Help Send Kendro to World Championships in France

Growing up Amish, having horses and training them was just a way of life.

Aside from using horses for transportation and farming, training horses for clients was my family's livelihood for several generations.

Training, conditioning, prepping, and producing horses ready for sales and shows were always exciting. Witnessing the owner's face beam when they came to pick up their conditioned, healthy horse who was ready to go gave us instant gratification for our hard work.

Eventually, my curiosity got the best of me. I had spent so much time imagining and wondering what competing would be like, so I leaped. I landed my first job in California driving and training Percherons. For the next several years, I bounced all over the country wherever I could find horse jobs, most of which were 6-horse draft hitches. As much as I loved driving the draft horses, I felt something was missing in the training process but never quite knew what it was.

Between driving draft hitches and being a farrier, I knew long-term that something needed to change for my body's sake. I wanted to be a horse trainer. So I moved back to Iowa to start my own training business. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, I would get mostly wrecked and or untrainable horses and ponies to retrain. Fast forward to 2014, I had a client bring me a Dutch-shire cross to train for a pleasure driving show. This horse spurred my interest in competitive carriage driving, and the thing that had previously been missing was found.

At first, I finagled my way through the training. If one thing didn't work, I would try another relentlessly until I found the solution for that specific horse. Whether I was too dumb to walk away or stubborn to give up, I felt phenomenal every time I had a breakthrough. Each breakthrough brought the horse and me closer to each other, understanding the other on a new level, and that feeling continues to drive me forward in my training and competing.

My drive, passion for my horses, and pride in my training led me to hopefully land a spot on the USA Combined Driving Single Horse Team. However, my most significant reason for joining Team USA and competing on a world platform is to be part of something bigger than myself and represent my country.

Flying A horse across the pond is quite a challenge, and flying a stallion across the pond is another set of challenges and expenses. However, Kendro has shown us in so many ways that he's capable of competing and showing us his talents on this level of playing field.

For every person who has helped me in my journey this far, I could never say how grateful I am for your support.

*We are not providing any type of giveaway, prize, etc. for those who donate.*