Living The Red Life - Horse Industry Trailblazers: What It Really Takes to Ride at the Highest Level

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

Kristin and Zach Hardin. They share insights into the equestrian lifestyle, explore the relationship between horse and rider, and discuss the transformative power of horses in people's lives. As they emphasize the industry's perpetual growth, Kristin and Zach provide listeners with an enlightening glimpse into a world that marries tradition with modernity.The Hardins reveal the physical and mental demands of horse training, highlighting the need for balance, core strength, and fearlessness. Kristin discusses her role in ensuring ethical transactions in the horse industry, while Zach shares how modern social media platforms are helping to revolutionize equestrian sports. Amidst these discussions, they touch on the elite perception of horse riding, work-life balance, and the nurturing of future ambassadors of the sport. With insights from their rich experiences, this episode is a must-listen for anyone intrigued by the art of riding and the beauty of horses.Key Takeaways:The balance, core strength, and mental resilience required for successful horse training.How Kristen Hardin uses her expertise to maintain ethical standards in buying and selling horses.Zach Hardin’s insight into leveraging social media to modernize and expand their equestrian business.The importance of understanding horses' unique personalities for effective training.The emotional and life-changing connection that people develop through horses.Notable Quotes:"Our job is horse training, and then I fly around and give clinics and teach kids." – Kristin Hardin"You can't be afraid at all. You have to be really physically fit." – Kristin Hardin"It's hard because you can see everything everyone is doing all of the time." – Zach Hardin"Let the horse choose the rider." – Kristin Hardin.Connect with Kristin and Zach Hardin:FacebookInstagramConnect with Rudy Mawer:LinkedInInstagramFacebookTwitter

We breed and train horses. That's our lifestyle. Right on. That's all we do, all day, every day. That's it. I got to say we have a unique situation here. You're both a woman in power and a legacy maker because you are a powerful woman and mom. And your legacy is right here.

How are you leveraging your relationship with your son when it comes to the business where he's modernizing the business with social media, with outreach? We have more connections with people. Our job is horse training. And then I fly around and give clinics. teach kids, but through social media, then people can connect with us easier if they need help with their horse or if they want to get into horses. Because it's, it is an industry that people consider elite. What kind of skills is it required to do what you all do? Balance. Yeah, a lot of balance, core strength. You can't be afraid at all. I mean, you have to be really physically

fit, but I think the hard thing about that is you can't really get fit for riding without riding. Do you have a lot of clients that walk up to and go, I just want to monetize my horse, what's a good workhorse, literally. Well, my name's Rudy Moore, host of Living the Red Life podcast, and I'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week.

If you're ready to start living the red life, ditch the blue pill, take the red pill, join me in Wonderland, and change your life. Welcome to another episode of Living Your Legacy podcast. For Insight Success, I am Ray Gutierrez. Joining me today is Kristen and Zach Hardin. Folks, there's something very unique about you. it's horses let's talk about horses we breed and train horses that's our lifestyle right on

all we do all day every day that's it Zach what's it like breeding horses all day any unicorns slipped them through nothing um yeah we've had some really special horses like that we've bred um it's fun it's cool it's fun to see them like go from kind of nothing to then riding them to showing them and it's a different experience for sure right off one has a like a baby book So that's beautiful. They're born and then they go through the awkward stage and then they're a real horse and then we're trying to let them ride that. We try to ride them.

Sure, sure. They're all totally different. But they're all the same, but they're all different. So there's a standard like philosophy to training all of them, but every personality is totally different. That's beautiful that you recognize that horses have personalities. Yeah, all of them. And I don't think a lot of people know that, but they're just like people. I know. It's beautiful. In many ways, they're probably smarter and more empathetic than people.

Yeah, they're very intuitive. Mm-hmm. I think of the intelligence of a horse, maybe much like an elephant or even a dolphin. Yeah, they're really smart. And they never forget anybody or each other. Right on. That's beautiful. I can sell a horse, and five years later, they see their sibling at a event. Right on. One of them, Winnie's at the other one, and it's really cool. Right on.

It's actually a lot more empathetic to them. Sure, sure. I got to say we have a unique situation here. You're both a woman in power and a legacy maker because you are a powerful woman and mom. And your legacy is right here. You're literally quite a legacy maker. Tell us about your experience filming your episode.

Well, it's kind of emotional. Like, I was nervous because I'm super comfortable on a horse so I can be around anybody. I've been in a lot of situations with famous people that I think, you know, it's probably intimidating to somebody. but if I'm on a horse, I feel like... Yeah, I'm greater than that. Yeah, for sure.

Can I tell you a funny story? Please do. So years ago, I got a phone call from a trainer. It said, I really need help with this horse. I sold it to a really important client, and it's not going great. You know, the horse is too much horse and just not the right match. So can you help me validate the horse situation? Sure.

So I go down to L.A. to ride this horse, and they bring it to me. I had a barn down there that I was working out of. And there was a girl getting the horse ready and putting the protective boots on the horse. And I said, it didn't really matter to me, but Michelle, the trainer said somebody really important owns this horse. Some of you're famous. I said, just curious who it is. Everybody pays me the same. Ray Gutierrez.

Sorry. So it doesn't. make any difference really sure for sure and she said well it might be me and i said are you famous and she's like well i have a tv show oh god i said oh really uh what is it she said the big bang theory oh will they shatner's daughter no way no no and i said oh cool and she goes you You haven't seen it? I said, I don't really get to watch TV, so I haven't, but maybe I'll look at it. Sure, sure.

So, play it forward. I won a Grand Prix on her horse. Of course. That's awesome. And this is Kaylee Kyoko. Kelly Kyoko. The big bang theory, the blonde. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, yeah, yeah.

Totally. So I went a class on the horse, and we were celebrating at Google her. At Pebble Beach. That's where we were. And she's got all her family there, and it's a big moment. And then she... Yeah, William Shatner's daughter. Kelly Cuyo, that's William Shatner's daughter.

I don't think that's his daughter. I'm pretty sure. You're pretty sure. She's a Truckee. Just Google. Go ahead. Anyway, we went to celebrate, and she started telling a story about her TV show. Right on.

And then she looked at me, because now it had been a couple years. And she's like, oh, my God, you have no idea. I'm talking about and I finally someone that has no idea who I am yeah she said I was like I haven't had time to watch it but I'm going to yeah that's amazing it's funny because it doesn't matter who anybody is it only matters the horse I was gonna say um Zach what's it like like waking up and there's literally a horse out your window going hey what I got what's it like um I'm just really used to it because I grew up out there so I have a lot of property so I'm kind of like used to going outside and seeing my horses every day.

Like, it's weird to be here and, like, not have horses. And then, I mean, it's weird to, like, not go outside and see them and not, like, go ride. Did your high school friends all have horses? Did you all pull up in horses? Yeah. Really? Well, I go to high school. I've never been in, like, an actual school.

I... Well, the school of life, apparently. Yeah. Welcome aboard. I did everything online so that I could show and keep traveling. But all my friends during high school, all of my friends are horse friends. so we all have horses we all rode you know everything like that but um we live in a really small town so my high school's not exactly like big either right right wow you you're literally

like a comic book hero so what's it like i got to ask now what's it like growing up in this generation in the future you're in the future dude like what's it like um it's hard to describe it's really it's weird also because like everything i do is very like much related to my sport and that's hard because you can see everything everyone is doing all of the time. Sure. And like friends that like I went to competitions with and like that we hung out together and we were friends are now off doing like way bigger stuff than I am. Oh no.

That's hard to like not feel like diminished by, I guess. Like you got to stay happy for their success. But it is hard to like always see everything everyone is doing all the time. Right. Would you say you've got a small town hard? but you know you want to go essentially big city yeah well i don't want to go to the big city okay don't think i would do well in a big city but i do uh i have big dreams big aspirations like i want to travel and do the big international competitions and stuff like i do want to do

that but uh you know i have friends that are doing that now cool um and it's inspiring but also like wow we were at a competition together like three years ago i got any moment i can talk about f1 i'll take it it very much reminds me of like like when you start on a go cart and then you go up to F4, F3, and then you're basically, it's your childhood. Exactly. Yeah, it's very much like, talk about that culture and how it's still very inclusive. Like, not a lot of folks will wake up one day and be like,

hey, I'm going to go get myself a horse and live this in amazing, lavish life. Like, what's the lifestyle like versus me with a car heading to work? Well, the horse's 24-7 needs, if you have a horse in a stable or a small area, Sure. You have to have somebody there 24-7 to take care of the horse. Dogs are easier. Horses are not that easy. Yeah.

You know, if it, if they can, they will. Like, if they, you look at a place you're going to put your horse and you start seeing all the little things they could get hurt on. It's not, you can't just put them anywhere. It has to be totally safe because they are going to get bored and they're going to mess with stuff and break things. and so it's a constant it's all day every day right on and what kind of skills is it required to do what you all do like I'm sure balance mm-hmm yeah a lot of balance core strength you can't be afraid right at all you have to I don't know describe it well Zach describe it funny on the spot um I mean you have to be really

physically fit but I think the hard thing about that is you can't really get fit for riding without riding. Sure. Like I have a friend who took a couple months off to like go do something in college or outside of college, but like through the school. And she said she worked out every day and she came back and she was like winded right. Wow. It's just it's not the same. So you have to be fit. You have to do it a lot. You have to have to have really good depth perception because for sure like when you're doing what we do when you're jumping, it's all depth perception and measurement and you just have to be really like calm and think really logically and kind of just you have to just be chill so that you don't make bad decisions in the moment because it is life

or death I mean because if you do something wrong on horse you can just oh yeah yeah I apologize every time I think of horseback riding you know I think of Christopher Reeve super yeah yeah you know that that's the the peak story of the pinnacle can happen it can happen to anyone including Superman. Talk about how much of your training is on the horse versus off the horse. And when you speak of training in the sport, for folks that don't quite understand, give us a quick 60 second montage

of what you do. Do you mean like training what I do personally or training what we do with the horses? You both because you're on the horse but I'm sure you're not constantly training on set horse. Well, you do work out. I do work out but that's for me personally. Sure. Because that was my leading question

to how much of it is spiritual versus physical because when you're on the horse, you've got read the horse, and the horse is reading you back. Yeah, well, a lot of it is mental. Most of it is mental. Like any sport, a lot of it is mental. It's maybe not as like, once you get fit for riding, you're kind of there. It's maybe not as physically taxing as a lot of other sports, but a lot of it's mental.

And like, I work out to have a stronger core and, you know, whatever you kind of need. But I don't. So my whole thing is mental. Oh, right on. I don't work out. I just ride all the time. Yeah, that's great. I've had too many injuries.

to do anything else but ride. Right. So my friends are like, let's go do this, let's go do that. I'm like, nope, no, not doing that. I got to ask, when you said a horse is too much horse, what is exactly, what is that exactly the need? Just a lot of power. Just a lot of power.

Yeah, okay. You have to kind of match. It's like scales. They have to be, you can get a horse that's better than you or more, and then you try to catch up to the horse. Yeah, yeah. Well, you don't want to get a horse that is not up to your level. Sure, sure.

But if you start out here and you're learning, then it can be scary and intimidating because the horse is really you have to know how to manage that kind of personality. I was just going to say, who chooses who? Does the horse choose the rider? Well, that's why there's trainers and coaches that know that this is going to work and it might not work this month, but you're going to catch up next month. But you don't want to catch up in longer than that because then the horse is going to get confused in the middle or somebody might get hurt.

hurt so and when you're jumping if you don't you want to feel it should feel seamless if the horse is pulling you too hard that you can't jump a course of 14 intricate little jumps that you can't touch it has to be oh or the person's going to be tired so that as the course goes say there's 14 jumping efforts the horse starts out strong like they're an athlete too yeah and then Typically, midway through, people, somebody gets tired. If the horse gets tired, the person has to make up the difference. It doesn't really work the other way. You know, the horse can't make up the difference for the person.

So if the horse gets tired, you can kind of pull them together and ask for more. So it's, you know, when we teach, when I teach and coach, you can't, you have to understand the whole process so that as a person, and you can start to feel like your horse needs help, and then you can help at the end of the course. So it's a tough sport. It's an Olympic sport for people because of that. For sure. At the highest level, it's, they, you know, the humans, people think,

oh, they're just sitting on the horse. No, that's not what's happening. That's, it's crazy that you recognize that symbiotic connection. I think of, you know, a good example that folks can relate to is maybe Avatar when the avatar is putting the braid to the horse, I mean to the, That's the perfect thing is when you have, like, your horse. And then it's no, you're, it's the perfect, but it's like any relationship. Sure, sure.

You have to make concessions one way or another. So are you into horse breeding? Yeah. So how do you protect the horse from someone that is a bad buyer? Don't let them buy the horse. Well, obviously, but how do you vet them? Is there a profiling process? Kind of.

I mean, if they're going to come ride your horse, then I want to see them ride before. they come because they can scare your horse and you can get yourself hurt it's a whole mess yeah and you don't want so you have to be to be really careful and then you can't let the money override what's morally and ethically correct correct yes and is that primarily your job to protect the horses from that's what i do i mean there are a lot of that's an expensive sport so a lot of people are or have to maybe sell their horse to somebody that's not the right person sure And then as that plays down, then that horse might, through connections, end up with somebody like us to retrain, get their confidence back because they haven't been with the right person. Right on.

How are you leveraging your relationship with your son when it comes to the business where he's modernizing, you know, the business with social media, with outreach? Well, it helps. It helps business than we have more connections with people. Sure. So it's because we, our job is horse training. and then I fly around and give clinics and teach kids, but through social media, then people can connect with us easier

if they need help with their horse or if they want to get into horses because it is an industry that people consider elite. Yep. Except... Which is nothing wrong with that, by the way. Yeah. What is true, except it isn't.

Like, every walk of life is at the horse show. Yes. You know, it's like a tiny world. So everybody does fit in there. Yes. But you yourself said, when I'm on the horse. But somebody can own a horse and they can fit right.

It doesn't matter who they are. There's everybody there. Famous people, not famous people, young, old, everybody. I have some clients that don't leave their home too much anymore. They're older, but they have a horse and everything's live streams. So they keep up watching their horse and they don't miss a moment. And it gives them a lot of joy to be able to see their horse. Very cool.

Do stuff. Is it kind of like a ride of passage, do you want a horse, especially in a small neighborhood? You know, it's a completely different, I would say a tax bracket or a neighborhood that I grew up in. But I feel like... Well, not, most horses are in, if you're in a city, they're at a stable. Sure, sure. But I mean, like, the families you sell to. Like, it's almost like, oh, it's time to get you a horse.

You're 12 years old. It depends on the people, but some people mortgage their home for it. And some people don't have to. So it's totally, every situation. is different. Do you see if someone's lifestyle improve when the horse is within Oh, I think so. Yeah. Especially the families because they

have something in common that it's not just going and watching a soccer game. It's, they're really invested as a family. Sure. Yeah. Their child and the horse and the horse is like part of the family and they end up on the photos on the wall.

You know, it's like a, it's part, it's like adding a family member. Do you have a lot of clients that walk up to and go, I just want to monetize my horse. What's a good workhorse, literally? Or is that too? Some people do that want to sell their horses. Right on.

I see. Yeah. Very cool. We have people that maybe their kids went to college and they need to sell their horse or there's a multitude of different things. So you're world traveling and you're an athlete when it comes to horse racing. So, or horse. Jumping.

All right. Sorry. Speak to me about what you do when it comes to horse jumping. and you're what i like to when i speak to athletes it's like what's your daily superstition is that you wear a specific pair of underwear when you want to have a good day of practice like walk us through your routine um i try like so hard not to have superstitions because i do i do believe in that so i try really hard like if i win in like a show coat i try to not be like this is my lucky coat because then if something goes bad in the coat that i'm like but i do like i wear i have like a bunch of like crystal

stuff on and I do wear that every day and I do like I have these two necklaces that I did get off Etsy and one's turquoise and one's jade and I'll tell you though like I started winning when I had these necklaces on and I took them off for a little bit and I forgot about them and I stopped winning so now I have them on like all the time so that's my superstition but I try to just wake up and like I prefer having multiple horses at a horse show and once I can like get in a roll I kind of stay in a roll I don't love the pressure of having like one class or one horse to show a day. So I do like that. I am used to like riding a lot because I ride 10 to 13 horses a day at home. So I prefer to just get in like the group and like keep riding and

riding. So yeah, that's kind of my routine. I kind of just wake up and start my day, go to the show, figure out what I have to do, plan my day because it's all on a schedule and then make sure the horses are good, take them out, stretch them out. Are you watching this Netflix? Like we need the F1 right to survive but just on what you do. can already see the different personalities and you're bragging about your horses. Yeah, yeah, right here. I would have watched your show. Very cool. So how are you all keeping future proof? Like, you know, like the, we're clearly it's 2025. I'm not expecting AI horses or Tesla horses, but it's definitely a very Western way of living that is, you know, dwindling slowly but surely.

I'm not sure that AI has any. Oh, no, this is a joke. Yeah, but I don't think. Are you future proof? Do you think this will ever be there, like even when we have flying cars in 20, 30 years. I think people are still going to ride horses. If possible. For sure. But it's important for the, I guess what I'm trying to land on. It's so part of a human journey. Yeah.

To always have a horse. Yeah, I think so. I mean, that's from the beginning of time. Correct. That's what I'd be. So I don't, I don't see it going away. Even the people that are in tech, like, that are the future. Are you getting horses.

They're getting horses. Straight on. Well, our competitions are only getting like bigger and more. streamed and there's only like more money kind of going into the sport right for sure so it's not like it's getting smaller and dwindling like it's getting bigger bigger and you know like bigger stages bigger people there you know yeah we have one client in particular that is a way up in Microsoft in the AI thing and all she wants to do is ride totally get it she's completely get it yeah right on man I remember growing up in my 20s and 30s and thinking rock stars are cool but now I'm in my 40s

I think you're cool, my friend. So with that, how can people discover you? How can people find you on the internet? He's on TikTok. I have a TikTok. It's Zach O'Harden. Same thing on Instagram. She's Kristen, I think, Kristen.

Dot Hardin on Instagram. So you can find our social medias on there. But if you look up just our names. Yeah, find us. Yeah. How are things on TikTok, Zach? You're doing well? It fluctuates pretty hard.

It fluctuates pretty hard. I'll have, like, I don't know, have like a week where everything blows up and I have like you know 40,000 views of video and everything's good and then like right now I'm in like a slow period and I don't really get like any views how many followers you have 266,000 point five it wasn't points how come it drops by two I don't know actually I don't know where did they go I don't know why people are like I don't know if they're specifically seeking out my page and I'm following me I don't know if it's TikTok getting rid of fake followers and bot sure it probably is yeah I

I don't really know what... It's definitely not your charisma, my friend. Every time it drops, I'm like, what did I do? What did I do today? Like, I'm like, I know maybe I haven't... Are you listening to this? This is our shoulder to lift today. I don't know how they do it.

Social media is crazy. I get a lot of views. If something bad happens and I talk about it, then it's like, they love that. But if something good happens... They want to sip that tea. It's always a tea. Jerry Springer was right. Just don't read the comments.

That's what I'm always telling. The comments are always the best. There's great. Are you on Reddit? Jump on Reddit. That's gold. I have enough with what people comment to me on social media without knowing anything. Dude, look at you, of course.

They're going to love to hate you. Dude, you're on the right track, my friend. I hope so. Get out of here. And with that, concludes another amazing episode of the Living Your Legacy podcast for Insight Success. This is Kristen and Zach. And I am Ray Gutierrez.

You know,