About the Trainer Mary Kautz
Mary is dedicated toward promoting animal welfare and ethical animal handling. She enjoys inspiring others with reward based training methods. Mary has worked exclusively in the equine industry since 2002. She is passionate about teaching students ethical and freedom based animal handling methods. Mary enjoys challenging and improving her skills. She has ridden regularly since 1992, and started doing her own ferrier work in 2006.
To view Endurance Ride records click here below then Enter "Kautz", OK, and click on "Mary E. Kautz NW Region" on the right side
Mary is dedicated toward promoting animal welfare and ethical animal handling. She enjoys inspiring others with reward based training methods. Mary has worked exclusively in the equine industry since 2002. She is passionate about teaching students ethical and freedom based animal handling methods. Mary enjoys challenging and improving her skills. She has ridden regularly since 1992, and started doing her own ferrier work in 2006.
To view Endurance Ride records click here below then Enter "Kautz", OK, and click on "Mary E. Kautz NW Region" on the right side
My horsemanship journey - In Mary's words
I was born and raised in the suburbs east of Cleveland, Ohio. None of my friends or family members rode, but my love for animals caused me to ask for riding lessons at age 8. I rode various breeds of school horses for 7 years while learning jumping and training level dressage. While jumping was exciting, I had little interest in the formal show world. When I began trail riding, I discovered the fun and challenging world outside the arena. After graduating from high school in 2002, I took a working student position in Idaho where I learned about endurance riding and horse breeding. The next year, I rode under Jackie Bumgardner in California, training and competing endurance horses. I participated in endurance rides of 50-75 miles and earned over 1600 AERC miles. In 2005, I moved permanently to the Pacific Northwest. In Potlatch Idaho I worked under a natural horsemanship trainer and assisted with starting horses under saddle. I worked part time at 3 different stables and was exposed to a variety of horse breeds. I lived in Spokane Washington for two years, doing basic training with all breeds, and learning about gaited horses, and trick training. I moved to Oregon in 2013 and found a mentor to show me the ropes in wilderness camping and light horse packing. I explored the back country of North West Oregon, camped at many State Parks and attended trail ride events. In 2016 I settled down on my own farm in Philomath, near the foothills of the Coastal range. I began my transition to +R/ reward based training in 2017. In 2018 I explored collected riding and cart driving. In 2020 I studied equine applied behavior analysis and gained skills on how to use +R methods for all interactions with horses. I am always striving for improvement in my training and horse management. |
|