Kara first came to Misty River at the age of 7 as a horse camp attendee! After that, she was hooked and Misty River became her second home. Shortly after she attended camp, she began taking riding lessons with her sister, Kaitlyn, and their mother Stacey.

 

After two years of taking CHA lessons, she purchased one of our school horses, Cimarron. His name was changed to Hay Dude and they did barrel racing together. Dude is now retired and is 31 years old!

 

At 13, Kara began assisting Joanna in instructing the Girl Scout groups that came out to MREC to earn their Horsemanship Badges.

 

At 16, she took over the Girl Scouts and at 18 she graduated from Truman High School and began attending Blue River Community College nearby to continue teaching.

 

At only 19, she took the CHA Certification Clinic held at Misty River and became officially certified in Western and English riding disciplines.

 

At 21, she attended William Woods University in Fulton, MO (and yes, Dude did go with her!). Her main seat while attending WWU was Dressage and she earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Equine Studies, a concentration in Leadership with a minor in Business in 2015.

 

Her CHA credentials and degree path even earned her a spot at Raquette Lake Camps in upstate New York as a riding instructor and barn manager teaching English riding, Jumping, and even Vaulting!

Since graduation she (and Dude) moved back home to Misty River and she is now one of our instructors again as well as the Manager! Since graduating, she has earned certificates from the University of Minnesota in Manure Management, Growing and Feeding Horse Hay, Equine Biosecurity, Composting, and Equine Nutrition.

 

Her passion will always be Dressage but she loves teaching all ages and disciplines.