me, that was all I needed to validate that I could train any horse, no matter how bad, wild, and crazy they were. Don’t worry, I was soon humbled. At the time, I had one set way of doing things because, well I figured that it worked in the past and helped me make some really nice horses. Once I began taking on client horses, I did pretty well to start out. It wasn’t until I began getting in more difficult horses that I soon realized my set protocol wasn’t getting me far with them. One horse that specifically comes to mind is a mustang mare I had in training. She was very fearful, which I was well equipped to handle, however this was a different type of fear. She would hold onto to things that set her off and it was very hard for her to come back into a teachable state afterwards. She had a rider come off of her during a training session and it made her take what seemed like 10 steps backwards. I had come to the point that I was working extra long hours with this mare trying to get her to be comfortable again seeing someone above her. I taught her to send up to the fence, and allow me to put a leg over her. She would stand for all of this until she’d catch a glimpse of me from her right side. This would trigger her to bolt away. It's safe to say, I was stumped. I had tried all the desensitizing and exercises in my tool box and I still had a mare that would bolt away the moment she saw you from the off side. One thing about this mare is that thankfully, she was very food motivated. Now, to this day you will not find me using treats in any part of my training program, unless it is trick related. But for this mare, I had to adapt. In order to pull her out of the fractious state she was in, I began feeding her treats when she would send up the fence. Then, I started reaching over her back to that right side, and feeding her treats from there. At first, she would just glance at me and quickly straighten her head back. But after a while, she began looking for my hand on that side for her next treat. Within a few sessions, I was able to sit on her and ask her to flex both directions, without worrying about her bolting out from under me. Treats did not fix her bolting problem. But using treats did help this mare realize seeing my from her right side was nothing to fear. Moral of the story is, each horse is an individual. For those special cases, you may need special solutions, getting creative and doing things you’ve never done before to get the job done. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and most importantly, stay open minded!
Follow me on Instagram & Facebook @Keequine Email: kristaelaine@aol.com Phone (Best way to get a hold of me!) (830) 388-1931
13
. 13
.
14
~Rising Talent Horsemanship~
Kaitlyn Heckner Kaitlyn Heckner Age 31 Forest Hill, MD KT's Natural Performance Horses Hi! I’m Kaitlyn Heckner and I own KTs Natural Performance Horses. Growing up, I had a few different horses that all seemed to have some challenges. I was tasked with figuring it Sarah and Bishop out and turning them into the horses I knew they could be—and, I did! I loved the process and learning the unique personalities of each horse along the way. While I grew up riding hunters, I was also involved in dressage and eventing. I learned early on about the basis of a truly well-rounded horse through the foundations of dressage. Later in life, I spent some time managing a cutting horse facility in Colorado. Now, back in my home state of Maryland, I’m competing in ranch riding and western dressage. While I got my own start as a trainer restarting horses, my specialty now is colt starting and bringing along young horses. There’s nothing quite like getting to set the foundation for a horse that I know will serve him or her well, no matter which discipline or direction you decide to take them.
RISING TALENT HORSEMANSHIP
Kaitlyn’s Top Three Pieces of Advice: 1. Be incredibly specific about the clientele you want to serve and market your business towards that. Specialize in what YOU are best at. When I first started out, I thought I had to take every horse that I was offered. Quickly I learned that’s the best way to get burnt out and get resentful. Over the years, I’ve been very specific about the owners I want to work with, the horses I want to be riding and now I can honestly say I have some of the best horses and clients in my barn. Horses that make me want to do better and clients that I look forward to having come to the barn regularly. Not every person or horse is a good fit for your program and that’s okay! Do good work, leave every horse better than when you started and the clients will find you, I promise. 2. Treat every horse as an individual. I have around 20- 30 horses come through my barn each year and I can honestly say I haven’t trained 2 horses the same. I use the same techniques and philosophies but each horse has their own timeline and way of learning, not everything is done in the same order or schedule. I also start each horse from step 1 no matter how “broke” they are. This has kept me safe and it helps me figure out where the horse really is. The purpose of training is to find the holes. Let the horse make the mistake and then determine what you need to do to correct it and help them understand. When I initially started my business I would get a lot of problem horses. I can honestly say that 80-90% of those horses were not bad. They were trying to communicate something. Whether that be ill fitting tack, ulcers, lameness or some other medical issue. Listen to those horses closely and get a good vet and farrier on your team that’s willing to listen too. I’m a huge advocate for bodywork in all my training horses. Their bodies will tell you a lot and can help you train them better and more efficiently when you work with them and not against them. 3. Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help. I personally never want to stop learning. I’m humble enough to admit that I don’t know everything about horses and sometimes I do have horses that come into my barn that I struggle with. I have a great connection of trainers that I feel comfortable asking their opinion on things. I still take lessons to this day to improve my riding and become a better instructor for my own clients. I read books, watch videos and attend clinics. I ask questions and I take what makes sense to me back home and then apply it to my own training program. Some things work, some things don’t and that’s okay. It just puts more tools in your toolbox for that one horse or client that might need them. Training horses is a tough business, it takes a lot of time, energy and money but it can be a lucrative business if you do it right. There will be times you want to quit but if you’re anything like me, this is something you’ve dreamed of since you were little. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. It’s crazy to look back and see where I started to where I am today. I wouldn’t have changed a thing. I still have a long way to go and things I want to accomplish
but I’ve certainly enjoyed the ride so far!
15
~Rising Talent Horsemanship~
16
A Natural Approach to Health for a Happy Horse and Human! Have you ever thought about using natural remedies and supplements for your equine partner? As a natural horsemanship and natural living mentor, I'm passionate about properly taking care of our equine partners. Essential oils and holistic products are a great way to show your horse the love they deserve. From emotional support to gut health, sore muscles to cleaning up cuts and scrapes. No matter what you and your pony's goals are, I can help you understand and implement a regimen using safe, natural, and effective products from the inside out.
Interested in learning more? Email inquiries to onehearthorsemanship@gmail.com for a FREE virtual consultation to discuss the best products, aids, and supplements for you and your partner to have a thriving relationship.
~Rising Talent Horsemanship~
Check out our Website!
Like us on Facebook!
Follow us on Instagram!
If you are a young, up and coming trainer and are interested in being featured in future issues… email us at rthorsemanship@gmail.com