Kari Ketchledge
Kari Ketchledge is an accomplished equestrian, equine behaviorist, and trainer who has devoted her entire life to the study of horses and horsemanship. Known for her ability to transform horses considered difficult or misunderstood, Kari’s work centers on rebuilding trust through clarity, compassion, and unwavering responsibility—always placing the horse first.
Raised on a homestead in Iowa, Kari began learning through hands-on partnership with horses at a young age. For more than 38 years, she has worked as a full-time professional in the equine industry, living a 24/7 commitment to horses that reflects both a calling and a craft. She has started and trained hundreds of horses across disciplines including Classical Dressage, three-day eventing, endurance racing, working equitation, and driving, with a career marked by persistence, empathy, and measurable success at the national level.
Kari holds a Bachelor’s degree in Equine Science and a Master’s degree in Animal Behavior from Colorado State University, where she studied under the graduate advisement of Temple Grandin, choosing to specialize in equine behavior. This academic foundation deeply informs her approach, shaping a sophisticated understanding of how horses perceive stress, communicate, and form trust.
In addition to her training work, Kari is a respected coach and educator whose students have competed successfully across both English and Western disciplines. While she is not available full-time at BCE, her influence extends well beyond the horses she trains. She is currently developing an equine curriculum for a collegiate program and is co-authoring a manual for riding schools in collaboration with BCE trainer Jean Schmidt and other professionals.
For Kari, horses are not problems to solve, but partners to understand. Her life’s work reflects a belief at the heart of BCE: that true transformation—whether in horse or human—comes from patience, empathy, accountability, and deep respect for the horse.
