Since I was a child, I’ve dreamt of a life surrounded by horses. My family had no clue where this drive came from. We did not have horses in the family or the money to take weekly lessons. So, in order to learn about the care of these horses, my non-equine-loving parents started me in 4-H. I spent eight years in 4-H learning anatomy, horse feeds, tack, styles of riding, foaling horses, illness, equine careers, and more. I spent most of my childhood on the back of a horse, in a parade, at a horse show or just cruising to the store for milk. So it made perfect sense for me to attend college and receive a BS in Equine Studies/Riding. But after my graduation in 1994 from Johnson and Wales University in Providence, RI, I did not know what to do with myself. I needed health insurance and a steady source of income and ended up in retail for 18.5 years.

I think I was always a good riding instructor, perhaps my 4-H cohorts would disagree. I usually found myself helping others and learning right alongside of them. In Massachusetts, you must pass a test and be licensed to teach riding lessons. So I became a professional riding instructor, teaching kids riding on our 4-H horses, while I was also working retail.

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Fast forward to 2002, my retail job moved me to New Mexico to manage a failing store. Then finally, in 2012, I left retail to start pursuing my goal of having my own horse business. My passion and education in the horse field, along with my almost 20 years of business management, put me in an excellent position to become a successful entrepreneur. I founded Enchanted Equine Adventures LLC in December of 2012.

In January of 2013, I began my search to find horses for my business at Walkin N Circles Ranch in Edgewood. I went through their training to become a ranch hand and gained the opportunity to interact with the horses in order to learn more about each of them. I had in my mind that I was searching for very docile, rideable, sound horses. I spent my time working with the early contenders that Rudy Sporing had pointed out. As I did this, one horse (who had not been singled out) made herself known to me. She would follow me up and down the fence line and never left my side while I was in her paddock trying to catch another horse. I wasn’t looking for an Off the Track Thoroughbred with a bowed tendon (old track injury). I had assumed a former race horse would be too much for my beginner riders. Cinnabar set out to prove my assumption wrong.

Misty was a very different story. Not too tall, perfectly stocky Quarter Horse/Draft conformation and build, Misty looked to be a great possibility for therapeutic riding. But her body had a sad story to tell - two different brands, lots of scar tissue and one very deep straight, rope wound on her back leg. She was sound, but obviously she would have some trust issues with humans. I was told she was herd bound and that she had been picked up recently outside of Chama running with some wild horses. She’d only been at WNCR for two months when I met her.

I spend the next few months getting to know these two beauties and narrowing down my search. I worked and rode both horses in the round pen, I even took Cinnabar out on a trail ride. Both girls passed all my tests, and I made the final decision to bring them home. In May of 2013, Rudy brought the two girls to our property. We showed them around and then turned them loose in our almost two-acre paddock. They’d never met or been turned out together at WNCR, but they instantly bonded. Cinnabar took the lead and Misty happily followed her alpha mare.

We settled into a routine and started working on training to become fantastic riding partners for my future clients. Cinnabar was a challenge for me, as an OTTB she did not have enough ground training to start working with clients. She also had quite a few body issues. We enlisted the help of an equine chiropractor and a horse trainer to get Cinnabar into riding shape. Even though she may not have had the best start in life, she found her forever home to be the most peaceful place for her. Cinnabar is the sweetest pocket pony, she loves attention and scratches. She has now become the quietest riding horse; all the kids ride her and take her for walks on the ditch and down through the neighborhood.

One day, a few months after they arrived at EEA, Misty started to look physically different to me. Having delivered over 100 foals in my life, I knew how a pregnant mare’s body changes before she delivers. So of course, I called WNCR to determine if there was anyway Misty was pregnant. Rudy said probably not. But I watched as more tell-tale signs confirmed my thoughts. Then our veterinarian made my thoughts into a reality one evening when Misty colicked. A few weeks later, the entire family was on foal watch, but it was the family dog, Cuddles, who alerted us that Misty was in labor. I laid down a few bales of straw over the sandy paddock, and she spent a few hours up and down on the straw. Then at 10:30pm on July 31, Misty delivered a perfect, jet black colt with a small white star on his face.

My mother nicknamed him Purple because his black coat was brilliant in the New Mexico sun. And it took me months to come up with a name that suited him! Acheron or Ash was imprinted at birth and every day after. He was started by former WNCR trainer, Ryanne Davis. He has come along very well and will soon be a riding horse for clients. Kids absolutely love him! He is gorgeous, of course, but he is young, so they seem to connect with him! We have a birthday party for him at the end of every summer. This is a combo party for the kids in my Horsemanship Program to do a horse show for family and to have fun with the horses! Ash is really good at playing bobbing for apples against the kids.

I know these three horses came to me for a reason. Misty, sadly, had to be put down when Acheron was three. Her years of abuse caught up to her and she could barely walk across the paddock to me anymore. And her absolute distain for medical treatment gave us only one option for her future. We had determined by her brands that she had been used as a PMU mare at some point in her life. But she lived her last few years in bliss with us and her final foal. Now Acheron and Cinnabar are buddies for life! You will always find them together in the paddock or barn. I am eternally grateful for WNCR for allowing me to bring these beautiful creatures into our lives and those of our clients.

Kendra J. Loring
Owner/PATH certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor
Enchanted Equine Adventures, LLC

Kendra Loring