Allison McKenzie Sporthorses

09/29/2026

So here’s what is on my mind today and I am saying this on behalf of most every equine professional that I know. No one knows better than my husband and myself how expensive everything is right now. We both drive diesel trucks and we run a horse farm and he is a farrier. I actually feel bad when I have to raise my prices - but I have to cover my costs, charge for my 30+ years experience and learning, and keep the lights on. I hate that my prices go up but it has to happen.
The same is true for my husband. This man was trained by one of the best farriers in the area and constantly keeps learning and studying. As a result, most every vet around here knows him and recommends him when a horse requires corrective care or has a medical issue with its hooves. He has worked with one of the top equine podiatrists in the country. As such he charges more - as the saying goes “you get what you pay for” and with him, you get one of the best and most highly recommended farriers around.
What absolutely baffles me is that when a client chooses not to use him, or me, anymore they suddenly drop off the face of the planet - no communication whatsoever. Horse people are tough birds - I mean, we deal with 1200lb. animals on the daily. But yet a lot of horse people fail to be able to grow a pair and have a conversation with a service provider and tell them why they’re not using them anymore. Jeremy’s expensive but if you can’t afford him and need to find a cheaper alternative then FU***NG GRAB YOUR BALLS AND SAY THAT. Ghosting someone is the most unprofessional and juvenile way of handling things that there is.
If you don’t feel that you’re connecting with your trainer anymore then SAY IT. But first be honest with yourself. Did you really listen to your farrier, vet, chiropractor or trainer? Did you keep you and your horse on the schedule or training regimen that was recommended? If you’re only getting your horse done every 3-4 months and then complain that that its feet suck, that’s on you and no one else. If you’re not riding between lessons and then all you want to do is chit chat when you see your trainer again - that’s on you and not them.
Horse people are better at acting like spoiled teenagers than actual spoiled teenagers.
Be communicative. Keep your horse on schedule. Don’t call your vet and wonder why your horse is sick when you couldn’t be bothered to do basic annual care. Don’t wonder why your show/competition went poorly if you didn’t practice beforehand.
For ffs, take your balls out of your purse and use them!
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

09/11/2026

07/19/2026

Dear Horse Industry;

I am a local horse trainer and my husband is a farrier and we are just about done with the industry. These last few years, months, weeks have been challenging to say the least. The level of education, morality and basic decency of horse owners and trainers, while occasionally lacking in the past, has taken a sharp decline. With the easy access that everyone has to social media and Google, etc., more and more consumers are turning to the internet and Facebook for information about their horses, how to train them, how to feed them and what to do when problems arise rather than listening to learned and experienced professionals in the industry who have spent years at their respective crafts. Just this week our area has been greatly affected by smoke from Canadian wildfires and hordes of horse owners have flocked to Facebook to ask for advice on how keep their horses healthy. I question why they haven’t consulted with their veterinarians instead of the “Facebook experts.” We have both been victims of unscrupulous clients who think that they know better than a farrier or trainer with decades of experience. We encounter people daily who want work done more cheaply and think that we charge too much - the adage of “you get what you pay for” doesn’t seem to apply to them. We have both had clients “ghost” us because they lacked the moral compass to talk to us face to face. I have had fellow trainers actively seek out my clients for themselves. My husband had a client flat out lie to him and then pass his work off as someone else’s to a vet. My husband has worked with countless veterinarians - including one of the best equine podiatrists in the country - but his knowledge is constantly questioned by backyard owners.

I don’t know why suddenly everything is becoming more cutthroat. Maybe it’s because equestrian sports are becoming more and more highbrow. The amount of money a rider needs to compete nowadays is astronomical and our governing bodies have proven time and time again that they have no interest in alleviating those costs. With the amount of money that it now takes to participate, elitist attitudes prevail. Changing trainers, barns, farriers and veterinarians is now done as often as people change their underwear. And why? A ribbon that costs 75 cents. A placing that everyone will forget about in less than a month. A qualifying score for a show that will be forgotten by the next year. I can tell you for a fact that the horse really doesn’t care if it wins a ribbon or gets a certain score. My horse tries to eat his ribbons and if you ask him they all taste the same.
Is it ego? The one thing that we all have heard that has no place in horses is the thing that we are all guilty of having too much of from time to time. However, it seems that more and more our sports are being driven by it. The quest to import the perfect horse and have the most well-known trainer and the most perfect bloodline - how is that what matters more than anything else? Years ago horses weren’t owned by syndicates and amateur riders could be successful on a variety of breeds without having to take a second mortgage out on their houses.
Riders, and more often, trainers, are no longer taking the time necessary to develop their horses and install proper basics. Owners are in such a hurry to see their horses developed and competing that trainers are forced to skip steps. I have had clients expect their horses to be fully trained in three months and blame me for not fulfilling their demands despite their horses coming to me with horrible starts and no basic groundwork.
My husband is inundated with clients who have no basic concept of what hoof angles are or what a healthy hoof should look like, and then try to tell him how to do his job.

I don’t know what the answer is but I understand why good vets, farriers, barn owners and trainers are leaving at the rate that they are. I’m hoping that I can hold out before the intense pressure, physical pain and health issues, and emotional drain finally force me out. I will make it longer than my husband who is so disgusted by the industry that he is making an exit plan and only keeping a handful of clients. We both used to love what we do and now wonder why we do it still. It’s too bad because a lot of great people are burning out far too soon and I am left to wonder what will become of our sport.

07/05/2026

Going to bigger Dressage shows is always an interesting experience for me. I prefer to stay “home” at Waterloo Dressage, and why not? It’s extremely well-run with live scoring, excellent management and great facilities. I will however wander down through Ohio to Pony Cup because, let’s face it: it has become one of the best shows in the region, especially if you own a pony! It provides an opportunity for me to meet other trainers and see other riders.
I love seeing kids and their ponies - and I love the kids that absolutely dote on them - it kind of spurs my faith in humanity. Ponies are great teachers, for better or for worse!
If their parents let their kids learn.
I saw numerous parents mucking stalls, grooming their kids ponies, and essentially - doing all of the things that the kids should be doing. It speaks to a larger problem in our industry: The loss of the “barn rats” of the past. Years ago we had kids spending all of their time in the barn - cleaning tack, mucking stalls, and learning how to groom a pony until they gleamed - all in exchange for precious riding time. Now all I see are parents doing everything for their child, plopping them on the pony, and sending them into the ring to chase a precious ribbon. At no point did I see the pigtailed young lady with the pony in the stall next to mine, pick up a muck rake, a broom, or a rag to clean up after her pony or clean her tack because her mother did it all. It was like watching an episode of Toddler’s and Tiaras: Equestrian Edition. What an absolute disservice parents like this do to their kids. To truly call yourself a horseman or horsewoman, hours must be spent in the stable doing the the not-so-glamorous tasks like mucking stalls, shining tack until it gleams, and rubbing down your horse. If kids don’t learn these skills then they will never learn to respect their horses, their fellow riders, or the work that goes into making our industry better.
Another thing that set me off was the fact that so many riders and trainers use the warmup arena for lessons and/or training sessions. By the time you get to a show, the training should have been done. The purpose of the warmup is to get your horse on your aids and focused on the task ahead. This weekend was like riding through a swamp in the jungle - it was brutally hot and humid. One young lady seemingly used the warmup arena to teach her horse flying changes ahead of her test. She cantered around for 30 minutes straight, loudly whipping her horse to “encourage” it to do a change. What’s more, she didn’t care if she was riding right next to someone else when she cracked her whip - she loudly cracked it next to my pony. And her trainer (I am assuming that the woman standing on the wall was her trainer) had virtually nothing to say.
Where is our sport heading if trainers and riders think that this is an acceptable way to behave at anytime, let alone a warmup ring. This isn’t Classical Dressage, I know that. But when the heat and humidity resemble Hell’s front porch - it boils down to abuse.

Good horsemanship is fading. It’s not being taught anymore and that is a damn shame because it’s the horses that suffer the most. People spend so much money and time agonizing over who is the best trainer, which supplements are the best and which therapy will make their horses better but they ignore the basics - elbow grease, a good basic diet, and time spent out of the saddle learning about their horses. I’m glad that I grew up when I did and I’m glad that I can sit here and reflect on why my education was so great. I miss the days of barn rats.