36 SIDELINES AUGUST 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
By Abby Westmark
Nestled cozily between three of California’s southern mountain
ranges, the Cuyama Valley is an incongruous splash of green
across the rugged terrain, an agricultural mecca of gentle slopes,
highlighted by the blue ribbon of the winding Cuyama River. This
sheltered valley houses only two small towns - the appropriately
named Cuyama, and it’s larger sibling New Cuyama, with a
combined population of 574. Unless you count horses, that is.
Kristin Hardin, trainer, rider and all-around equestrienne
is living her dream on the 120 acre New Cuyama farm, Kristin
Hardin Stables, that bears her name -- along with her two legged
children and her 106 equine ones. Of course, Sidelines had many
questions for her, not the least of
which was how she manages to
keep so many equine partners.
“We actually have another
90 horses at our Los Angeles
facility, Con Caletto Enterprise.”
replied Kristin. “But we manage to keep it together with really,
really good help. We live really far out, so we do all our own vet
work - I do everything short of colic surgery, and my husband
is our farrier.” Kristin splits her time between the two properties,
spending three or four days at the facility in Los Angeles before
returning to the rolling hills of New Cuyama. Although she rarely
has time off, when she gets it, she spends it with those she loves
the most - her horses!
“Horses are my lifestyle,” said Kristin, when Sidelines spoke to
her over the phone. “The last vacation I took was to the Winter
Equestrian Festival. “On a day off, we usually take the horses to
the beach. I like fshing too, but it doesn’t happen. I don’t like being
away from the horses.” Kristin’s life has always revolved around
horses - when she was a child, she traveled the world with her
family’s racehorses. “I’m not breed prejudiced,” said Kristin. “I try
to make every horse the best they can be, no matter what level. I
love every aspect of horses. I don’t look at it as just a business -
it’s still a personal relationship with every animal.”
“I show everything from baby green hunters to the grand prix
depending on what horses I currently have. I have won more
than 50 major jumper events or grand prix classes and was
Northern California Rider of the Year in 2000,” she said. Kristin is
also the fve-time World Champion on jumping Paint Horses and
more than 40 times she has been the National Champion rider
or trainer on the Arabian Sport horse circuit as well as Western
National Champion with her Welsh ponies in the hunter divisions.
“Depending on the breed and level, I do it all,” she said.
Of course, this passion for horses isn’t just something that rests
with the elder generations of Hardins - Zacko, age 6, and Tyler,
age 8, both have horse fever in
their veins. “Both kids want to
be trainers right now,” said their
proud mom. “Hopefully that will
stick. Every day they go out to
the paddock and ‘pick a pony’
from the little herd we have. They ride four, fve, sometimes six
ponies a day.”
Despite the challenges of running a 100-plus horse herd and
homeschooling, Kristin still manages to keep herself looking
put together, eschewing the all too familiar oversize T-shirt and
baseball cap for breeches and jewelry. “I still try to be feminine,”
Kristin said, when asked about how she remains fashionable with
so much on her plate. “I like to go out and I like to look decent.”
Although she has many achievements under her belt, the best
way to quantify Kristin Hardin is not in the awards she has won
in the show ring, nor in the names of the horses she has bred,
raised and trained for success. It isn’t even in the brilliant smiles
of her charming progeny or the excited whinnies as she opens the
pasture gate. All these things are a part of it; but it is best stated
in the seven words said by photographer Anne Hoover in way of
introduction: “She is the epitome of a real horsewoman.”
The Hardin Family riding off into the sunset.
All photos by Anne Hoover (www.annehoover.com)
“Horses are my lifestyle”