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Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

Boy do I have a great early Christmas present for y'all! On today's episode I am talking with the first woman to ever win the NRHA Open Level 4 Futurity in the 58 years it has been running! Kaci O'Rourke is a professional horse trainer who trains reining horses out of Aubrey, TX with her husband Jack Daniels.

I feel so thrilled and blessed to be sharing this wonderful conversation with all of you today. Kaci is such a strong, inspiring person, but is also very humble in who she is. She believes that opportunities have to be earned by determination and hard work and that no one is going to give it to you! Which we can both agree on 100%!

We talk about so many great things in this episode as well as some very important topics that have affected the sport of Reining over the past decade. I can't wait for y'all to hear it! Also, to learn more about Pond Hill Performance Horses or find Kaci on social media you can find that information through the links below.

PondHill Performance Horses
Pondhill Mares
Social Media: FB IG TikTok

Kaci O'Rourke on Facebook and Instagram 

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Season 2 of the podcast is finally here!

On today's episode, I am sharing such a fascinating conversation with you where I spoke with Savanna Mauch from Lamar Community College. She has such a love and passion for providing her students and potential students the best hands-on education and opportunities to learn and take them into their careers in the equine industry! Her goal is to make sure they have the experience they need to become the next leaders in the industry!

In the episode we talk about the course she created with AQHLearn, what is special and unique about Lamar's equine program, and so much more. This is a great episode for this time of year for everyone, but especially for parents and high school students who are starting to think about college and what is next after graduation! Savanna makes some great points about the value of education and the hands-on approach community college programs can offer!

If you love this episode and are interested in contacting Savanna about the program you can find her on Facebook @savannamauch! And you can learn more about Lamar CC and the equine program from the links below:

Lamar Community College Horse Programs
[email protected] or call her at (719) 336-1624

AQHLearn Course
 

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On today's episode, I am talking with Personal trainer Ellie Stiller and Mindset Coach Lauren Crivelli from the Elevate your ride podcast. I believe what they are doing with their platform and business is not only incredible for equestrian athletes, but in how it will value and impact the equine industry as a whole.
We all know as riders that it's important to take care of our four legged athletes to make sure they healthy, fit, and ready for competition, but how are you doing with thinking about your own physical and mental fitness personally? Over the last few years the growth we have seen in the number of personal trainers and mindset coaches that work specifically with equestrian athletes is tremendous! Finally the world is starting to see WE ARE A SPORT and we don't just sit there! I can tell you if I just sat in the saddle on my horse during a sorting run I would quickly come off especially with how fast she turns to go after a cow sometimes!
In this episode, we talk about that, injury prevention & recovery, growth mindset, tips for setting a plan and getting started on your journey today, and so much more! These ladies are so inspiring and knowledgable it is truly amazing and I can't wait for y'all to hear!

You can find them on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok @elevateyourride. You can find all their podcast episodes on Spotify! 
Elevate your ride website: elevateyourride.co
laurencrivelli.com
lopindowntherailfitness.com
You can find Lauren Crivelli on Instagram @lcrivelli4 and Elli Stiller on Instagram @ellile.stiller or @lopindowntherailfitness

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I am so excited about today's episode because I know the value it will bring to not only you my audience, but to the equine industry as a whole! I am sharing such a fascinating conversation that I had with a lady who I believe truly defines what an educated cowgirl is! Dr. Alyssa Logan is an assistant professor at Middle Tennessee State University and their horse judging coach. Her passion for teaching, her research projects,  her students, and the equine industry is so amazing and inspiring. I learned so much during this conversation and you are going to love everything that we talk about from the importance of education in growing the industry for the better, joint and bone health in horses, sportsmanship, and so much more! 

I have a feeling this is going to be one of your top favorite episodes! As well as one you will want to share with your friends! We cover so many important topics that impact the horse industry and Alyssa really is so knowledgable and brings so much insight to them!

If you would like to follow Alyssa she is on Facebook @alyssalogan and Instagram @lysslogan. You can contact her as well through her email [email protected]

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I am so thrilled to share with you a very special episode! if you follow the show on social media (like you should!) You know that a few weeks ago I was honored to be invited onto the Fit for Halter podcast by the host Amy Zabel! Where it was my turn in the hot seat! 

Amy and I talked about why I started the podcast, what I have learned from my amazing guests so far, what my goals are for the show, and more! We also discuss some important equine industry topics that since Amy was kind enough to share the recording with me I thought I would share it with you. If you missed the interview on Amy's podcast you can listen to it here, but you definitely should check out the Fit for Halter Podcast as Amy is an amateur halter exhibitor who has quite the experience with horses and showing. She has had some great guests on her show that are very knowledgeable about the halter horse industry and more! 

I hope to collaborate with her again in the future and bring her onto my podcast to her more about her story and discuss important topics that affect the industry! For now, I hope you enjoy my first podcast interview and my conversation with Amy! 

You can follow Fit for Halter on Instagram and Facebook and you can listen to her podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and youtube! 

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On today's episode, I am so excited to share with you my conversation with a couple who I believe have the biggest heart and passion for their business, faith, family and horses! 
Kason and Hattie Wolfe of Wolfe Select in Texas are not only very dear friends of mine, but have such an inspiring story and dreams for what they see for their business and the equine industry. We cover so many great topics in this episode from the exciting projects they are literally building at their ranch, horse sales, and how having the right people around is so important in life and in the industry!
I also think this episode is so positive to listen to now as it highlights a trainer and business who believe that when someone buys a horse, that buyer and seller relationship should go beyond just signing a bill of sale and loading the horse in the trailer. They take the time to really help that new owner understand their new horse and help set them up to be successful as a team! 
I felt even more inspired after talking with them and I know you will too! 

If you would like to follow along with Kason and Hattie or get in touch with them about their breeding operations, horses for sales, clinics, or whatever you can find them at the links below!
facebook.com/wolfeselectllc
Instagram @wolfeselect
Tiktok: @wolfeselect
Website: www.wolfeselect.com

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On today's episode, I am talking with three ladies who work so hard and love spreading the word about an important topic that affects everyone in the equine industry whether you are a brand new horse owner or you have been involved your whole life! 

Ashley Harkins, Kelsey Buckley, and Andrea Manly work for the United Horse Coalition and the Equine Welfare Data Collective that works in collaboration with the American Horse Council to collect the data and report it in a way that we can understand for ourselves as well as educating others on owning responsibly and so much more! I had so much fun talking with them and I learned so much from our conversation! I really can't wait for y'all to hear it! 

I think this is a very important and interesting episode right now as equine welfare  is always something that owners and professionals in the industry are talking about and looking for ways to improve how we care for the horse, make things better for the community, and show the general public how much effort we do put into the standards and practices for the animal. 

If you would like to learn more about UHC you can visit their website www.unitedhorsecoalition.org or if you would like to reach out to these ladies you can email them! 
Ashley: [email protected]
Kelsey: [email protected]
Andrea: [email protected]
 Make sure to follow UHC on Instagram @unitedhorsecoalition and Facebook at United Horse Coalition! 

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We made it! We have reached 20 episodes of The Educated Cowgirl Podcast! Thank you so much for all the support and for listening to the show! I love bringing new episodes and amazing conversations that impact the Equine Industry! 

For today's episode, I know it's coming to you on a Monday instead of a Thursday like usual, but I have a very special one for you! As I am sharing an amazing conversation I had with two ladies that have so much love and passion for the equine industry, the horse, and the community! When this episode comes out it will have been about a week since the 2024 Legends of Ranching Performance Horse Sale concluded at Colorado State University where history was made with the highest selling horse ever in the sale's history so far, and larger sales numbers overall for the program! Which credits so much to the belief and hard work put in by all the students, instructors, and other faculty to make it great! 

In the episode you will hear from Jenna Hammel who trained this beautiful bay colt Poco 21 aka Benji all year and her journey with him as well as what the program and everyone has meant to her along the way! Also, her plans for the future post-graduation! You will also hear from one of the incredible instructors that helped her along the way, Alex Parsaye who is new to the CSU instructor role, but not new to the program or the University! Alex shares her love for the program, her students, her colleagues, and her hopes for the future of the program! 

I had so much fun talking with these ladies and loved hearing Jenna's story with Benji, the LOR program, and so much more! We share a few laughs in the episode as we are three horse loving gals who are excited about the industry, this program, and most importantly the horse!

You can find more information about the LOR program on instagram @legendsofranching and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/legendsofranching

If you would like to follow Jenna on Instagram she is @jennahammel

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 I have a very exciting episode for you today! I am talking with someone who has become a dear friend of mine and someone who has made such an impact on the equine industry through the work she has done for the youth of the reining world! Sara Honegger the Director of Marketing, Youth & Affiliate programs at the National Reining Horse Association is not only wise beyond her years, but she shares her heart for the industry, learning from each other to make the horse community better, and she truly represents what it means to be an Educated Cowgirl! 

I had so much fun connecting and talking with her again after the time we spent in Italy last year. We cover a number of great topics about the industry in this episode and I can't wait for y'all to hear it! 

You can find Sara on Facebook and Instagram @sara_honegger and follow NRHA @nrhareining and @nrhya on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. To learn more about the programs they offer you can visit their website www.nrha.com and www.nrhya.com!

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On today's episode, I am sharing a very educational and important conversation I had with someone who has dedicated her life and career to helping owners improve their horse's nutrition, to help them make the connection between the research side and what they see on feed store shelves. You may also know her from her own podcast the Feed Room Chemist and if you haven't, you should check it out! Dr. Jyme Nichols from Bluebonnet Feeds truly shows her heart for helping owners and the important topics that affect equine nutrition. This is such an important topic that we as riders, trainers, and owners need to learn more about as there is a lot of misinformation in today's digital world from people who claim to be equine nutrition experts, but don't actually have the credentials to make informed decisions about a horse's feeding plan. It is also important that we understand these nutrition concepts because the more we as owners can be informed about it the better the equine industry will be as a whole for animal welfare and proper, responsible horse care.
I learned so much from our conversation, not only some new terms like what NSC stands for, but also what I should be looking for in creating a feeding plan for my own horse and more. I hope you enjoy this episode and you will definitely want to take notes for this one!

You can find Dr. Jyme on social media on Facebook and Instagram
@drjyme. If you are interested in learning more about bluebonnet and working with their nutrition consultants you can email them at [email protected]!

*You may notice some audio issues in the episode as I had some microphone issues that I didn't find until post recording and I did my best to fix them, but some may still be there, but it shouldn't affect the quality of information I provide in this episode. 

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