Kathy Bowe

My parents knew they were in trouble when I was 5 and started “galloping” around the living room on my hands and knees. I started riding horses when I was 7 (that was the absolute minimum age limit at my local stable) in my hometown of Chicago. When I was 14, I started working at the same barn as a groom and instructor, and I soon became known as the “Crash Test Dummy” because of my willingness to ride ANY horse, no matter how crazy! I bought my first horse Kirby, an American Saddlebred, when I was 15.

Together, we placed in the top 10 in the national finals for junior riders. After college, I took a regular “office job,” but horses remained a major part of my life. I owned several different horses and showed in saddleseat, hunter/jumpers, mini-events, and driving. I also continued to teach riding lessons on a part-time basis.

In 2002, I moved from Chicago to a small farm in rural Wisconsin. I kept my horses at home for several years, and even had a foal born right in my backyard! Keeping horses at home in the Midwest will certainly toughen you up… how many women can back up a 16’ horse trailer, muck out a barn full of frozen manure
(it’s actually less messy than regular manure), stack 200 bales of hay (I call it “Hillbilly Tetris”), and bottle feed a newborn colt? While I was in Wisconsin I purchased Chewy, a Thoroughbred gelding off the racetrack, and retrained him for jumping and pleasure riding. I currently still own him and an older, retired draft cross mare named Sophie.

I eventually realized that I would be happiest if I focused on horses as a full-time career, and was ecstatic to find a job at TES when my husband and I moved to California. I enjoy sharing my wide range of experience with my students. If you’re willing to work hard, I’d love to help you make horses a part of your life too!