Transcript:

[0:01]

Jessica: Hello everyone, and welcome back to *The People Behind the Horses*. This is a series where we talk with different individuals who are helping to make a positive impact on the horse industry. I am Jessica Artman, one of the nutritionists with Mad Barn, and I’m really excited today to bring our first virtual interview. I am joined by Kristi Newman, the owner of Silver Fox Equestrian Club in Ashburn, Ontario.

[0:25]

Jessica: Thank you so much, Kristi, for being here with me today. I’m really excited to talk about you and about your journey and Silver Fox Equestrian Club.

[0:31]

Kristi: Thank you, Jessica. I’m really excited to be here.

[0:36]

Jessica: Perfect. Well, let’s go ahead and just jump right into it. To start off, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey in the horse industry, and how you got to be where you are today?

[0:44]

Kristi: Yeah. So, my parents bribed me to move to the country at 10 years old. They said, “We’ll get you a horse.” And I giggle now because I think they probably regret that — here I am. I started riding at 10, and I had this amazing coach. Her name was Carol, and when I was 12 she said, “I’ve taught you everything I can teach you. We need to find you a new coach.” I thought, what great awareness for someone to have. She said, “I’ll help you, and I’d love to come and watch your lessons with this new person.”

[1:12]

Kristi: So we found Kelly Plitz, who was an Olympian for Canada at Dreamcrest, and I started riding there at 12. By 15, I was teaching summer camp, then teaching in their riding school program, riding horses for them, and then I moved up into grooming for them at big events — down at Rolex back in the day in Kentucky, at Radnor back when it was running — and got to go to some training camps and such. My education was pretty extensive in the eventing world, and I learned a ton from them.

[1:43]

Kristi: That’s where I started. I did Pony Club, I showed saddle seat at one time on Arabians, also showed western, and I think I even did hunter-jumper. Now I do dressage. I’ve experienced a lot of horses over the years. Yeah — that’s where I started.

[2:07]

Jessica: Wow, what a well-rounded, diverse background. I love that — and learning from the best, you can’t get any better than that. So that’s really exciting. What inspired you to start Silver Fox Equestrian Club, and how has it evolved over the years?

[2:22]

Kristi: Yeah. So, I just love horses — let’s be honest. I don’t care what horse it is, I just love them all. My parents, when we moved to the country when I was 10, owned 50 acres. Attached to it was this beautiful 100-acre farm with 100-year-old stalls, which you can now see behind me. It was originally a Thoroughbred breeding farm, then moved into Hanoverian breeding, and then became a regular boarding farm. Our property attached to this property, and I loved it from the moment I saw it. Every day I would drive by the big paddocks — it was just gorgeous.

[3:02]

Kristi: I begged my parents to buy it when it came up for sale. They’re in real estate, so I just had to convince them in “real estate language” — it’s great to own 100 acres. And so, here we are. It’s named after my grandfather, who was called “The Silver Fox” because he went grey really young. I named it after him because he had just recently passed away when we bought the farm 20 years ago. And it’s just grown since then.

[3:28]

Jessica: Well, that’s really fun. I love that story and the connection you have with the land, and the story behind it. I love that the farm has kept its foundation. What would you say is your core teaching philosophy for both horses and riders at your farm?

[3:52]

Kristi: I would say the main thing for us here is meeting people and horses where they are at. Not teaching something just because I want to teach it, but teaching them what they need to know. Same with the horses — seeing where they are at. To me, it’s a dialogue, a conversation, whether with people or with horses. I’ve trained thousands of horses over the past 37 years, and thousands of riders. The main thing is meeting people where they’re at to help them grow, expand, and build upon a really strong foundation. That’s our philosophy: meet you where you’re at.

[4:33]

Jessica: I love that, and I think a lot of other farms could learn from that — realizing not everybody is going to progress at the same rate. You have to take it one step at a time, one day at a time. At Mad Barn, we always say we’re looking for 1% gains — we’re not looking for 50% or a big leap all at once. So I love that. What is your perspective on the roles that horses play in our lives beyond just riding and sport?

[5:04]

Kristi: Horses are incredible. We all know that barn time is its own thing — everybody knows that if you say you’re going to the barn for an hour, that really means three. That’s never happening. Whether you’re riding, taking care of them, or just being around them — like we run meditations with horses — literally being near them is incredible for us and for them. It’s a symbiotic relationship, if you want to get fancy.

[5:45]

Kristi: I’ll share one thing — there’s an organization called HeartMath that has just been nominated for a Nobel Prize for research on heart rates and brain waves. They’ve done studies on people being near horses, and found that horses improve our heart rate variability. Higher variability means you’re healthier, and horses help do that just by being near them. So they literally make you healthier. How cool is that — we get to work with them in sport, and also share them with people who don’t ride. There’s now science proving we were right all along.

[6:41]

Jessica: Exactly — I love when science backs up what we’ve always been saying. And walking into the barn with that mindset of, “I’m just here to be here,” without pressure or anxiety, just enjoying your time and making yourself healthier — I really like that. So let’s shift into education, because I know that’s a huge foundation for you and your facility. If somebody is taking their first lesson, what are some key principles you want them to walk away with?

[7:16]

Kristi: The first thing is you need to manage yourself — your thinking, which manages your body language, which manages the energy you put out to the world. We talk a lot about managing your mind, taking that deep breath, shoulders down and back, chin up, and lifting your sternum. There’s science showing that this changes hormones — testosterone increases when we take that “superhero” posture — and that changes how we present ourselves to the world. Horses speak in energy and body language, so by changing how we stand, we change how we communicate with them. Even if internally you’re nervous, your body language makes a difference. And of course, that translates to real life too.

[8:13]

Kristi: Meeting riders where they’re at is key. Some riders are so nervous they might not even get on the horse during the first ride. That’s why we do a lot of private lessons, and our Learn to Ride program is hugely popular — always selling out. In the group version, we have someone holding the horse the entire time so riders can focus completely on themselves.

[8:49]

Kristi: I explain it like this: you have to learn the alphabet first — that’s your riding position. Once you know the alphabet, you can start “texting” the horse messages. But at first, you can’t be trying to control the horse while you’re still learning how to speak “horse.” We want riders to focus inward on their mindset, state, body language, and energy, so they can learn in that safe space. Then we teach them how to communicate with the horse. That’s what we do.

[9:44]

Jessica: Oh, I really love that. I like that you can, like you were saying, learn how to communicate with the horse without that pressure to start off with, and then be able to move confidently forward. And I think even as an advanced rider, I’m sitting here thinking, oh wow, I need to do this as well — take a step back and remind myself that I need to make sure I’m speaking the right alphabet, like you said, and having those conversations with the horses, and understanding, okay, maybe we’re not using the same language right now. I love that.

[10:16]

Jessica: So, you’ve — we’ve talked a little bit about it, or at least kind of alluded to it, and I spent some time on your website, and a word that I saw constantly coming up was “confidence.” That’s a vital part of riding. Can you tell us why you think it’s important, and how you help build that in your riders? I know you kind of touched on it a little bit, but let’s dive a little bit more into the role of confidence at your facility.

[10:47]

Kristi: Yeah, I would say confidence is everything. Confidence in the horse — the horse having confidence. You think of a horse jumping and why it stops at a jump — it didn’t have the confidence in its body and its ability to be able to jump it. In dressage it’s the same thing. When you’re teaching something more complicated, like leg yield for example — it might seem simple, but for horses, being off balance is not good. Their subconscious starts going, “Alert, alert, alert — I’m now vulnerable to predators.”

[11:16]

Kristi: We’re the exact same. We’re animals in the wild too, and our confidence has to be built up, especially when we haven’t done something before. Think of starting something new — you’re going to be bad at it. Let’s be honest — you’re not going to be good right away. So you have to keep building evidence that you can do it, by doing the thing even if you’re bad at it. Same with the horses.

[11:42]

Kristi: There’s this book — I do a lot of personal development for mindset and thinking differently — and one of the main quotes from *Atomic Habits* by James Clear is, “Create the pattern, then strengthen the pattern.” So for example: go to the gym, walk in, sit down in the change room, get up, and leave. That’s creating the pattern of getting to the gym. This is the same theory we have for building confidence, whether it’s with horses or riders.

[12:15]

Kristi: Little steps — like you said, the 1%. Your brain technically wants to be lazy. It doesn’t like to change gears or patterns. Think of writing with your other hand — how hard is that? Especially with adult riders, who already have life patterns they’re good at, your brain loves those because they’re easy and require no extra energy. I talk about getting out of the “tractor ruts” — those ruts in thinking, whether good or bad. Confidence is built by small wins, building evidence you can do this, and taking the next small step, then the next, and the next. Same with horses.

[13:06]

Kristi: When we’re training horses, we create the pattern imperfectly — who cares? Then we strengthen the pattern and make it better. But we have to start. Whether it’s leg yield, jumping, or a new rider learning to ride, you’ve got to take the first step in the right direction. Hold the pen with your other hand — you don’t have to write yet. Just get used to holding it. Then trace a letter. Then freehand write a letter. Same with horses — piece things down into smaller steps.

[13:42]

Kristi: After almost 40 years, my theory is that in the equestrian world, we ask riders and horses too many questions at once. That knocks down confidence, because you’re not getting little wins. Your brain says, “This is too hard,” and you quit. It’s like sending a kindergartener to school and expecting them on day one to hold a pencil correctly, trace letters, write the alphabet, write “cat” and “dog,” then write sentences — all in one day. Totally unreasonable. We’d never expect that from a child, so why are we expecting it from riders or horses? Breaking things into small pieces builds confidence — little wins, smaller steps, 1% better.

[14:51]

Jessica: No, I love it. And I think it’s something we can all use in our own daily riding. I experience it myself — I’m getting older now and I’m starting to get nervous at things I didn’t used to get nervous at. It’s important to check in with yourself, and to remember that even a lot of professional athletes deal with this as well. We have a couple of articles — one we just published was on Alli Schmidt, a dressage rider, and she talks about wanting to quit the industry because she was dealing with a lack of confidence. So it’s important to remember — whether you’re new or a professional — confidence concerns are real.

[15:33]

Jessica: I do want to move into the online platform you’ve developed. It’s very well-rounded — so much in there. I was taking a peek at it. Can you tell us more about the online equestrian club you have, and how your virtual and in-person programs complement each other?

[15:54]

Kristi: Yeah, amazing. So I started it during COVID — I really shoved it into existence — just to connect with people. But even before that, the world is going digital, no question. We can learn so much so fast online, but some of the information out there isn’t vetted. Is it legit? Does it actually work? Does it make sense? Does it build confidence? For us, the love of horses, the understanding, and the compassion to meet them where they’re at is key.

[16:29]

Kristi: What I was noticing at the barn — for those of us who are older, we used to spend all day there. I’d go to the barn, ask to help, set jumps, groom a horse — anything — and I was there all day. But now, people don’t have that time. Parents are so busy just trying to survive, and they can’t just drop kids off all day. There’s also safety concerns.

[16:58]

Kristi: Online, we went viral with a couple of posts — over 10 million views on a video — and some of the comments were horrific. That’s exactly why I built this online community. We need a closed place where people can learn and ask questions without fear of being attacked. I didn’t want to charge for it at first, but now it’s $10 to join because I have to protect the people in there. If someone isn’t supportive, they’re out. I can control who’s in and out, and make it a safe space.

[17:55]

Kristi: There are tons of courses — like a Learn to Ride course where you can learn from home to speed up your learning at the barn. I’m trying to save people time and money. Our imaginations are powerful — that’s how everything in the world is created. Sports psychology tells us to visualize — see yourself doing the thing smoothly and perfectly. Your brain doesn’t know the difference between what’s real and imagined. If people can watch the videos at home, they can maximize their limited time at the barn.

[19:03]

Kristi: And like you said, as you get older you realize things can go wrong — you can get hurt — and none of us like that.

[19:15]

Kristi: And so for adults coming to riding or wanting to learn, they can learn more from home and then come into the setting with more confidence in the real-life setting. Our platform is geared to teach people so they can see the safe way to do things — a progression. We do progress reports here at Silver Fox based on the Equestrian Canada rider levels, and we’ve created videos for those levels. So things like leading a horse correctly or tacking up correctly — all these videos are in the club so people can learn at home and then implement here at the farm.

[19:49]

Kristi: Then we have great discussions happening, and I’ve included all my mindset material because I do a lot of personal development, empowerment, and leadership training. I’ve brought that into the club as well to build people’s confidence. I do a “Monday Marination” where I share something that happened in my world — it’s not necessarily horse-related, but it connects to riding and to life. I feel riding should make us feel joyful and fulfilled — if we’re near a horse and riding a horse, we are already winning at life.

[20:32]

Kristi: The quality of your life is the quality of your emotions. If you have a bad day, it’s usually because you were stressed, sad, or frustrated. If you have a good day, you were happy, joyful, doing fun things. Those emotions create your day, and we’re trying to spread more positivity in the horse world. The world is already filled with enough negativity — we don’t need more of it. That’s what the club is about.

[21:01]

Jessica: Well, that’s awesome. And I think everybody should join now because we all need that — a place to grow, but also a safe place to learn. At Mad Barn, we’ve been launching some series focused on mental health, and one of the big things we posted about was negativity on social media and how we need to change that perspective. There are improvements in horse welfare where we’re starting to see positive reinforcement as helpful for horses — and the science shows it’s also helpful for humans.

[21:44]

Jessica: Instead of attacking each other online, we should approach with positive reinforcement, asking questions, learning where people are at and why they think that way — and then grow from there. Social media can become a scary place, and you get nervous about putting yourself out there. It’s awesome that you’ve created a safe space for people to learn. I remember being a kid, having my first lesson, and getting all this information in one hour — going home excited — but by the next lesson, I’d forgotten half of it. It was information overload. Being able to go home, digest, and study so you show up ready is huge. I love that you’ve created that for riders.

[22:42]

Jessica: Can you walk us through the RITE system — what it is, and how it supports both riders and horses?

[22:48]

Kristi: Yeah, amazing. RITE stands for Reward Integrated Training for Equines/Equestrians. It’s an empowering training system for horses and riders based on clicker training — rewarding the horse immediately when they start to do the new pattern of movement or behavior you want. Like we talked about earlier: create the pattern, then strengthen the pattern.

[23:23]

Kristi: When the horse takes the first step toward what you want — whether stopping, going, leg-yielding, moving over in the cross-ties, trailering, whatever it is — you reward it. We use our tongue to make a clicking sound, then treat them so they get something of value. The sound itself means nothing until you pair it with the reward. For young horses, that reward might be scratches. We find what has value for each horse, bridge it to the sound, and use it in training so the horse knows exactly when they did the right thing — no confusion.

[24:22]

Kristi: This ties into mental health too. Imagine going to a job where you don’t understand the task, and your boss just keeps yelling or applying more pressure — frustration builds. We’re making communication crystal clear so the horse can understand and work with us. The great thing is, whatever kind of horse training you do, you can integrate RITE into it. It speeds up training dramatically — but if you’re training incorrectly, it will speed that up too, so you want to make sure you’re doing it right.

[25:34]

Kristi: Horses become excited to come to work. When riding with this method, after clicking and rewarding for a correct step in a leg yield, they’ll stop dead for the treat — and they’re so happy about it. It’s adorable and makes training so much fun for both horse and rider. The horse is empowered to participate, make decisions, and work as a partner. Riders feel the horse’s enthusiasm, and it shifts the energy of the whole session.

[26:49]

Kristi: The system is all about dialogue — asking a question, seeing where the horse is at, and building from there. It’s like a big science project — test, observe, adjust. I now train exclusively this way and have integrated it into traditional horse training so anyone can use it. Once you see the value, you can’t unsee it. We have a guide for people to start integrating it, and an online course is coming so riders can implement it at home alongside whatever training they’re already doing. We’re very excited about it.

[27:53]

Jessica: Oh wow — that’s really exciting. I’m excited for the online course. It definitely sounds like something that could benefit a lot of horses, and it makes sense — like we were talking about with positive reinforcement, the science supports it. Why wouldn’t we use it under saddle? I do want to talk about horse care at your facility. How important is equine nutrition in your training programs, and how do you help riders understand and manage nutritional needs?

[28:35]

Kristi: I always try to connect new concepts to something people already understand. For example, if you’ve ever had a stomach problem and urgently needed a bathroom, you know you can’t focus on anything else. It’s the same for horses — if their health, especially gut health, isn’t right, they can’t focus on learning. If they’re missing key nutrients, they can’t perform or feel good. Nutrition is the foundation — for people and horses — because it fuels every cell and the brain. We teach this to both riders and owners here.

[29:59]

Kristi: If you don’t have proper nutrition — or worse, you’re not alive — nothing else matters. It’s that important.

[30:33]

Jessica: That’s awesome. I like how you connected it — like when we talk about ulcers, not only are horses not absorbing nutrients, but they’re also in pain, which can change their behavior and performance. It’s a foundation that affects everything. What are some ways you ensure both the physical and mental wellness of the horses in your program?

[31:18]

Kristi: Mental health is everything — for people and for horses. Horses live in the moment, so we want them calm, happy, and relaxed when they’re not working. We have about 45 horses, ranging from school horses to mares and foals, stallions, competition horses, and retirees. Retired school horses stay here because they’ve earned that soft landing.

[33:01]

Kristi: We adjust turnout based on each horse’s needs — some go out all day, some prefer night turnout, some live out 24/7. We match herd dynamics carefully so they have compatible companions. We constantly watch body language for signs of stress and adjust as needed. Feeding programs are individualized — hay type, soaked hay, cubes, supplements — whatever they need to feel and perform their best.

[35:05]

Jessica: Wow. I love that you prioritize their day-to-day happiness, because most of their time isn’t spent riding. My last question — if you could give one piece of advice to every rider out there, what would it be?

[35:37]

Kristi: Perspective. We’re already winning if we’re near a horse. Be grateful just to be there. I run a nonprofit that connects horses to people who would never have access otherwise — seeing that changes you. Many of us in the industry take it for granted, but it’s special. How you spend your day is your life — not something that starts later, after a goal is achieved. Appreciate it now.

[36:38]

Jessica: I love that — I’m going to use that in my own life. Thank you again for sitting down with us today. This was really insightful, and I think a lot of riders will benefit from this conversation. To everyone tuning in, thank you for joining us — and don’t forget to like and subscribe so you’re the first to catch the next episode of The People Behind the Horses.