About Kathleen

Kathleen grew up in the American Midwest, where, by the time she was in her early teens, she was showing in hunter/jumper competitions. She began teaching riding when she was 16, guiding friends to 4-H victories and working summers at hunter/jumper camps. Upon her graduation from high school, Kathleen worked professionally as a hunter/jumper trainer, teaching juniors and amateurs and riding hunters and jumpers on the Midwestern "B" and "A" circuits.

After several years of training horses for a living, Kathleen attended Cardinal Stritch College in Wisconsin where she studied 19th Century English Literature.

Before completing her degree, Kathleen moved to Colorado, and bought a young grey Thoroughbred gelding as a resale project. Little did she know how that one act would change profoundly what she thought she understood about horses. Ashcroft was not like all the other horses she'd run into over the years, in that he didn't care who she was or how much she thought she knew about horses. Kathleen and Ashcroft fought for two years, accomplishing little.

It was about that time that Kathleen heard about a horseman named Mark Rashid who was scheduled to do a clinic in her area. Kathleen decided to take Ashcroft to see him to see if maybe he could sort the horse out.  At that clinic, Kathleen learned that horses often are trying, even if it doesn't look like it. She learned that Ashcroft had been trying all along, but because what he offered didn't look like what she expected it to, she hadn't been able to see it, and that's where all the fighting had come from. To get along with Ashcroft, the first thing Kathleen had to do was stop fighting.

That clinic with Mark became the first of many, and Kathleen continued to ride Ashcroft with Mark two or three times a year. In the meantime, Kathleen began to show Ashcroft successfully and they became fixtures in the Amateur Adult Hunter division in Western Colorado for many years. Kathleen also began to work cattle and trail ride in the Rockies with him as well.

In 2003, after Kathleen had been riding with Mark for about six years, he invited her to become a "student teacher", which meant  that she could go to any clinic, anywhere, but she'd have to help teach. She accepted the offer and began to meet up with Mark across the country whenever she could.

In 2004, Mark asked Kathleen if she'd like to become his full-time assistant, and she again accepted. From September of 2004 to December of 2006 Kathleen served as Mark's assistant, traveling with him across America and the U.K. During this time, Kathleen also wrote her first book, titled "In the Company of Horses: A Year on the Road with Horseman Mark Rashid". Kathleen learned a lot while she worked with Mark; not just about training horses, but about the business of clinicing, writing and life as well. It's all the same thing, in the end. Mark continues to fill the role of Kathleen's mentor, and she has the privilege of counting him among her closest friends. 

Mark also introduced Kathleen to the martial art of Aikido, which she continues to study and practice, along with the art of Tai Chi. She is constantly looking for ways to apply the tenants of Aikido and Tai Chi to teaching and horsemanship and life.

Above left photo: Kathleen at age 14 with Belle

Above right photo: Kathleen and Ashcroft riding in a clinic with Mark Rashid in 2001

Above photo left: Kathleen and Ruby by Kyya Grant

Photos below, left to right: Ashcroft and Kathleen moving cattle off Yellowjacket Pass in Western Colorado, Ashcroft and Kathleen competing in the jumpers, Kathleen at age 16 with her Children's Hunter Catch My Eye, Kathleen and Ashcroft working with Mark Rashid in 2003