October 29, 2024 • 55 mins
Endel Ots joins us with some fun stories from the Olympics including the opening ceremonies and Snoop and Martha. Then Kate Flemming-Kuhn shares with us her great year in the competition arena and how she raised her own horses. Plus, Megan scored three places to Nationals and Reese parted with Big Mike. Listen in...
GUESTS AND LINKS DRESSAGE EPISODE 756:
- Co-Hosts: Reese Koffler-Stanfield and Megan McIssac | Instagram | Facebook
- Guest: Endel Ots | Facebook | Instagram
- Guest: Kate Fleming-Kuhn | Facebook
- Dressage Radio Show: Website | Facebook
- Please visit our sponsors, who make all this possible: Kentucky Performance Products, US Rider and Equestrian +
Time Stamps:
01:11 - Megan's Exciting Regional Competition Recap
01:30 - Listener Meetup Announcement
04:00 - Reese's Bittersweet Farewell to Big Mike
12:04 - Endel Ots's Olympic Experience
38:57 - Kate Flemming-Kuhn's Championship Success
54:51 - Final Thoughts and Upcoming Events
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
You are listening to the HorseRadio Network, part of the Equine
Network family.
This is episode 756 of theDressage Radio show on the Horse
Radio Network, brought to youby Kentucky Performance Products.
The Dressage Radio show is theofficial podcast of the United States
Dressage Federation.
On today's show, Kate FlemingCoon shares with us her great year
(00:27):
in competition arena andraising youngsters.
And we start with Endel Otz'sOlympic experience.
Enjoy.
This is Reese Kopler Stanfieldin Georgetown, Kentucky.
And I am Megan McIsac inOregon, Wisconsin.
(00:48):
And you're listening to theDressage Radio Show.
Well, hi, Megan.
And we have special guest Glenn.
Hey, guys, Good to see youtonight again.
Yeah.
Hi, welcome.
Good to be here.
And Megan has so much to talk about.
Oh, my God.
I saw your posts.
(01:09):
There is a lot going on.
We just got back from regionals.
I'm a little bit horse showhungover, but I took three horses
to regionals, region four.
I took baby horse.
So she was third level andthird freestyle and she was reserved
at the freestyle, which was so exciting.
(01:30):
Meaning you're coming toKentucky and y'all, we're having
a listener meetup.
We're already excited.
We're already excited, so.
And I interrupted your flow.
So tell us about the other two.
No problem, no problem.
I also took my sales horse,Sheila N and she competed in pre
St George.
(01:50):
I won and the freestyle andshe qualified for nationals in the
I1.
We're alternate for the freestyle.
We got a little excited in ourfreestyle and then my amazing horse
AJ for 10 years and competedhim, I think the last four years
Grand Prix.
I had planned this was goingto be my last show with him and I
(02:13):
didn't tell anyone and I.
I got actually really emotional.
We.
I saved him for my freestyle,which is my favorite.
It's developed by MelanieMcKayak and it's really Reese.
You know when you're competinga horse that you love so much and
he's a little bit lazy and toride the Grand Prix, putting all
(02:33):
the pieces together is really hard.
So I was in the middle of mytest and we like the first third
of the test, we got to ourones and I started bawling because
I nailed them without a whip.
It was so crazy.
I really didn't think Iemotional was.
(02:57):
And I started bawling in themiddle of the test and I was like,
you gotta pull it together,get it together.
You got a drum?
Yeah.
And he was like, mom, what'sgoing on?
We're having Fun like always.
And finished the test and Iwas still bawling and.
And he punched a ticket forfinals and that's always been a dream
(03:18):
of mine, to go to finals anddo the Grand Prix Freestyle.
So we're going to do it onelast time and then, then it's over.
So I'm going to be even more emotional.
Like hold your hand before yougo in there.
Like, hold it together, sister.
Finals, all three horses.
Congratulations.
That is a huge deal.
(03:39):
Thank you.
And I can't wait because I getto just come and, you know, bring
my, bring my happy little joycup and walk around and watch it
all ride.
It's gonna be great.
Best finals for me.
Well, I can't wait to see you.
And I can't wait to ride inthe All Tech arena.
I'm very, very excited.
So.
Yeah.
And you have some news too.
(04:00):
I do.
I have also some bittersweet news.
Yeah.
And everybody has followed myjourney with.
Follow me.
Big Mike.
Big Mike actually went to hisnew home last week and shout out
to his new mom.
I don't know if she listens tothe show, but I could not have picked
a better place for him.
His owner is absolutely adorable.
She built her own barn.
(04:21):
Her trainer is wonderful andit very bittersweet, but that's the
job he wanted to do.
And you know, again, it was hard.
It wasn't going to, you know,I can't keep every horse and I think
that's for us trainers.
It's.
It is what we do.
And so it was verybittersweet, but actually mostly
sweet because we put a ribbonon his neck and I just gave him a
(04:44):
kiss and I just told him, youknow, he was ready for this journey.
And he did.
He was ready.
He was like, okay, this is great.
I like this lady a lot.
And it was really fun.
So I get to see him.
He's not very far away.
He's not in the same state,but he's close enough and so I get
to see him.
And truly, it was wonderful.
So, yeah, I'm actually goingback now.
(05:04):
I'm getting a new youngster,hopefully not quite as young as the
one I bought last year.
Four year old year is a littlerocky for me.
I'm so excited for you.
I cannot wait to hear aboutyour adventures.
I know Megan gets to get allthe horses that we're looking at,
so we're going to be there fora week.
And I also have a client goingover, so lots of fun news to talk
(05:26):
about.
And it's again, you know, whenyou have a Grand Prix horse and it's
kind of like what you'resaying, Megan, like at some point
the ride ends and you know,Mike was 12, so he, he was ready
to go on and teach someoneelse and go be somebody else's main
man.
So.
Yeah, but it's still hard.
That's the.
One of the hardest things tobe in a professional.
(05:46):
Right?
It's very hard, brutal.
But even I would be honest.
I mean, I think we talk a lotabout on the show of when is it time
to move on with a horse.
And you know, you know,there's goals that every writer has
and my goals are veryspecifically to ride Grand Prix and
ideally International Grand Prix.
And that was proving to not bewhat Big Mike really wanted to do.
(06:10):
He really was a machine at thesmall tour.
I think he won WestphalianHorse of the Year by a young woman,
Mary, who catch rode him anddid a beautiful job.
Like he loved that job.
And so, you know, it wasactually my sister who we talk about
on the show, you know, she'salso a Grand Prix rider and she was
the one that said, hey, youknow, it may be time.
And.
(06:30):
And I was like, because I lovethat horse so much, but, but truly
it was the right thing for him too.
And I think sometimes it'shard to move on, but if your goals
aren't aligning with your horse.
And my mom was always verygood with us when it was time to
sell horses, we needed to sell them.
So if anyone struggles, yoursister is.
The right one to have thatconversation with you.
(06:52):
Yeah, yeah, my sister.
Yeah.
I mean she's like my, my bestfriend and my confidant and my biggest
cheerleader and also I'm very.
Also lucky.
My parents part of.
They own Big Mike with me, sothey're very excited about our next
adventure together.
So I still have a verysupportive family and inner syndicate
worked.
I didn't put on Facebook, youknow, I.
(07:12):
Big Mike we got as a verygangly four year old and I remember
telling you guys about himand, and he wasn't expensive at the
time, but you know, he provedto be an expensive dude and, but
also very well trained and Ienjoyed every step.
So it is bittersweet for us riders.
But, and it's like you said,Megan, like that ride will come to
an end at some for everyone ifthat's where you are.
(07:36):
And sometimes it's time forthem to go on to new homes.
So it was bittersweet.
But gosh, I'll let you guysknow about My new journey as we go
through.
And I'll tell you yes aboutour travels.
So it's going to be great.
But I go in another weekactually before finals and Megan
and I will get a time togetherand we'll do a meetup finals and
(07:58):
anybody feel free to reach outto me.
I actually had a listenerreach out about how to get some hay
in the area when they're atfinals and I love that.
So feel free to reach out.
You have any questions?
Sometimes we do where to go todinner and that kind of stuff.
So seriously, I live about 12minutes from the horse park, so it's
my local town and I love toshow it off.
So we're excited about finalsin a couple weeks.
(08:19):
So feel free to reach out.
Well, I am so happy for youtoo, Reese.
I know how hard you work atthis job and how hard it is to do
things like this, but.
And we've all lived throughthis horse with you.
Yeah, he's been a fan favoritefor sure.
And by the way, Phil's veryhappy you got this done too, because
Phil lived through this horsewith you more than anybody.
So.
(08:41):
Honestly, this, this writerwas Canadian and I kind of look up
at Phil and you know, yeah, Idefinitely feel Phil's around kind
of.
I feel like hopefully when Igo over he'll be, he'll be with us
for sure.
So he'll be there.
Speaking of which, one of thethings that he always did with us
around the holiday time wasradio Thon and also he did the all
(09:03):
host shows with us at holidaytime too.
But we are doing Radiothonagain this year like last year.
We're doing it video and audio.
It's going to be December 1st.
It's the Sunday afterThanksgiving, so December 1st, we'll
be doing it from 3 to 9pmEastern Time.
Holidayradiothon.com has allthe details.
We're giving away thousands ofdollars in prizes again.
(09:26):
We're going to have the funsubmissions from the listeners, singing
songs and doing poems and allthat kind of stuff.
We have something planned forthe last hour when a bunch of the
hosts, including Reese show up.
So we're going to do somethingreally fun that hour we have.
Reese doesn't even know aboutit yet.
No, it doesn't involve singing.
You're fine.
(09:47):
It doesn't involve singing, soyou're good.
Last year we tried that.
It was a miserable failure.
So I think it was quite late.
And we all maybe had holiday beverages.
I think I had a bottle of twoProsecco by that point.
So you did.
But it's a lot of fun and wehope that you can join us.
I'll have more details on howto enter for the prizes and how to
(10:09):
get all that done over thenext cut, probably in the next episode
of the Dressage Radio show.
I'll have all the details for you.
Right after this break fromKentucky Performance Products.
We're coming back with Endalots.
We're going to hear all abouthis amazing experience at the Olympics.
And just a clarification.
Later in the interview hetalks about his sponsor Heidi Humphries
of Zen Elite Equestrian.
Just to clear that that for you.
(10:31):
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(12:04):
Well tonight this is really anhonor to have Endelots.
He was the alternate for theOlympic Games this year and we were
just laughing.
Endel, we've had you on atevery stage of the game now at the
dressage radio show and oh mygoodness, it's such an honor to have
you back on the show.
Welcome back.
Oh it's hey, what a long timeinterviewee, you know.
(12:24):
But it's been wonderful.
It's been really nice.
We've known each other forsuch a long time.
We have remember many, manyfunny stories that I can't tell on
here.
I just thought of which we'lltalk about afterwards.
You'll never know.
I think you'll remember it.
I think you'll remember it.
It's pretty funny.
We leave it up here.
We're so happy to have you on.
(12:45):
Oh my gosh.
First of all, tell us aboutBohemian because you started to write
him and just such a joy fromthe beginning.
So tell us about him.
No, he's, he's great.
He reminds me the most of.
I used to help Chase Hickok onSagacious years ago and it reminds
me the most of Sagacious.
You know, you have to have alot of respect for him.
(13:07):
You like he does fight for youin the ring.
The first couple times that Iwas on him and showing and stuff.
I mean, I'd ridden him for twoweeks and then we did a national
show and then I think anothertwo weeks after that.
Then we did like the first cdi.
But that was the timing.
You know, you don't havealways get to, you know, plan stuff
out how you want to.
It's just what it is.
(13:27):
But no, he's a, he's a, he's agreat horse.
Like he, you know, to reallyrespect him and how he works and
not always to expecteverything to be perfect, I mean,
it's, you know, it is your, Imean, you, it's you and your horse
kind of against everybody really.
And to, you know, when he'sout there and he, you know, we're
(13:49):
doing the warm up or competingor doing the schooling rides before
like Aachen or any of thisstuff, I just, I have to just trust
what I feel, he tells me.
And you know, a lot of timesin the ring it's the, I'd say the
only test that I wasn't superhappy with was in Kronberg and qualifying
stuff.
And Marcus had a super, superride in the, in the special and Bohemian
(14:14):
felt great.
I was going right after Marcus.
Everybody was screaming in thecrowds and the crowd was really close
to the arena and I had a lotof energy in there and I just, I
tried too hard and I likepushed him too much and there was
just too many mistakes.
I mean, it was a 69.
It was still good, you know,but it was like I went and I'm a
competitor and like I want to win.
(14:36):
And I should have just said,no, no, no, be happy with your 72.
Like just, you know, it's all good.
And he's the kind of horse, Imean, you can, you can make it worse
in the ring.
Like you can really make it worse.
But he knows where to go.
You have to think a little bitahead of him.
On certain things, not alwayshalting at sea.
But he knows the drop down to trot.
(14:57):
You know, I mean, I just do alittle quiet in my voice and he boop.
Right, right at M.
Drops down to trot pretty muchevery time, sometimes before I ask
him to.
So kind of getting.
Sometimes getting that partkind of together is, you know, getting
him on your side where, yeah,he fights, where he tries for you
and getting him to wait for you.
And that's.
(15:18):
That's always.
I mean, I think with anyhorse, like, a struggle.
But for.
For me, it was reallyimportant that I just really respect.
I mean, the same as Sagacious.
I mean, Sagacious had moregrand print.
Robert, if he hears this, willbe probably annoyed that I say this,
and maybe we'll disagree.
But we checked back when theyhad the website where you could check
all the rides.
I mean, they still dosomewhere, but, you know, just had
(15:39):
more Grand Prix rides thanRobert Dover had in his whole entire
life.
And, you know, it's like, yougotta respect the horse like that
and then say, all right, let'stry to tweak one little thing to
make it a little bit better.
And then also to fight theurge of not making drastic changes.
I was say, that's the biggestthing that I learned over in Europe.
(15:59):
And everybody, like,everybody's, you know, everybody
wants all the, you know, togive you all this information and
really to help you andeverything, but to really just go
down and just, I mean, forright or wrong, just really trust
your gut and.
Yeah, that would be thebiggest thing that I learned over
there.
Because every time I trustedmy natural just instincts, like on
(16:19):
the horse and being on him, Iwas really happy with it.
I mean, you always want to do better.
You always want to get higher scores.
Like, it's never enough.
But I.
My.
Yeah, my favorite moments are.
My favorite moments in Europewere, I would say, after the halt
and salute at the final end ofpretty much every test, and then,
you know, the walk back.
The walk back, everybody'shappy, everybody's getting high fives,
(16:41):
everybody's all nice.
Devin's.
Everybody's all great.
And then as soon as you getoff the horse, you gotta think about
the next test and the nextthing, and you're on this roller
coaster that you.
I mean, literally before,pretty much before every single ride,
I gotta keep.
I had to keep telling myself,this is fun.
You wanted to do this, youwanted to do this, you wanted to
do this.
You know, this is fun.
It is fun, but it's.
It's.
(17:01):
It's a lot of.
It's.
It's a lot of pressure,because I know you.
You go over there, youbasically lose all your clients when
you're gone, because you'regone for four months.
You don't make, you know, youdon't make any money.
You know, you're, you know,washing your.
You know, you're washing yourclothes in the back in the bathtub,
and, you know, people that yourent and, you know, it's a humbling
(17:22):
experience.
And, you know, it's.
It's great.
It's great, but it's.
I learned a lot from it.
And, you know, just going inthere with.
I think I went in there withcertain expectations that ended up
being true and then otherexpectations that, you know, again,
you can't know.
And I really, you know, youreally try to get all the information
you can from, you know, yourother teammates and everybody there,
(17:44):
and everybody's kind of in thesame boat, you know, but if, like,
you haven't, you know, Ihaven't been on a team with, you
know, Stefan and Adrian before.
Like, I've known Marcus forever.
So, you know, everybody, youknow, like, I've known Stefan and
Adrian for a long time, but,you know, I think once everybody
kind of relaxes, and it's agood group and a good team, and it
makes all the difference, youknow, the beginning, everybody's
(18:05):
a little bit wary, you know,of everybody else, and you don't
just, you know, want to keeptheir head down and work hard.
Yeah.
And I think that's so good to hear.
Like, we see the glory of youat Versailles, but I mean, like,
really, what you have to gothrough again, losing basically your
income and living inapartments that are, you know, not
(18:25):
as nice as home.
Let's be real.
You miss ice.
You miss ice.
Air conditioning.
Yep.
It seems like such a littlething, but it's.
No.
And I never, you know, like, Idon't want to, like, you know, Heidi
is a really, really greatsponsor and client and friend of
mine, and she's always supergreat, and the federation, you know,
(18:45):
I don't want to ever.
I don't want to put any.
Like, you know, that they'renot supportive.
They're, of course,supportive, you know, and they do
everything you can and they.
But, you know, stuff comes upyou didn't think about.
I mean, the biggest thing waslaundry, you know.
I mean, you know, that's awful.
That's awful.
I mean.
Yeah.
You know, I love it.
(19:06):
I love it.
Well, let's talk.
Okay.
I am sitting on my couch and Isee you on the set.
I'm like, oh, my God, tell uswhat that was.
Like, that was so cool.
I'm like, it's Edna.
Stefan.
I, like, took as many picturesas I could and rewound.
Like, it was so exciting.
That was the best that was on everything.
(19:27):
That was a moment whereeverything, like those, man, I think
it took us.
We were there at 1 o'clock inthe afternoon, and then, you know,
we left.
We ended up staying at a.
Just a little tiny hole in thewall in Paris, and we didn't get
done till like 3:30 in the morning.
And it was.
That was just such a wonderful experience.
And I mean, staffing was so cool.
(19:48):
I mean, and, you know, we kindof reminisce about things, you know,
long time in the past.
Like, when I was 25, I was thealternate for the Guadalajara team
for Pan Ams.
That was, of course, the onlyyear that they didn't bring the altern,
which sucks.
But, you know, hey, it waswhat it was.
But I reminded Stefan, I waslike, you know, I said, just, you
(20:08):
know, take this as a compliment.
Don't take this that you're old.
But I said, when.
I said, I don't know if youremember, but I was alternate.
You remember?
I was.
I think you remember I was thealternate team.
But I said it was my birthday.
And I said, you bought me abeer and I'm 25 years old.
And I said, you bought me abeer at the hotel bar, you know,
because he said, I heard yourbirthday today.
And I was like, yeah, actuallyit is.
And I said a lot to me, andhe's been super nice, but it was
(20:32):
just such a real wonderfulexperience and just getting.
Just getting to know, youknow, like just another rider as
a person and, you know, beingable to, you know, I mean, Stefan
is very open with his, youknow, struggles with anxiety and,
you know, depression and things.
And I have the same things.
And we talked a lot about.
(20:53):
I mean, we talked years agoabout it and I'd send him some books
that I thought were helpfuland, you know, but you don't spend
that much time.
But when, you know, we.
We really had just such awonderful time and, you know, like,
meeting Steph Curry and LeBronJames and everybody was really cool
and all this.
All the sprinter.
Yeah, I mean, all thesprinters for the US Olympic team
(21:14):
and the track and field, it was.
It was really, really fun.
And like, it was realcamaraderie around the athletes.
And one of the coolest thingsWhich Stefan noticed and I noticed
really as well.
So they had.
The US Boat, of course, isvery gigantic boat with a lot of
athletes on there.
Yeah, it was.
Yeah.
And we were second to last on,you know, in the, you know, whatever
(21:37):
the ferry line, you know,going through the Zen.
And we every.
Pretty much, I would say itwas 98% of the boats, and they were.
Sometimes there was just likeone little tugboat with, like, two
athletes on there, or it waslike a gigantic boat.
Every.
Almost every boat that went bythe US Boat.
(21:57):
I actually get goosebumpsthinking about it now.
Like, they all chanted like,usa, usa.
Every single one.
Some of the.
Some of the communist countries.
No understandable, you know,but like.
But.
But all the other ones, Imean, just.
I mean, random.
I'd never even heard of it.
And US Team, like, we didn'treally want to chant USA back, so
we just cheered and yelled back.
(22:19):
Some of us didn't even knowthe names of some of these countries.
And it was just a really coolexperience, just, you know, being
there and then being able tosee, like, you know, all this garbage
and, you know, things that youhear off and these wars and all these
horrible things that happen to people.
Like, most of the people arejust people.
It was amazing.
They had the athletes fromChina right next to the little athletes
(22:42):
from Jamaica in the athletes village.
So you had these Jamaican guysout there dancing and singing and
stuff, and you had the Chineseathletes all organized and in line
like an hour and a half beforeevery uniform looks perfect.
I mean, it was.
It was.
It was either a beautiful,glorious accident or a.
One of the smartest thingsthat they did.
(23:03):
It was really cool.
But the boat was.
The boat was amazing.
We were.
We were soaking wet, and itwas really fun to, you know, to hang
out with the, you know, thejumpers and everybody.
And Carl and McLean werereally awesome and really nice.
And so now I was.
That was soothing by far.
And I told Stefan that this isthe best moment of my entire life
so far.
(23:24):
I said, I'm really.
I'm really happy that, youknow, hey, I can spend this with
you, my friend.
Like, and we have a.
We have a nice text threadthat, you know, we text and check
on each other all the time,but it's.
It was just really fun, youknow, and also to have somebody that,
you know, you've, you know,looked up to for so long and to be
able to be on a team with himand, you know, I don't think he'll
mind me saying it, but, yeah,There was talk at the training camp
(23:49):
that we were not going to beable to do the opening ceremony.
And they told everybodybecause they.
Because there was a opening.
There was, like, one ridingsession we could have in the stadium
before.
And I knew Bo didn't care, youknow, I mean, he's going to be fine.
You know, it's no problem.
And, you know, and, you know,Stephanie, really.
(24:09):
He really wanted to do it, youknow, and, you know, they asked all
the athletes and, you know,Stefan, you know, raised his hand
and said, I really want to dothe opening ceremony.
So then when I got the nerve,when he raised his hand, if Stefan
says he wants to, I reallywant to.
I just don't have.
I don't have the guts to sayit on my own, you know, And I don't
want to cause any problems.
I'm not going there on my own.
(24:31):
Like, I need a buddy to comewith me, you know?
You know, I don't want to.
I don't want to be the, youknow, one jerk that doesn't go.
But was.
It was really, really, really.
It looked amazing.
The Federation was great aboutalso, like, coordinating it because
it was a lot.
I can imagine getting youthere and getting you back and.
Oh, my gosh.
(24:51):
Well, we.
I have to ask about the HotTopic because.
Yeah, dog.
Hello.
I gotta know.
I gotta know everything.
Tell me all the things.
What happened?
The Hot Topics with Snoop Dogg.
Oh, Snoop Dogg.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
No, it was cool.
They.
They.
I think I can.
I can probably say everything,but they.
(25:13):
I had heard.
They.
The press officer came up tome and said, hey, how's your horse?
With crowds?
And I said, I mean, prettygood and doesn't really care about
anybody, you know, I mean,like, he's always pretty fine and
he's seen a lot and.
Okay, I got something for youand Stefan to do tomorrow.
There was, like, rumblings andstuff, and you kind of hear some
(25:33):
stuff from people and we'dhear some stuff.
We weren't really sure.
And they didn't really tell you.
Like, they didn't tell us even.
Till they didn't tell you.
Wow.
No, they didn't.
They didn't tell us.
Yeah, they kept it super quiet.
And then, like, I felt badbecause they just.
They didn't tell me.
But I kind of had an idea andthen, like, I didn't want to, like,
(25:54):
also tell anybody else.
I felt guilty, like, I'mholding the secret and whatever.
But.
No, it's really.
It was really cool, you know,I mean, we.
They, they.
They wanted to get.
I.
I guess they wanted to getSnoop there before and, you know,
and Martha Stewart there.
But during the actual ridingstuff, they were.
(26:14):
Because of how strict the drugtesting is on the horses, they were
worried.
Snoop and his, you know,contact, you know.
Yeah, his.
Yeah, his.
His medicine that he uses.
Yeah, they were worried thatif he, if he touched the horses that
maybe they would test positiveor whatever.
Because, like, they're so.
I mean, they're so.
(26:35):
So.
Yeah, so they didn't have themwhile we were, you know, riding.
And they waited, you know, youknow, until we were basically all
done.
And it was really cool, youknow, I mean, they cart Snoop up
and Martha Stewart and I mean,Martha Stewart is my God, I hope
I look half as good as shedoes at her age.
Like, oh, my God, she's my unbelievable.
(26:56):
40 or whatever.
Well, yeah, it was really funny.
They had the, you know, so wewere standing McLean, Stefan and
I and Junior were sittingthere, and Martha, because they had
us, you know, we braided ourhorses and everything.
And she asked us, she goes,what kind of braids are those?
And I look at Stefan and I go,do you know the name of these braids?
He goes, I have no idea.
And then I looked at McLean,I'm like, do you know?
(27:16):
What do you call these braids?
And goes, I don't know, braids.
And so, like, she wanted toknow the specific type.
I'm like, I had no idea.
And Snoop was pretty funny.
He's like, I gotta do that tomy hair.
And no, it was cool.
Like, Mopsy's very in yourface with, like, he's a super personable
horse.
Like, it reminds me a lot of Lucky.
Like, Lucky the bull in achina shop.
(27:38):
Like, he'll mow you down for a carrot.
And Bo is way more gentle.
Like, he says he's the slowestchewer on the planet.
Like, if you give him acharacter there for five minutes,
you know.
And so, like, Snoop like that,that he was not as aggressive as
Mopsy.
But, yeah, I mean, you know,Martha Stewart, she knew.
She knew a fair amount about horses.
(27:58):
But she owns horses.
Yeah, she does, but.
And I've seen her ConanO'Brien thing, you know, on the Friesians,
which was really funny.
And.
But, you know, she.
She showed a small of knowledge.
She called both of them chestnuts.
And I'm like, that's a Mopsy'sa bae.
You know, look at the legs.
Like, you know, all right,strike one, Martha Stewart.
And then, you know, so.
(28:19):
But no, they were.
They were really really kind.
And, you know, Snoop was justa kind of cool character and, like,
really fun.
And, you know, we got a coupleof his Snoop pins, which.
Yeah, I gave Heidi one.
And then I just.
I have.
I have one, but I kept it required.
(28:40):
Tell anybody I had one.
I did, actually.
I was.
Yeah, it's.
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
But, no, it was.
It was really fun and.
Yeah, it was, like, reallynice for the sport.
And then, you know, I wish Iwas there when, you know, they were
in the stadium.
And just like, you kind oflike a hard schedule, like, your
time is not yours, like, soyou're, you know, you're organized.
(29:01):
You're gonna go here to here,and then you do this, and you check
in with, you know, everybody,make sure you're doing all the right
stuff, and, you know,everybody's happy.
And, I mean, security was crazy.
They had four.
They had four police officersfor every athlete, you know.
Wow.
Yeah, and I thought they said.
Yeah, I thought they were.
Said they were like 1500athletes or something, or 15.
(29:23):
I don't know, something like that.
And so, yeah, they had four.
Four.
Four police officers per athlete.
So you walked down the street.
I mean, it was the safest citythat, you know, that we've ever been
in.
Whole European kind of tour.
And that was really fun.
That was one thing, like.
And again, I'm butcheringwhether it's 1500 or 15,000, you
know, not great with numbers.
(29:44):
But Stefan, he.
We were sitting in the boatand he's like, hey, how freaking
a.
Freaking cool is this?
He goes, you know, think ofhow many people are in the world.
Think of how many athletes are here.
You know, think of whatpercentage of the population of the
entire world you are in right now.
And I was like, that's prettycool, Stefan.
Thanks, man.
(30:04):
I won't.
You know, it was nice.
And he's filled with thingslike that, you know, so that's pretty.
I mean, I can't even imagine.
0.00001% or something crazy.
I think I did.
I get up and it was something ridiculous.
I did look it up, and I sentit to my dad because my dad, he's
a.
He's a nurse surgeon, and hedid not want me to do this.
You know, he didn't have thebest experience with horse people
(30:27):
when I grew up and stuff.
And there are some not niceones, and there's plenty of nice
ones just like with anything else.
But he wanted me to be adoctor and all that, so.
But he was very proud.
He Came there with my mom and everybody.
That was a really nice.
That's amazing.
Can you tell us about the Zenelite grant that I've been seeing
on Facebook?
(30:48):
Yes.
So Heidi is.
Heidi's big thing is, youknow, that the drizzage community
supports itself, you know, andshe really, you know, like that,
and she wants to not justsupport her riders and, you know,
the people that ride andcampaign horses for her, but she's
just.
She really wants to reallyhelp out, you know, all dressage
(31:10):
and, you know, in the U.S.
you know, at every differentlevel, you know, and it is.
It is a, you know, expensive sport.
And that's why we need, youknow, people like, you know, Heidi
and Kiko and all these intent.
All these other great, youknow, sponsors and owners and stuff
in the sport.
And she just, she's, you know,this very successful businesswoman
(31:32):
and, you know, her thing isalways about, like, positive vibes
and, you know, she reallywants to give back to people.
I think that, like, maybe it was.
I was texting with her oneevening and just, you know, talking
about how some of her horsesare going and stuff.
And, you know, she's like, oh,my God, you have.
I forget what you said.
I think she got like couplethousand emails and stuff.
(31:55):
And I was like.
I said, that's after 24 hours.
I said, you're going to get alot more, you know, so it's, it's
a.
It's, you know, and it's.
It's a lot of, you know, like,I think it's also.
It's like, really important,you know, to, you know, even apply
and do that stuff, like, youknow, know to put stuff into words
and then, you know, be ableto, you know, write up application
(32:15):
on, you know, why you need itand what it'll help you with and
what it means to you and all that.
Like, I think a lot of times,like, you know, us just, you know,
riders and trainers, I mean,you gotta be so many things, you
know, a rider, a trainer, abusinessman, an accountant, a VR
person.
You do all this stuff andsome, you know, sometimes when you
kind of do.
(32:36):
And I know when I've, youknow, applied for grants and different
things, it helps you to sitback and look at, like, all the things
that you have accomplished andthen also, you know, really put it
into words and it's, it's evenjust doing the application, it's.
It's a really nice.
I think it's a nice thing forriders, you know, I mean, because
when you, when you put thoseTogether and you get, I mean, you
(32:57):
know, some of the, on some ofthe grants and stuff that, you know,
they do, you get letters fromdifferent coaches or trainers or
other riders.
And it's always really, it'salways really positive.
I mean, whether you get thegrant or not, just getting all this
stuff down, you know.
Yeah.
And there are grants out thereand this is such a great one.
And so Endel, how can ourlisteners find more information about
(33:20):
you and your training?
Because you have your ownbusiness, but also the Zen Elite
grant, how can they find that?
You know, I would say the bestthing for the Zenelite grant is if
you go to on Facebook that,you know, Zenelite equestrian.
And I mean, Adrienne, youknow, has some, always tagged on
all her stuff.
Same, same as me.
And then if you go on thatZene Equestrian Facebook Facebook
(33:43):
page, she continuously postsstuff on that and she has a lot of
that grant information on there.
I think they were redoing herwebsite and so I'm not 100% sure
the name of the website or,you know, if that's on there, but
the Facebook, like, you know,Heidi's, you know, very active on
Facebook.
(34:05):
Yeah, it's, it's pretty easyto find and you know, it's, you know,
Heidi is just such a cool person.
I mean, we, we talk a lotwhere, you know, I'm like, I knew
you in another life.
And when I met her in thebeginning, she called me about a
horse I have for sale.
I think it's 112 now.
(34:25):
Still alive, still down there.
He's living his best life inhis wonderful air conditioned barn.
But I was a friend of minewanted me to sell her horse and listed
it and she came with herentourage, she always brings.
And the vet rode the horse.
Heidi rode the horse.
I think her son came and rodethe horse that day.
It was a whole party and itwas just really cool vibes.
(34:48):
And yeah, I just like, youknow, everything worked out.
She ended up buying the horseand everything.
And you know, when she boughtthe horse and put all the stuff together,
you know, I just shook herhand and I said, we're going to do
something, we're going to dosomething really cool someday, you
know.
And I just, I want us to stayin touch.
And I think it was maybe, youknow, five years or so later, maybe
four years later.
(35:08):
And I would just kind of sendher some stuff on Facebook here and
there about, you know,different accomplishments and different
things.
And then, you know, then westarted doing more and more.
So she's just really has sucha good heart and really, really wants
to uplift dressage community.
And she's not.
She's a very, very specialperson just for dressage in general
(35:30):
in the U.S.
i mean, for her to get sopassionate about all this.
She's very, very passionateabout animals.
And I mean, the amount ofanimal rescues that she has.
I mean, she has every girl's dream.
Like, she has got this hugewoolly mammoth of a cow.
She's got like all these geeseand duck.
I mean, it's.
It's so cool.
(35:50):
And she's got like cat rescuesand duck rescues and llama.
I mean, it's amazing.
And then for her to, you know,just really see the beauty of the
sport and the beauty of thetraining and how, you know, how much
she, you know, reallyappreciates it.
I mean, it's.
There's.
There's not many people that,you know, come in and see that as
clearly as she does.
And I'm very, very thankfulfor that.
(36:11):
Yeah, that's amazing.
And Endo, how can ourlisteners find.
You online if you just googledmy weird name, you know, Endel Odds.
I have a website and, youknow, Facebook, Instagram, the usual
stuff.
I mean, my phone number is upthere somewhere.
I think it's on the website or whatever.
And I would say what's easiest.
Yeah, I mean, like a messageon the.
(36:34):
Any of those things.
Sometimes it gets a little bithard to get back to.
I have to do a talk for like,I think it's like a kindergarten
group or something.
And I can't figure out whichFacebook, which like, nesting thing
it's on.
And I feel bad because they'rereally nice to reach out about, like,
following goals and all this stuff.
You're gonna do great.
You'll figure it out.
(36:55):
Yeah, I'm not good at it.
You'll do great.
The.
I hope so.
I hope so.
I do my best not to swear infront of the kindergartener.
You're not edited then.
There we go.
Thank you so much.
You're so kind to always comeon our show and be such a gem.
And we so appreciate it and we.
I can't wait to see what youand Bohemian have this year.
(37:17):
I can't wait and see you guysin Wellington very shortly.
Looking forward to it.
And you know, Rhys, you'vealways been such a really, really
kind, kind person.
Like, I think you're.
There's a lot of nice peoplein this sport and there are justice
in anything that some, youknow, not as kind people.
It's you know, like yourreputation in this sport is just
(37:40):
in stellar way as being just aperfect person that uplifts everybody
that is kind, you know, is agood rider, a good trainer, but even
more so like a really kind person.
And I mean, you were.
You've been nice to me for Idon't even know how long, so I.
Really appreciate you kind ofmade me tear up a little bit.
(38:00):
Thanks.
It was so sweet.
And I'm.
You could see me at Ollie'sand I won't wave weird back.
I'll come sit with you at the bar.
Perfect, perfect, perfect.
Yeah.
We were just discussing beforewe were recording about how bad I
at trying to say hi to women.
It doesn't work well.
I'll be your wingman.
It's pretty embarrassing.
That would be his own YouTube show.
(38:23):
Thank you so much, Endel.
And we can't wait to see youthis winter.
Even under the bestcircumstances, travel is stressful
for horses.
We've all been there.
Stuck on the side of the roadin the middle of nowhere.
You can make the journeyknowing that.
You US Rider is there for you.
Get peace of mind on the roadwith U.S.
(38:44):
rider's nationwide 24.
7 roadside assistance coveragefor both you and your horse.
Join today@usrider.org well,tonight we are so excited to have
Kate Fleming Coon.
She is a fourth levelcertified instructor faculty member.
She also is an FEI rider andtrainer at her Star west farm with
(39:05):
her husband and she just cameback from the Region 4 championship
with four championships on her horses.
Kate, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
Oh, my goodness, girl, you hadquite a championship.
So you've got to tell us allabout it.
Well, it was, it was reallyexciting for me because the horses
(39:25):
that, that Martin and Ibrought were all purchased as, as
foals and raised here at ourhome farm and started here and have
just been developed at thelevel with Martin and I.
And it's really neat whenyou've, when you've been involved
in a horse's life for thatlong and, and to be within a partnership
(39:48):
that has that kind oflongevity is really neat to get out
there and see that rewarded.
That's so.
It was.
I competed against you.
It was so fun to watch youride and try to, to keep up and.
Are you going to nationals?
Do we get to see you at nationals?
(40:08):
Yes, yes.
I'll be there with the threeand then Martin will have his horse
there as well.
Fantastic.
I can't wait.
I love it.
Well, Kate, tell us.
I Mean, I think this is a bigtopic in dressage right now in the
United States about us raisingour own horses and training our own
horses.
So can you kind of talk usthrough the process?
(40:30):
I mean, talk us through theprocess kind of all the way to festival
and regionals because you'vebeen having an amazing summer.
Yes.
So it's, it's, it's a bit of along game.
I look, looked it up, but ithas been.
The last time that I had ahorse of my own that I, that I did
not start was 15 years ago.
(40:53):
And 15 years ago I had, I hadsold three sales horses and, and
took this, you know, what Ithought was this enormous chunk of
money and flew to Europe andlooked at a bunch of horses and thought,
I'm going to come home with,you know, with my next star.
And it was, you know, in mymind, this enormous sum.
(41:16):
And I got there and weprobably looked at maybe 40 horses
in the course of just a few days.
But every single horse Ilooked at, there was something like
one gait that wasn't good, orthe X rays weren't good, or the temperament
wasn't good.
There was something in each one.
(41:36):
And I was commenting tosomebody about that and he said,
well, with the budget that youhave, you're going to have to have
some imagination.
Like you can't, you're notgoing to be able to afford a top
horse and that.
So I went home thinking, howdo I do this?
How do I afford the qualitythat, that I want with the resources
(42:01):
that I have?
And so that, that really started.
We, Martin and I ran abreeding program for several years
that was not so successful for us.
I love breeding.
I have a real passion for it.
But we lost a lot of foals andit was very heartbreaking.
And so I thought, okay,there's got to be a better way.
(42:22):
And that turned into buy,buying foals and all from us breeders.
So we didn't have like thecost of import and it was an affordable
way to get what I hoped wouldbe the quality that I wanted.
And that has really, that hasbeen very successful for us.
(42:46):
May I interrupt?
What do you look for in a foal?
Because I've always purchasedthree year olds, I'm always like
shy of raising them.
So what, what do you look for?
Because you've picked reallygreat horses.
Yeah, I think having an eyefor being able to see the gates in
a young horse is somethingthat needs to be developed.
(43:08):
And then so I always look likethe first the breeding because I
really research the lines.
One of the things I think whenyou're buying unstarted horses that
you can't know is what theirwork ethic would be like.
Right.
But if you really study thelineage, you can have a certain probability
(43:29):
that a horse will have a work ethic.
But I like a horse that, youknow, that has a lot of desire to
go.
So if a horse is too, a littlebit too calm or a little bit too
like as a young horse, maybenot the most kind of sensitive type,
you know, those would behorses that I would, might sell as
(43:51):
amateur horses and that, youknow, they might be perfect for that,
for that market.
But so looking at the foalslike the breeding obviously is the
first thing I look at and thenlooking at the confirmation and the
movement and when we buy foalsthey go through a three part critique.
(44:15):
So I'm normally one that, thatyou know, that finds them first and
then when, if the breeding isgood and the gates are good and the
confirmation looks good.
And the fourth thing is kindof, I'm going to say the magic piece
for me is the, what I'm goingto call the it factor and that, that
(44:37):
sense like that there is justthis presence that a horse has and
I think that in a good formyou can see it.
Interesting.
Yeah, that makes sense.
So after you choose yourfoals, you bring them to your farm
and you guys own a great farm,a beautiful farm and then what happens
kind of do you turn them outtill they're three or what's your
(44:59):
process with that next stageof life?
Yeah, so we live on propertyand our home is surrounded on three
sides by Pat.
And so the foals come home andthey go in aged groups.
So I normally, if I'm buyingone, I normally buy two or maybe
(45:21):
a student will buy one in thatage group.
And then they go in agesegregated groups, they live out
24, 7.
They get kind of minimal handhandling, their feet trimmed and
their vaccines and warming andother than that they are just out
(45:44):
playing and growing and inpasture space.
And when they are three thenwe then things get rolling in terms
of getting them that threeyear old year is just getting them
started.
It's not very serious, anykind of serious riding.
(46:05):
I don't start them at two anda half.
We wait until the spring oftheir three year old year and just
starting with groundwork andjust getting them, getting them kind
of acclimated into beingridden and then if they're good enough
and the temperament is good,we might do you know, try for festival
(46:25):
with them, but only if theyare really saying that they're ready.
And that's at 4.
At 4 years old, you go.
You start to festival to thinkabout festival.
Fantastic.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
For you guys, it's actually.
When it's at Lamplight, it'snot too long of a trip, right?
It's.
It's fairly close.
Yep.
(46:46):
Just over three.
Three hours.
Yeah.
So that part, it is really nice.
And we can show there throughthe summer.
So the young horses get that.
That ability to get.
Get exposure to that venue.
That's perfect.
Yeah, that's awesome.
And then once you go tofestival at four and then you're
ready to rock and roll.
Right.
Then you kind of what your.
(47:06):
What's your next process?
Kind of figuring out wherethey go.
Yeah, a little bit.
They tell us, like, some areclearly young horse candidates, and
if they, if they have, like,the training progresses in line with
being able to do those testsand they've got the quality of the
(47:28):
gates, then we pursue that.
And if not, then we might justkeep training at home.
And, you know, sometimes,like, the horses, you know, will
be good.
Fei horses are not really ahorse that you think will be a young
horse candidate, which is.
Which is fine.
Then we.
Then we stay home and justkeep training.
(47:50):
So, Kate, tell us overall, howmany horses do you have sort of in
rotation?
Because this is.
This is very much a European model.
I think when you.
When you start looking at theEuropean farms and that kind of stuff.
My.
I have a limit, like a topnumber that I say, okay, it won't
be more than that.
(48:11):
And I'm a little bit over that number.
Yes.
So.
Oops.
Yeah.
Yeah, oops.
I try, you know, to stay under10 in total.
Okay.
And some of those are like, they're.
I mean, they're in the fieldand just growing up, so some of you
(48:37):
know that they're not allunder saddle at once.
That would be a lot.
And keep in mind, there aretwo of us, so that's divided between
Martin and I.
Yeah.
Your husband's also an amazingGrand Prix writer.
Yes.
And he.
So we, like.
I try to choose horses that Ialso think, like, will fit, you know,
(48:58):
a tall man.
Yeah.
Yes.
Martin's tall.
And you're.
You're.
I'm not going to say you'reaverage height.
You're not short.
Right.
Compared to Martin.
Martin's very tall.
So, yeah, we had this, like,we have two three year olds this
year and I'm really excited about.
And there was Oneparticularly, I thought that one.
I really want to ride that one.
So I went out and I looked fora sec, I thought, it's all one Martin.
(49:23):
Martin can ride that one.
Sure.
They're both his.
There's no question about that.
And you also have a ridingschool, right?
We do.
We run a StarWest Academy,which is a beginner program with
school horses.
(49:43):
And we have five instructorsthat are a part of that.
And yeah, it's been a great,really great way to bring good horsemanship
and learning, just thebeginning parts of dressage for our
community.
And there's been a lot ofexcitement, both with kids, but also
(50:04):
I'm going to call them reriders, you know, adults that have
come back to riding later in life.
That's fantastic.
And that's a big population, right?
I mean, that's a lot of riding schools.
That's when to get back in.
They have had their kids orthey have some extra time and that's
sometimes a hard time to finda riding school or a place to ride.
So that's incredible.
(50:26):
I think it's really importantto, you know, I think this gets back
to a little bit, thisconversation of like, how do we,
how do we afford to do this?
And having the riding school,I think is really important to me
because there is such a needfor an affordable way to get people
(50:48):
started riding.
And that may be riding once aweek on a lesson horse.
That may be the furthest theywill ever go with it.
But they are getting thisconnection with horses.
They're learning in a safeenvironment on a school horse that
is, you know, has goodeducation and is appropriate for
(51:08):
their level.
But again, it's affordable.
And I think that's so.
Is something that I, like,feel passionate about because I think
horses just as a general ruleare just everything about what we're
doing is getting more expensive.
So providing a way that peoplecan learn and be a part of it, that's.
(51:31):
That is affordable, I think isreally important.
It's fabulous.
How do you find your instructors?
Because I also have a ridingacademy and finding people who want
to teach, I find are limited now.
Yeah, all of the instructorsare students that of Martin and mine
(51:54):
that have had an interest inteaching as well.
And I have one that does itfull time.
And everybody else that is inthe program has, like, it might be
their day is Saturday morningmornings that they teach and they
(52:16):
work in another industryMonday through Friday or they teach.
I have somebody that mightteach in the evenings after they've
worked another job so that theinstructors are for the most part,
they are doing it part time.
(52:36):
Okay, that's awesome.
That's great.
No, I think it's an amazingprogram and hearing about your entire
program and how you're makingexact affordable but also growing
your own horses, I think it'sa great model for all of us.
So, Kate, how can ourlisteners find you online?
They have any questions andwant to see your program.
How can they do that?
(52:56):
StarWestOnline.net is ourwebsite and then on Facebook, StarWest
would be the Facebook page forlike Martin and like has a bit more
about what Martin and I are doing.
And then Star West AcademyFacebook page has the lesson program
information.
(53:16):
Well, it also looks like a lotof fun because I am on that page
and I think it's really fun.
So what you guys are doing isgreat and congratulations and we
can't wait to see you in Kentucky.
Awesome.
I'll see you.
I'll see you both there acouple weeks.
Yay.
Thank you.
Thanks for having me on.
Well, we are so excited justto remind you guys about the book
club.
(53:37):
Janet Foy, the not so perfect horse.
And you can get it onhorseandriderbooks.com and Megan
and I will be at conventionand the book club discussion.
Right, Megan, we're going toreally enjoy this.
I can't wait.
Yeah, so it'll be a little bit.
Also a meetup at convention.
So we're really lookingforward to all that.
So meet up at finals and meetup at convention.
(53:59):
I don't know, you guys may geta little bit tired of us, but we're
excited about doing it andwe'll have lots of laughs together.
As always, you can find ourshow notes and links to today's guests
on ourpage@horseradionetwork.com just search
dressage radio show.
Like us on Facebook.
Just search dressage radio show.
My website ismaplecrestfarmky.com and my email.
(54:20):
Is reeseradionetwork.com andmy website is lindenhoff.com and
my email is lindenhoffllcmail.com we'd like to thank our
friends and show sponsors,Kentucky Performance Products.
If you'd like to support ourshow and the horse radio network
network, you can do thatthrough the auditor program found@horseradionetwork.com
(54:47):
keep on kicking on until thenext show.
Talk to you soon.
You are listening to the HorseRadio Network, part of the Equine
Network family.
This is episode 756 of theDressage Radio show on the Horse
Radio Network, brought to youby Kentucky Performance Products.
The Dressage Radio show is theofficial podcast of the United States
Dressage Federation.
On today's show, Kate FlemingCoon shares with us her great year
(00:27):
in competition arena andraising youngsters.
And we start with Endel Otz'sOlympic experience.
Enjoy.
This is Reese Kopler Stanfieldin Georgetown, Kentucky.
And I am Megan McIsac inOregon, Wisconsin.
(00:48):
And you're listening to theDressage Radio Show.
Well, hi, Megan.
And we have special guest Glenn.
Hey, guys, Good to see youtonight again.
Yeah.
Hi, welcome.
Good to be here.
And Megan has so much to talk about.
Oh, my God.
I saw your posts.
(01:09):
There is a lot going on.
We just got back from regionals.
I'm a little bit horse showhungover, but I took three horses
to regionals, region four.
I took baby horse.
So she was third level andthird freestyle and she was reserved
at the freestyle, which was so exciting.
(01:30):
Meaning you're coming toKentucky and y'all, we're having
a listener meetup.
We're already excited.
We're already excited, so.
And I interrupted your flow.
So tell us about the other two.
No problem, no problem.
I also took my sales horse,Sheila N and she competed in pre
St George.
(01:50):
I won and the freestyle andshe qualified for nationals in the
I1.
We're alternate for the freestyle.
We got a little excited in ourfreestyle and then my amazing horse
AJ for 10 years and competedhim, I think the last four years
Grand Prix.
I had planned this was goingto be my last show with him and I
(02:13):
didn't tell anyone and I.
I got actually really emotional.
We.
I saved him for my freestyle,which is my favorite.
It's developed by MelanieMcKayak and it's really Reese.
You know when you're competinga horse that you love so much and
he's a little bit lazy and toride the Grand Prix, putting all
(02:33):
the pieces together is really hard.
So I was in the middle of mytest and we like the first third
of the test, we got to ourones and I started bawling because
I nailed them without a whip.
It was so crazy.
I really didn't think Iemotional was.
(02:57):
And I started bawling in themiddle of the test and I was like,
you gotta pull it together,get it together.
You got a drum?
Yeah.
And he was like, mom, what'sgoing on?
We're having Fun like always.
And finished the test and Iwas still bawling and.
And he punched a ticket forfinals and that's always been a dream
(03:18):
of mine, to go to finals anddo the Grand Prix Freestyle.
So we're going to do it onelast time and then, then it's over.
So I'm going to be even more emotional.
Like hold your hand before yougo in there.
Like, hold it together, sister.
Finals, all three horses.
Congratulations.
That is a huge deal.
(03:39):
Thank you.
And I can't wait because I getto just come and, you know, bring
my, bring my happy little joycup and walk around and watch it
all ride.
It's gonna be great.
Best finals for me.
Well, I can't wait to see you.
And I can't wait to ride inthe All Tech arena.
I'm very, very excited.
So.
Yeah.
And you have some news too.
(04:00):
I do.
I have also some bittersweet news.
Yeah.
And everybody has followed myjourney with.
Follow me.
Big Mike.
Big Mike actually went to hisnew home last week and shout out
to his new mom.
I don't know if she listens tothe show, but I could not have picked
a better place for him.
His owner is absolutely adorable.
She built her own barn.
(04:21):
Her trainer is wonderful andit very bittersweet, but that's the
job he wanted to do.
And you know, again, it was hard.
It wasn't going to, you know,I can't keep every horse and I think
that's for us trainers.
It's.
It is what we do.
And so it was verybittersweet, but actually mostly
sweet because we put a ribbonon his neck and I just gave him a
(04:44):
kiss and I just told him, youknow, he was ready for this journey.
And he did.
He was ready.
He was like, okay, this is great.
I like this lady a lot.
And it was really fun.
So I get to see him.
He's not very far away.
He's not in the same state,but he's close enough and so I get
to see him.
And truly, it was wonderful.
So, yeah, I'm actually goingback now.
(05:04):
I'm getting a new youngster,hopefully not quite as young as the
one I bought last year.
Four year old year is a littlerocky for me.
I'm so excited for you.
I cannot wait to hear aboutyour adventures.
I know Megan gets to get allthe horses that we're looking at,
so we're going to be there fora week.
And I also have a client goingover, so lots of fun news to talk
(05:26):
about.
And it's again, you know, whenyou have a Grand Prix horse and it's
kind of like what you'resaying, Megan, like at some point
the ride ends and you know,Mike was 12, so he, he was ready
to go on and teach someoneelse and go be somebody else's main
man.
So.
Yeah, but it's still hard.
That's the.
One of the hardest things tobe in a professional.
(05:46):
Right?
It's very hard, brutal.
But even I would be honest.
I mean, I think we talk a lotabout on the show of when is it time
to move on with a horse.
And you know, you know,there's goals that every writer has
and my goals are veryspecifically to ride Grand Prix and
ideally International Grand Prix.
And that was proving to not bewhat Big Mike really wanted to do.
(06:10):
He really was a machine at thesmall tour.
I think he won WestphalianHorse of the Year by a young woman,
Mary, who catch rode him anddid a beautiful job.
Like he loved that job.
And so, you know, it wasactually my sister who we talk about
on the show, you know, she'salso a Grand Prix rider and she was
the one that said, hey, youknow, it may be time.
And.
(06:30):
And I was like, because I lovethat horse so much, but, but truly
it was the right thing for him too.
And I think sometimes it'shard to move on, but if your goals
aren't aligning with your horse.
And my mom was always verygood with us when it was time to
sell horses, we needed to sell them.
So if anyone struggles, yoursister is.
The right one to have thatconversation with you.
(06:52):
Yeah, yeah, my sister.
Yeah.
I mean she's like my, my bestfriend and my confidant and my biggest
cheerleader and also I'm very.
Also lucky.
My parents part of.
They own Big Mike with me, sothey're very excited about our next
adventure together.
So I still have a verysupportive family and inner syndicate
worked.
I didn't put on Facebook, youknow, I.
(07:12):
Big Mike we got as a verygangly four year old and I remember
telling you guys about himand, and he wasn't expensive at the
time, but you know, he provedto be an expensive dude and, but
also very well trained and Ienjoyed every step.
So it is bittersweet for us riders.
But, and it's like you said,Megan, like that ride will come to
an end at some for everyone ifthat's where you are.
(07:36):
And sometimes it's time forthem to go on to new homes.
So it was bittersweet.
But gosh, I'll let you guysknow about My new journey as we go
through.
And I'll tell you yes aboutour travels.
So it's going to be great.
But I go in another weekactually before finals and Megan
and I will get a time togetherand we'll do a meetup finals and
(07:58):
anybody feel free to reach outto me.
I actually had a listenerreach out about how to get some hay
in the area when they're atfinals and I love that.
So feel free to reach out.
You have any questions?
Sometimes we do where to go todinner and that kind of stuff.
So seriously, I live about 12minutes from the horse park, so it's
my local town and I love toshow it off.
So we're excited about finalsin a couple weeks.
(08:19):
So feel free to reach out.
Well, I am so happy for youtoo, Reese.
I know how hard you work atthis job and how hard it is to do
things like this, but.
And we've all lived throughthis horse with you.
Yeah, he's been a fan favoritefor sure.
And by the way, Phil's veryhappy you got this done too, because
Phil lived through this horsewith you more than anybody.
So.
(08:41):
Honestly, this, this writerwas Canadian and I kind of look up
at Phil and you know, yeah, Idefinitely feel Phil's around kind
of.
I feel like hopefully when Igo over he'll be, he'll be with us
for sure.
So he'll be there.
Speaking of which, one of thethings that he always did with us
around the holiday time wasradio Thon and also he did the all
(09:03):
host shows with us at holidaytime too.
But we are doing Radiothonagain this year like last year.
We're doing it video and audio.
It's going to be December 1st.
It's the Sunday afterThanksgiving, so December 1st, we'll
be doing it from 3 to 9pmEastern Time.
Holidayradiothon.com has allthe details.
We're giving away thousands ofdollars in prizes again.
(09:26):
We're going to have the funsubmissions from the listeners, singing
songs and doing poems and allthat kind of stuff.
We have something planned forthe last hour when a bunch of the
hosts, including Reese show up.
So we're going to do somethingreally fun that hour we have.
Reese doesn't even know aboutit yet.
No, it doesn't involve singing.
You're fine.
(09:47):
It doesn't involve singing, soyou're good.
Last year we tried that.
It was a miserable failure.
So I think it was quite late.
And we all maybe had holiday beverages.
I think I had a bottle of twoProsecco by that point.
So you did.
But it's a lot of fun and wehope that you can join us.
I'll have more details on howto enter for the prizes and how to
(10:09):
get all that done over thenext cut, probably in the next episode
of the Dressage Radio show.
I'll have all the details for you.
Right after this break fromKentucky Performance Products.
We're coming back with Endalots.
We're going to hear all abouthis amazing experience at the Olympics.
And just a clarification.
Later in the interview hetalks about his sponsor Heidi Humphries
of Zen Elite Equestrian.
Just to clear that that for you.
(10:31):
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(12:04):
Well tonight this is really anhonor to have Endelots.
He was the alternate for theOlympic Games this year and we were
just laughing.
Endel, we've had you on atevery stage of the game now at the
dressage radio show and oh mygoodness, it's such an honor to have
you back on the show.
Welcome back.
Oh it's hey, what a long timeinterviewee, you know.
(12:24):
But it's been wonderful.
It's been really nice.
We've known each other forsuch a long time.
We have remember many, manyfunny stories that I can't tell on
here.
I just thought of which we'lltalk about afterwards.
You'll never know.
I think you'll remember it.
I think you'll remember it.
It's pretty funny.
We leave it up here.
We're so happy to have you on.
(12:45):
Oh my gosh.
First of all, tell us aboutBohemian because you started to write
him and just such a joy fromthe beginning.
So tell us about him.
No, he's, he's great.
He reminds me the most of.
I used to help Chase Hickok onSagacious years ago and it reminds
me the most of Sagacious.
You know, you have to have alot of respect for him.
(13:07):
You like he does fight for youin the ring.
The first couple times that Iwas on him and showing and stuff.
I mean, I'd ridden him for twoweeks and then we did a national
show and then I think anothertwo weeks after that.
Then we did like the first cdi.
But that was the timing.
You know, you don't havealways get to, you know, plan stuff
out how you want to.
It's just what it is.
(13:27):
But no, he's a, he's a, he's agreat horse.
Like he, you know, to reallyrespect him and how he works and
not always to expecteverything to be perfect, I mean,
it's, you know, it is your, Imean, you, it's you and your horse
kind of against everybody really.
And to, you know, when he'sout there and he, you know, we're
(13:49):
doing the warm up or competingor doing the schooling rides before
like Aachen or any of thisstuff, I just, I have to just trust
what I feel, he tells me.
And you know, a lot of timesin the ring it's the, I'd say the
only test that I wasn't superhappy with was in Kronberg and qualifying
stuff.
And Marcus had a super, superride in the, in the special and Bohemian
(14:14):
felt great.
I was going right after Marcus.
Everybody was screaming in thecrowds and the crowd was really close
to the arena and I had a lotof energy in there and I just, I
tried too hard and I likepushed him too much and there was
just too many mistakes.
I mean, it was a 69.
It was still good, you know,but it was like I went and I'm a
competitor and like I want to win.
(14:36):
And I should have just said,no, no, no, be happy with your 72.
Like just, you know, it's all good.
And he's the kind of horse, Imean, you can, you can make it worse
in the ring.
Like you can really make it worse.
But he knows where to go.
You have to think a little bitahead of him.
On certain things, not alwayshalting at sea.
But he knows the drop down to trot.
(14:57):
You know, I mean, I just do alittle quiet in my voice and he boop.
Right, right at M.
Drops down to trot pretty muchevery time, sometimes before I ask
him to.
So kind of getting.
Sometimes getting that partkind of together is, you know, getting
him on your side where, yeah,he fights, where he tries for you
and getting him to wait for you.
And that's.
(15:18):
That's always.
I mean, I think with anyhorse, like, a struggle.
But for.
For me, it was reallyimportant that I just really respect.
I mean, the same as Sagacious.
I mean, Sagacious had moregrand print.
Robert, if he hears this, willbe probably annoyed that I say this,
and maybe we'll disagree.
But we checked back when theyhad the website where you could check
all the rides.
I mean, they still dosomewhere, but, you know, just had
(15:39):
more Grand Prix rides thanRobert Dover had in his whole entire
life.
And, you know, it's like, yougotta respect the horse like that
and then say, all right, let'stry to tweak one little thing to
make it a little bit better.
And then also to fight theurge of not making drastic changes.
I was say, that's the biggestthing that I learned over in Europe.
(15:59):
And everybody, like,everybody's, you know, everybody
wants all the, you know, togive you all this information and
really to help you andeverything, but to really just go
down and just, I mean, forright or wrong, just really trust
your gut and.
Yeah, that would be thebiggest thing that I learned over
there.
Because every time I trustedmy natural just instincts, like on
(16:19):
the horse and being on him, Iwas really happy with it.
I mean, you always want to do better.
You always want to get higher scores.
Like, it's never enough.
But I.
My.
Yeah, my favorite moments are.
My favorite moments in Europewere, I would say, after the halt
and salute at the final end ofpretty much every test, and then,
you know, the walk back.
The walk back, everybody'shappy, everybody's getting high fives,
(16:41):
everybody's all nice.
Devin's.
Everybody's all great.
And then as soon as you getoff the horse, you gotta think about
the next test and the nextthing, and you're on this roller
coaster that you.
I mean, literally before,pretty much before every single ride,
I gotta keep.
I had to keep telling myself,this is fun.
You wanted to do this, youwanted to do this, you wanted to
do this.
You know, this is fun.
It is fun, but it's.
It's.
(17:01):
It's a lot of.
It's.
It's a lot of pressure,because I know you.
You go over there, youbasically lose all your clients when
you're gone, because you'regone for four months.
You don't make, you know, youdon't make any money.
You know, you're, you know,washing your.
You know, you're washing yourclothes in the back in the bathtub,
and, you know, people that yourent and, you know, it's a humbling
(17:22):
experience.
And, you know, it's.
It's great.
It's great, but it's.
I learned a lot from it.
And, you know, just going inthere with.
I think I went in there withcertain expectations that ended up
being true and then otherexpectations that, you know, again,
you can't know.
And I really, you know, youreally try to get all the information
you can from, you know, yourother teammates and everybody there,
(17:44):
and everybody's kind of in thesame boat, you know, but if, like,
you haven't, you know, Ihaven't been on a team with, you
know, Stefan and Adrian before.
Like, I've known Marcus forever.
So, you know, everybody, youknow, like, I've known Stefan and
Adrian for a long time, but,you know, I think once everybody
kind of relaxes, and it's agood group and a good team, and it
makes all the difference, youknow, the beginning, everybody's
(18:05):
a little bit wary, you know,of everybody else, and you don't
just, you know, want to keeptheir head down and work hard.
Yeah.
And I think that's so good to hear.
Like, we see the glory of youat Versailles, but I mean, like,
really, what you have to gothrough again, losing basically your
income and living inapartments that are, you know, not
(18:25):
as nice as home.
Let's be real.
You miss ice.
You miss ice.
Air conditioning.
Yep.
It seems like such a littlething, but it's.
No.
And I never, you know, like, Idon't want to, like, you know, Heidi
is a really, really greatsponsor and client and friend of
mine, and she's always supergreat, and the federation, you know,
(18:45):
I don't want to ever.
I don't want to put any.
Like, you know, that they'renot supportive.
They're, of course,supportive, you know, and they do
everything you can and they.
But, you know, stuff comes upyou didn't think about.
I mean, the biggest thing waslaundry, you know.
I mean, you know, that's awful.
That's awful.
I mean.
Yeah.
You know, I love it.
(19:06):
I love it.
Well, let's talk.
Okay.
I am sitting on my couch and Isee you on the set.
I'm like, oh, my God, tell uswhat that was.
Like, that was so cool.
I'm like, it's Edna.
Stefan.
I, like, took as many picturesas I could and rewound.
Like, it was so exciting.
That was the best that was on everything.
(19:27):
That was a moment whereeverything, like those, man, I think
it took us.
We were there at 1 o'clock inthe afternoon, and then, you know,
we left.
We ended up staying at a.
Just a little tiny hole in thewall in Paris, and we didn't get
done till like 3:30 in the morning.
And it was.
That was just such a wonderful experience.
And I mean, staffing was so cool.
(19:48):
I mean, and, you know, we kindof reminisce about things, you know,
long time in the past.
Like, when I was 25, I was thealternate for the Guadalajara team
for Pan Ams.
That was, of course, the onlyyear that they didn't bring the altern,
which sucks.
But, you know, hey, it waswhat it was.
But I reminded Stefan, I waslike, you know, I said, just, you
(20:08):
know, take this as a compliment.
Don't take this that you're old.
But I said, when.
I said, I don't know if youremember, but I was alternate.
You remember?
I was.
I think you remember I was thealternate team.
But I said it was my birthday.
And I said, you bought me abeer and I'm 25 years old.
And I said, you bought me abeer at the hotel bar, you know,
because he said, I heard yourbirthday today.
And I was like, yeah, actuallyit is.
And I said a lot to me, andhe's been super nice, but it was
(20:32):
just such a real wonderfulexperience and just getting.
Just getting to know, youknow, like just another rider as
a person and, you know, beingable to, you know, I mean, Stefan
is very open with his, youknow, struggles with anxiety and,
you know, depression and things.
And I have the same things.
And we talked a lot about.
(20:53):
I mean, we talked years agoabout it and I'd send him some books
that I thought were helpfuland, you know, but you don't spend
that much time.
But when, you know, we.
We really had just such awonderful time and, you know, like,
meeting Steph Curry and LeBronJames and everybody was really cool
and all this.
All the sprinter.
Yeah, I mean, all thesprinters for the US Olympic team
(21:14):
and the track and field, it was.
It was really, really fun.
And like, it was realcamaraderie around the athletes.
And one of the coolest thingsWhich Stefan noticed and I noticed
really as well.
So they had.
The US Boat, of course, isvery gigantic boat with a lot of
athletes on there.
Yeah, it was.
Yeah.
And we were second to last on,you know, in the, you know, whatever
(21:37):
the ferry line, you know,going through the Zen.
And we every.
Pretty much, I would say itwas 98% of the boats, and they were.
Sometimes there was just likeone little tugboat with, like, two
athletes on there, or it waslike a gigantic boat.
Every.
Almost every boat that went bythe US Boat.
(21:57):
I actually get goosebumpsthinking about it now.
Like, they all chanted like,usa, usa.
Every single one.
Some of the.
Some of the communist countries.
No understandable, you know,but like.
But.
But all the other ones, Imean, just.
I mean, random.
I'd never even heard of it.
And US Team, like, we didn'treally want to chant USA back, so
we just cheered and yelled back.
(22:19):
Some of us didn't even knowthe names of some of these countries.
And it was just a really coolexperience, just, you know, being
there and then being able tosee, like, you know, all this garbage
and, you know, things that youhear off and these wars and all these
horrible things that happen to people.
Like, most of the people arejust people.
It was amazing.
They had the athletes fromChina right next to the little athletes
(22:42):
from Jamaica in the athletes village.
So you had these Jamaican guysout there dancing and singing and
stuff, and you had the Chineseathletes all organized and in line
like an hour and a half beforeevery uniform looks perfect.
I mean, it was.
It was.
It was either a beautiful,glorious accident or a.
One of the smartest thingsthat they did.
(23:03):
It was really cool.
But the boat was.
The boat was amazing.
We were.
We were soaking wet, and itwas really fun to, you know, to hang
out with the, you know, thejumpers and everybody.
And Carl and McLean werereally awesome and really nice.
And so now I was.
That was soothing by far.
And I told Stefan that this isthe best moment of my entire life
so far.
(23:24):
I said, I'm really.
I'm really happy that, youknow, hey, I can spend this with
you, my friend.
Like, and we have a.
We have a nice text threadthat, you know, we text and check
on each other all the time,but it's.
It was just really fun, youknow, and also to have somebody that,
you know, you've, you know,looked up to for so long and to be
able to be on a team with himand, you know, I don't think he'll
mind me saying it, but, yeah,There was talk at the training camp
(23:49):
that we were not going to beable to do the opening ceremony.
And they told everybodybecause they.
Because there was a opening.
There was, like, one ridingsession we could have in the stadium
before.
And I knew Bo didn't care, youknow, I mean, he's going to be fine.
You know, it's no problem.
And, you know, and, you know,Stephanie, really.
(24:09):
He really wanted to do it, youknow, and, you know, they asked all
the athletes and, you know,Stefan, you know, raised his hand
and said, I really want to dothe opening ceremony.
So then when I got the nerve,when he raised his hand, if Stefan
says he wants to, I reallywant to.
I just don't have.
I don't have the guts to sayit on my own, you know, And I don't
want to cause any problems.
I'm not going there on my own.
(24:31):
Like, I need a buddy to comewith me, you know?
You know, I don't want to.
I don't want to be the, youknow, one jerk that doesn't go.
But was.
It was really, really, really.
It looked amazing.
The Federation was great aboutalso, like, coordinating it because
it was a lot.
I can imagine getting youthere and getting you back and.
Oh, my gosh.
(24:51):
Well, we.
I have to ask about the HotTopic because.
Yeah, dog.
Hello.
I gotta know.
I gotta know everything.
Tell me all the things.
What happened?
The Hot Topics with Snoop Dogg.
Oh, Snoop Dogg.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
No, it was cool.
They.
They.
I think I can.
I can probably say everything,but they.
(25:13):
I had heard.
They.
The press officer came up tome and said, hey, how's your horse?
With crowds?
And I said, I mean, prettygood and doesn't really care about
anybody, you know, I mean,like, he's always pretty fine and
he's seen a lot and.
Okay, I got something for youand Stefan to do tomorrow.
There was, like, rumblings andstuff, and you kind of hear some
(25:33):
stuff from people and we'dhear some stuff.
We weren't really sure.
And they didn't really tell you.
Like, they didn't tell us even.
Till they didn't tell you.
Wow.
No, they didn't.
They didn't tell us.
Yeah, they kept it super quiet.
And then, like, I felt badbecause they just.
They didn't tell me.
But I kind of had an idea andthen, like, I didn't want to, like,
(25:54):
also tell anybody else.
I felt guilty, like, I'mholding the secret and whatever.
But.
No, it's really.
It was really cool, you know,I mean, we.
They, they.
They wanted to get.
I.
I guess they wanted to getSnoop there before and, you know,
and Martha Stewart there.
But during the actual ridingstuff, they were.
(26:14):
Because of how strict the drugtesting is on the horses, they were
worried.
Snoop and his, you know,contact, you know.
Yeah, his.
Yeah, his.
His medicine that he uses.
Yeah, they were worried thatif he, if he touched the horses that
maybe they would test positiveor whatever.
Because, like, they're so.
I mean, they're so.
(26:35):
So.
Yeah, so they didn't have themwhile we were, you know, riding.
And they waited, you know, youknow, until we were basically all
done.
And it was really cool, youknow, I mean, they cart Snoop up
and Martha Stewart and I mean,Martha Stewart is my God, I hope
I look half as good as shedoes at her age.
Like, oh, my God, she's my unbelievable.
(26:56):
40 or whatever.
Well, yeah, it was really funny.
They had the, you know, so wewere standing McLean, Stefan and
I and Junior were sittingthere, and Martha, because they had
us, you know, we braided ourhorses and everything.
And she asked us, she goes,what kind of braids are those?
And I look at Stefan and I go,do you know the name of these braids?
He goes, I have no idea.
And then I looked at McLean,I'm like, do you know?
(27:16):
What do you call these braids?
And goes, I don't know, braids.
And so, like, she wanted toknow the specific type.
I'm like, I had no idea.
And Snoop was pretty funny.
He's like, I gotta do that tomy hair.
And no, it was cool.
Like, Mopsy's very in yourface with, like, he's a super personable
horse.
Like, it reminds me a lot of Lucky.
Like, Lucky the bull in achina shop.
(27:38):
Like, he'll mow you down for a carrot.
And Bo is way more gentle.
Like, he says he's the slowestchewer on the planet.
Like, if you give him acharacter there for five minutes,
you know.
And so, like, Snoop like that,that he was not as aggressive as
Mopsy.
But, yeah, I mean, you know,Martha Stewart, she knew.
She knew a fair amount about horses.
(27:58):
But she owns horses.
Yeah, she does, but.
And I've seen her ConanO'Brien thing, you know, on the Friesians,
which was really funny.
And.
But, you know, she.
She showed a small of knowledge.
She called both of them chestnuts.
And I'm like, that's a Mopsy'sa bae.
You know, look at the legs.
Like, you know, all right,strike one, Martha Stewart.
And then, you know, so.
(28:19):
But no, they were.
They were really really kind.
And, you know, Snoop was justa kind of cool character and, like,
really fun.
And, you know, we got a coupleof his Snoop pins, which.
Yeah, I gave Heidi one.
And then I just.
I have.
I have one, but I kept it required.
(28:40):
Tell anybody I had one.
I did, actually.
I was.
Yeah, it's.
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
But, no, it was.
It was really fun and.
Yeah, it was, like, reallynice for the sport.
And then, you know, I wish Iwas there when, you know, they were
in the stadium.
And just like, you kind oflike a hard schedule, like, your
time is not yours, like, soyou're, you know, you're organized.
(29:01):
You're gonna go here to here,and then you do this, and you check
in with, you know, everybody,make sure you're doing all the right
stuff, and, you know,everybody's happy.
And, I mean, security was crazy.
They had four.
They had four police officersfor every athlete, you know.
Wow.
Yeah, and I thought they said.
Yeah, I thought they were.
Said they were like 1500athletes or something, or 15.
(29:23):
I don't know, something like that.
And so, yeah, they had four.
Four.
Four police officers per athlete.
So you walked down the street.
I mean, it was the safest citythat, you know, that we've ever been
in.
Whole European kind of tour.
And that was really fun.
That was one thing, like.
And again, I'm butcheringwhether it's 1500 or 15,000, you
know, not great with numbers.
(29:44):
But Stefan, he.
We were sitting in the boatand he's like, hey, how freaking
a.
Freaking cool is this?
He goes, you know, think ofhow many people are in the world.
Think of how many athletes are here.
You know, think of whatpercentage of the population of the
entire world you are in right now.
And I was like, that's prettycool, Stefan.
Thanks, man.
(30:04):
I won't.
You know, it was nice.
And he's filled with thingslike that, you know, so that's pretty.
I mean, I can't even imagine.
0.00001% or something crazy.
I think I did.
I get up and it was something ridiculous.
I did look it up, and I sentit to my dad because my dad, he's
a.
He's a nurse surgeon, and hedid not want me to do this.
You know, he didn't have thebest experience with horse people
(30:27):
when I grew up and stuff.
And there are some not niceones, and there's plenty of nice
ones just like with anything else.
But he wanted me to be adoctor and all that, so.
But he was very proud.
He Came there with my mom and everybody.
That was a really nice.
That's amazing.
Can you tell us about the Zenelite grant that I've been seeing
on Facebook?
(30:48):
Yes.
So Heidi is.
Heidi's big thing is, youknow, that the drizzage community
supports itself, you know, andshe really, you know, like that,
and she wants to not justsupport her riders and, you know,
the people that ride andcampaign horses for her, but she's
just.
She really wants to reallyhelp out, you know, all dressage
(31:10):
and, you know, in the U.S.
you know, at every differentlevel, you know, and it is.
It is a, you know, expensive sport.
And that's why we need, youknow, people like, you know, Heidi
and Kiko and all these intent.
All these other great, youknow, sponsors and owners and stuff
in the sport.
And she just, she's, you know,this very successful businesswoman
(31:32):
and, you know, her thing isalways about, like, positive vibes
and, you know, she reallywants to give back to people.
I think that, like, maybe it was.
I was texting with her oneevening and just, you know, talking
about how some of her horsesare going and stuff.
And, you know, she's like, oh,my God, you have.
I forget what you said.
I think she got like couplethousand emails and stuff.
(31:55):
And I was like.
I said, that's after 24 hours.
I said, you're going to get alot more, you know, so it's, it's
a.
It's, you know, and it's.
It's a lot of, you know, like,I think it's also.
It's like, really important,you know, to, you know, even apply
and do that stuff, like, youknow, know to put stuff into words
and then, you know, be ableto, you know, write up application
(32:15):
on, you know, why you need itand what it'll help you with and
what it means to you and all that.
Like, I think a lot of times,like, you know, us just, you know,
riders and trainers, I mean,you gotta be so many things, you
know, a rider, a trainer, abusinessman, an accountant, a VR
person.
You do all this stuff andsome, you know, sometimes when you
kind of do.
(32:36):
And I know when I've, youknow, applied for grants and different
things, it helps you to sitback and look at, like, all the things
that you have accomplished andthen also, you know, really put it
into words and it's, it's evenjust doing the application, it's.
It's a really nice.
I think it's a nice thing forriders, you know, I mean, because
when you, when you put thoseTogether and you get, I mean, you
(32:57):
know, some of the, on some ofthe grants and stuff that, you know,
they do, you get letters fromdifferent coaches or trainers or
other riders.
And it's always really, it'salways really positive.
I mean, whether you get thegrant or not, just getting all this
stuff down, you know.
Yeah.
And there are grants out thereand this is such a great one.
And so Endel, how can ourlisteners find more information about
(33:20):
you and your training?
Because you have your ownbusiness, but also the Zen Elite
grant, how can they find that?
You know, I would say the bestthing for the Zenelite grant is if
you go to on Facebook that,you know, Zenelite equestrian.
And I mean, Adrienne, youknow, has some, always tagged on
all her stuff.
Same, same as me.
And then if you go on thatZene Equestrian Facebook Facebook
(33:43):
page, she continuously postsstuff on that and she has a lot of
that grant information on there.
I think they were redoing herwebsite and so I'm not 100% sure
the name of the website or,you know, if that's on there, but
the Facebook, like, you know,Heidi's, you know, very active on
Facebook.
(34:05):
Yeah, it's, it's pretty easyto find and you know, it's, you know,
Heidi is just such a cool person.
I mean, we, we talk a lotwhere, you know, I'm like, I knew
you in another life.
And when I met her in thebeginning, she called me about a
horse I have for sale.
I think it's 112 now.
(34:25):
Still alive, still down there.
He's living his best life inhis wonderful air conditioned barn.
But I was a friend of minewanted me to sell her horse and listed
it and she came with herentourage, she always brings.
And the vet rode the horse.
Heidi rode the horse.
I think her son came and rodethe horse that day.
It was a whole party and itwas just really cool vibes.
(34:48):
And yeah, I just like, youknow, everything worked out.
She ended up buying the horseand everything.
And you know, when she boughtthe horse and put all the stuff together,
you know, I just shook herhand and I said, we're going to do
something, we're going to dosomething really cool someday, you
know.
And I just, I want us to stayin touch.
And I think it was maybe, youknow, five years or so later, maybe
four years later.
(35:08):
And I would just kind of sendher some stuff on Facebook here and
there about, you know,different accomplishments and different
things.
And then, you know, then westarted doing more and more.
So she's just really has sucha good heart and really, really wants
to uplift dressage community.
And she's not.
She's a very, very specialperson just for dressage in general
(35:30):
in the U.S.
i mean, for her to get sopassionate about all this.
She's very, very passionateabout animals.
And I mean, the amount ofanimal rescues that she has.
I mean, she has every girl's dream.
Like, she has got this hugewoolly mammoth of a cow.
She's got like all these geeseand duck.
I mean, it's.
It's so cool.
(35:50):
And she's got like cat rescuesand duck rescues and llama.
I mean, it's amazing.
And then for her to, you know,just really see the beauty of the
sport and the beauty of thetraining and how, you know, how much
she, you know, reallyappreciates it.
I mean, it's.
There's.
There's not many people that,you know, come in and see that as
clearly as she does.
And I'm very, very thankfulfor that.
(36:11):
Yeah, that's amazing.
And Endo, how can ourlisteners find.
You online if you just googledmy weird name, you know, Endel Odds.
I have a website and, youknow, Facebook, Instagram, the usual
stuff.
I mean, my phone number is upthere somewhere.
I think it's on the website or whatever.
And I would say what's easiest.
Yeah, I mean, like a messageon the.
(36:34):
Any of those things.
Sometimes it gets a little bithard to get back to.
I have to do a talk for like,I think it's like a kindergarten
group or something.
And I can't figure out whichFacebook, which like, nesting thing
it's on.
And I feel bad because they'rereally nice to reach out about, like,
following goals and all this stuff.
You're gonna do great.
You'll figure it out.
(36:55):
Yeah, I'm not good at it.
You'll do great.
The.
I hope so.
I hope so.
I do my best not to swear infront of the kindergartener.
You're not edited then.
There we go.
Thank you so much.
You're so kind to always comeon our show and be such a gem.
And we so appreciate it and we.
I can't wait to see what youand Bohemian have this year.
(37:17):
I can't wait and see you guysin Wellington very shortly.
Looking forward to it.
And you know, Rhys, you'vealways been such a really, really
kind, kind person.
Like, I think you're.
There's a lot of nice peoplein this sport and there are justice
in anything that some, youknow, not as kind people.
It's you know, like yourreputation in this sport is just
(37:40):
in stellar way as being just aperfect person that uplifts everybody
that is kind, you know, is agood rider, a good trainer, but even
more so like a really kind person.
And I mean, you were.
You've been nice to me for Idon't even know how long, so I.
Really appreciate you kind ofmade me tear up a little bit.
(38:00):
Thanks.
It was so sweet.
And I'm.
You could see me at Ollie'sand I won't wave weird back.
I'll come sit with you at the bar.
Perfect, perfect, perfect.
Yeah.
We were just discussing beforewe were recording about how bad I
at trying to say hi to women.
It doesn't work well.
I'll be your wingman.
It's pretty embarrassing.
That would be his own YouTube show.
(38:23):
Thank you so much, Endel.
And we can't wait to see youthis winter.
Even under the bestcircumstances, travel is stressful
for horses.
We've all been there.
Stuck on the side of the roadin the middle of nowhere.
You can make the journeyknowing that.
You US Rider is there for you.
Get peace of mind on the roadwith U.S.
(38:44):
rider's nationwide 24.
7 roadside assistance coveragefor both you and your horse.
Join today@usrider.org well,tonight we are so excited to have
Kate Fleming Coon.
She is a fourth levelcertified instructor faculty member.
She also is an FEI rider andtrainer at her Star west farm with
(39:05):
her husband and she just cameback from the Region 4 championship
with four championships on her horses.
Kate, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
Oh, my goodness, girl, you hadquite a championship.
So you've got to tell us allabout it.
Well, it was, it was reallyexciting for me because the horses
(39:25):
that, that Martin and Ibrought were all purchased as, as
foals and raised here at ourhome farm and started here and have
just been developed at thelevel with Martin and I.
And it's really neat whenyou've, when you've been involved
in a horse's life for thatlong and, and to be within a partnership
(39:48):
that has that kind oflongevity is really neat to get out
there and see that rewarded.
That's so.
It was.
I competed against you.
It was so fun to watch youride and try to, to keep up and.
Are you going to nationals?
Do we get to see you at nationals?
(40:08):
Yes, yes.
I'll be there with the threeand then Martin will have his horse
there as well.
Fantastic.
I can't wait.
I love it.
Well, Kate, tell us.
I Mean, I think this is a bigtopic in dressage right now in the
United States about us raisingour own horses and training our own
horses.
So can you kind of talk usthrough the process?
(40:30):
I mean, talk us through theprocess kind of all the way to festival
and regionals because you'vebeen having an amazing summer.
Yes.
So it's, it's, it's a bit of along game.
I look, looked it up, but ithas been.
The last time that I had ahorse of my own that I, that I did
not start was 15 years ago.
(40:53):
And 15 years ago I had, I hadsold three sales horses and, and
took this, you know, what Ithought was this enormous chunk of
money and flew to Europe andlooked at a bunch of horses and thought,
I'm going to come home with,you know, with my next star.
And it was, you know, in mymind, this enormous sum.
(41:16):
And I got there and weprobably looked at maybe 40 horses
in the course of just a few days.
But every single horse Ilooked at, there was something like
one gait that wasn't good, orthe X rays weren't good, or the temperament
wasn't good.
There was something in each one.
(41:36):
And I was commenting tosomebody about that and he said,
well, with the budget that youhave, you're going to have to have
some imagination.
Like you can't, you're notgoing to be able to afford a top
horse and that.
So I went home thinking, howdo I do this?
How do I afford the qualitythat, that I want with the resources
(42:01):
that I have?
And so that, that really started.
We, Martin and I ran abreeding program for several years
that was not so successful for us.
I love breeding.
I have a real passion for it.
But we lost a lot of foals andit was very heartbreaking.
And so I thought, okay,there's got to be a better way.
(42:22):
And that turned into buy,buying foals and all from us breeders.
So we didn't have like thecost of import and it was an affordable
way to get what I hoped wouldbe the quality that I wanted.
And that has really, that hasbeen very successful for us.
(42:46):
May I interrupt?
What do you look for in a foal?
Because I've always purchasedthree year olds, I'm always like
shy of raising them.
So what, what do you look for?
Because you've picked reallygreat horses.
Yeah, I think having an eyefor being able to see the gates in
a young horse is somethingthat needs to be developed.
(43:08):
And then so I always look likethe first the breeding because I
really research the lines.
One of the things I think whenyou're buying unstarted horses that
you can't know is what theirwork ethic would be like.
Right.
But if you really study thelineage, you can have a certain probability
(43:29):
that a horse will have a work ethic.
But I like a horse that, youknow, that has a lot of desire to
go.
So if a horse is too, a littlebit too calm or a little bit too
like as a young horse, maybenot the most kind of sensitive type,
you know, those would behorses that I would, might sell as
(43:51):
amateur horses and that, youknow, they might be perfect for that,
for that market.
But so looking at the foalslike the breeding obviously is the
first thing I look at and thenlooking at the confirmation and the
movement and when we buy foalsthey go through a three part critique.
(44:15):
So I'm normally one that, thatyou know, that finds them first and
then when, if the breeding isgood and the gates are good and the
confirmation looks good.
And the fourth thing is kindof, I'm going to say the magic piece
for me is the, what I'm goingto call the it factor and that, that
(44:37):
sense like that there is justthis presence that a horse has and
I think that in a good formyou can see it.
Interesting.
Yeah, that makes sense.
So after you choose yourfoals, you bring them to your farm
and you guys own a great farm,a beautiful farm and then what happens
kind of do you turn them outtill they're three or what's your
(44:59):
process with that next stageof life?
Yeah, so we live on propertyand our home is surrounded on three
sides by Pat.
And so the foals come home andthey go in aged groups.
So I normally, if I'm buyingone, I normally buy two or maybe
(45:21):
a student will buy one in thatage group.
And then they go in agesegregated groups, they live out
24, 7.
They get kind of minimal handhandling, their feet trimmed and
their vaccines and warming andother than that they are just out
(45:44):
playing and growing and inpasture space.
And when they are three thenwe then things get rolling in terms
of getting them that threeyear old year is just getting them
started.
It's not very serious, anykind of serious riding.
(46:05):
I don't start them at two anda half.
We wait until the spring oftheir three year old year and just
starting with groundwork andjust getting them, getting them kind
of acclimated into beingridden and then if they're good enough
and the temperament is good,we might do you know, try for festival
(46:25):
with them, but only if theyare really saying that they're ready.
And that's at 4.
At 4 years old, you go.
You start to festival to thinkabout festival.
Fantastic.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
For you guys, it's actually.
When it's at Lamplight, it'snot too long of a trip, right?
It's.
It's fairly close.
Yep.
(46:46):
Just over three.
Three hours.
Yeah.
So that part, it is really nice.
And we can show there throughthe summer.
So the young horses get that.
That ability to get.
Get exposure to that venue.
That's perfect.
Yeah, that's awesome.
And then once you go tofestival at four and then you're
ready to rock and roll.
Right.
Then you kind of what your.
(47:06):
What's your next process?
Kind of figuring out wherethey go.
Yeah, a little bit.
They tell us, like, some areclearly young horse candidates, and
if they, if they have, like,the training progresses in line with
being able to do those testsand they've got the quality of the
(47:28):
gates, then we pursue that.
And if not, then we might justkeep training at home.
And, you know, sometimes,like, the horses, you know, will
be good.
Fei horses are not really ahorse that you think will be a young
horse candidate, which is.
Which is fine.
Then we.
Then we stay home and justkeep training.
(47:50):
So, Kate, tell us overall, howmany horses do you have sort of in
rotation?
Because this is.
This is very much a European model.
I think when you.
When you start looking at theEuropean farms and that kind of stuff.
My.
I have a limit, like a topnumber that I say, okay, it won't
be more than that.
(48:11):
And I'm a little bit over that number.
Yes.
So.
Oops.
Yeah.
Yeah, oops.
I try, you know, to stay under10 in total.
Okay.
And some of those are like, they're.
I mean, they're in the fieldand just growing up, so some of you
(48:37):
know that they're not allunder saddle at once.
That would be a lot.
And keep in mind, there aretwo of us, so that's divided between
Martin and I.
Yeah.
Your husband's also an amazingGrand Prix writer.
Yes.
And he.
So we, like.
I try to choose horses that Ialso think, like, will fit, you know,
(48:58):
a tall man.
Yeah.
Yes.
Martin's tall.
And you're.
You're.
I'm not going to say you'reaverage height.
You're not short.
Right.
Compared to Martin.
Martin's very tall.
So, yeah, we had this, like,we have two three year olds this
year and I'm really excited about.
And there was Oneparticularly, I thought that one.
I really want to ride that one.
So I went out and I looked fora sec, I thought, it's all one Martin.
(49:23):
Martin can ride that one.
Sure.
They're both his.
There's no question about that.
And you also have a ridingschool, right?
We do.
We run a StarWest Academy,which is a beginner program with
school horses.
(49:43):
And we have five instructorsthat are a part of that.
And yeah, it's been a great,really great way to bring good horsemanship
and learning, just thebeginning parts of dressage for our
community.
And there's been a lot ofexcitement, both with kids, but also
(50:04):
I'm going to call them reriders, you know, adults that have
come back to riding later in life.
That's fantastic.
And that's a big population, right?
I mean, that's a lot of riding schools.
That's when to get back in.
They have had their kids orthey have some extra time and that's
sometimes a hard time to finda riding school or a place to ride.
So that's incredible.
(50:26):
I think it's really importantto, you know, I think this gets back
to a little bit, thisconversation of like, how do we,
how do we afford to do this?
And having the riding school,I think is really important to me
because there is such a needfor an affordable way to get people
(50:48):
started riding.
And that may be riding once aweek on a lesson horse.
That may be the furthest theywill ever go with it.
But they are getting thisconnection with horses.
They're learning in a safeenvironment on a school horse that
is, you know, has goodeducation and is appropriate for
(51:08):
their level.
But again, it's affordable.
And I think that's so.
Is something that I, like,feel passionate about because I think
horses just as a general ruleare just everything about what we're
doing is getting more expensive.
So providing a way that peoplecan learn and be a part of it, that's.
(51:31):
That is affordable, I think isreally important.
It's fabulous.
How do you find your instructors?
Because I also have a ridingacademy and finding people who want
to teach, I find are limited now.
Yeah, all of the instructorsare students that of Martin and mine
(51:54):
that have had an interest inteaching as well.
And I have one that does itfull time.
And everybody else that is inthe program has, like, it might be
their day is Saturday morningmornings that they teach and they
(52:16):
work in another industryMonday through Friday or they teach.
I have somebody that mightteach in the evenings after they've
worked another job so that theinstructors are for the most part,
they are doing it part time.
(52:36):
Okay, that's awesome.
That's great.
No, I think it's an amazingprogram and hearing about your entire
program and how you're makingexact affordable but also growing
your own horses, I think it'sa great model for all of us.
So, Kate, how can ourlisteners find you online?
They have any questions andwant to see your program.
How can they do that?
(52:56):
StarWestOnline.net is ourwebsite and then on Facebook, StarWest
would be the Facebook page forlike Martin and like has a bit more
about what Martin and I are doing.
And then Star West AcademyFacebook page has the lesson program
information.
(53:16):
Well, it also looks like a lotof fun because I am on that page
and I think it's really fun.
So what you guys are doing isgreat and congratulations and we
can't wait to see you in Kentucky.
Awesome.
I'll see you.
I'll see you both there acouple weeks.
Yay.
Thank you.
Thanks for having me on.
Well, we are so excited justto remind you guys about the book
club.
(53:37):
Janet Foy, the not so perfect horse.
And you can get it onhorseandriderbooks.com and Megan
and I will be at conventionand the book club discussion.
Right, Megan, we're going toreally enjoy this.
I can't wait.
Yeah, so it'll be a little bit.
Also a meetup at convention.
So we're really lookingforward to all that.
So meet up at finals and meetup at convention.
(53:59):
I don't know, you guys may geta little bit tired of us, but we're
excited about doing it andwe'll have lots of laughs together.
As always, you can find ourshow notes and links to today's guests
on ourpage@horseradionetwork.com just search
dressage radio show.
Like us on Facebook.
Just search dressage radio show.
My website ismaplecrestfarmky.com and my email.
(54:20):
Is reeseradionetwork.com andmy website is lindenhoff.com and
my email is lindenhoffllcmail.com we'd like to thank our
friends and show sponsors,Kentucky Performance Products.
If you'd like to support ourshow and the horse radio network
network, you can do thatthrough the auditor program found@horseradionetwork.com
(54:47):
keep on kicking on until thenext show.
Talk to you soon.
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