Crysta Brown: Hello and welcome back to Horse Show Vesty. I am one of your hosts Crysta Brown and Welcome back to another week of Scott is too busy for Crysta So it's just me for now What's going on in the world this week guys? I don't know about you. My life is very Quiet and isolated when I'm at home these days. My husband got super sick. I kind of roasted him Hello, I am here with Kirsty Marie. Do you prefer Kirsty Marie or is it Kirsty Marie Jones? Okay, perfect. Well, I'm really excited to have you here. I feel like I'm kind of in the presence of a celebrity. Like, I'm not gonna lie. I feel like you owned like 2010s, Instagram and Pinterest. Like all I saw was like your horse photos and like it is imprinted in like that. Kirstie Jones: Either, doesn't matter. Crysta Brown: Last time I talked about him and his man cold it turned out that he has bronchitis And he did like have to go to the doctor and stuff. So I feel just a touch Guilty for gaslighting him ⁓ But he's okay now he is on the mend but it's been a lot of us just like hanging out me taking care of him ⁓ my horse bubbles somehow in her stall managed to get a huge cut in her chest because high school coming out of high school era of my mind. Like I can't even explain. Can you bring me into a little bit of who you are, what you do for those who maybe haven't been introduced to you yet? Kirstie Jones: you Goodness. Yeah, my name is Kirstie Jones and I am the owner and lead photographer at Kirsten Marie Photography. I live outside of Dallas, Texas with my husband and now two daughters. I just had another baby. We have a few horses up here and yeah, I've been taking pictures for a couple minutes now. I started my business in 2013, went full time in 2017 and specialize in Crysta Brown: That's just horses sometimes. Like if it's not one thing, it's another. I'm like, I'm not kidding you guys. It literally was like a hole and no one could figure out how, where, there is simply no reason. It's like a puncture and there is nothing that we could find that she could puncture herself on. So again, welcome to horses. She's fine though. It was on like the good meaty bit. So it didn't really affect anything. It was just ugly. You Kirstie Jones: basically girls and horses. ⁓ But portraiture of horses. I do some commercial work. I work with some great horse brands that I really love as well. ⁓ And I also have an education side of my business where I teach other photographers. But the core and heart and soul and mission of my portrait business has been expressing the love between a human and a horse. Crysta Brown: But vet came, got her all stitched up. You know, bloody stuff is the stuff that I'm always really impressed at vets what they're capable of because that I couldn't do. Maybe could handle lameness exams and things like that, but the bloody, gory stuff, ⁓ she's let me just snip off this bit of muscle. I'm like, ugh. ⁓ That so not for me. can't even describe to you. ⁓ But that's bubbles. I love that so much. I think you have such a distinct style. Like I can tell when I look at a photo when it's yours before I even like see the little, you know, note to the photographer. And I think that's so neat. Like, did you have like a specific intention or like something you wanted to capture when you started doing your photos? Kirstie Jones: Thank you. Crysta Brown: And then my Ricky Bobby is just like out in the pasture living his best life as a yearling still. Um, and I went to go play with him just yesterday and he was like, he cracks me up because like sometimes I'll go to mess with him and like, just do like short little groundwork sessions, groom him a little bit. And like sometimes he is like the quietest dopiest little like bug on a log, just like lovely to be around. And then this last time Kirstie Jones: I did. It's kind of funny. was dreaming up this business when I was a senior in college. I rode for TCU's equestrian team and I was a business major studying finance and wanting to go into the asset management industry, which I did post college. But I was planning my wedding at the time and Pinterest was huge. This is, you know, 2012. Pinterest was huge and Crysta Brown: No. Mm-hmm. He was like, I started out grooming him and I was doing like a long groom because he's in shedding and it's a lot. So it was like long grooming session. And then I could tell he was kind of getting bored of being groomed. But I had like his halter and lead rope kind of hanging up on a fence. He starts picking it up and throwing the rope as Ricky does because he is a professional botherer of things. ⁓ But I was kind of like, ⁓ maybe he just needs to like move. Right. So put the rope halter on. I've got my long line. I take him out and I was like, Kirstie Jones: I was consuming so much wedding photography and portraiture and in my head I just kept inserting a horse as the groom, where it was romantic and ethereal and soft lighting and golden hour and all of these things. And so that was the type of photography I was consuming as I was trying to plan my wedding. But my head was just filled with, I love my horse. Crysta Brown: Hey guys, a quick word from our sponsors. ⁓ No, that's so good. Scott Cooper: For years, Naomi Clayton of NAC Equine Services has helped paint and quarter owners, breeders, and trainers streamline the often overwhelming process of marketing and placing horses in the great new homes. She has a proven background as a paint and pinto breeder and amateur show exhibitor, as well as nearly a decade of experience as an equine sales agent. NAC Equine Services doesn't just post ads. For each listing, she also creates a detailed marketing plan, organizes photos, Crysta Brown: Yes! doing a little bit of like yielding hindquarters, yielding the forequarters. And I like sent him out on the big circle. And you guys like he rocket launched forward. Like I mean like he was speed. I haven't seen him do that since he was like literally a teeny tiny baby on his mom. But he was just like, like I can't even explain it. He's like barreling around this pasture. It's like a grass pasture. ⁓ Kirstie Jones: just as much as my soon to be husband. Bless him. ⁓ And so in my head as I was going through all that wedding photography, I really just had this idea of, I think there may be a market because it's something I desire. I want, I so badly, you know, at that point I had show proofs of me and my horse in the arena. ⁓ Crysta Brown: Yeah. Scott Cooper: creates sale videos and manages communication so you don't get bogged down in the details. Her commitment to professionalism and finding the right home shows in the countless clients who rave about their friendly, efficient and smooth experience from first contact to the final sale or purchase. Whether you're looking to sell or find your next partner, trust a service with real industry knowledge and reviews that speak for themselves. NAC Equine Services has competitive and transparent pricing, $50 listing fee, Crysta Brown: Mm-hmm. Kirstie Jones: But that really didn't capture the relationship that I had with him, because there's so much more that goes into it than just the 30 seconds that you're on pattern in the arena. personally, it's something I wanted. I thought maybe I could bring it to the market, and maybe other girls, other horse girls might want it too. And so that kind of became the beginning stages of my business was ⁓ this portraiture of a girl and a horse that Crysta Brown: I don't know, it's just funny to me the way that these babies, it's like one day they're one thing and then one day they're another. anyway, that is ⁓ life with horses right now. is ⁓ bubbles, nursing my husband and enjoying and who he decides to be that day. ⁓ anyway, well am really excited to introduce our guest today, we have... Scott Cooper: signed contract and 5 % commission. Find her on Facebook under the NAC Equine or check out her website at nac-equine-services.com. Crysta Brown: Now back to the episode. Kirstie Jones: tried to tell the story of their relationship more than just a perfect snapshot or an action photo. Crysta Brown: Kirstie Marie Jones of Kirstie Marie Photography. ⁓ I don't know how much time you guys be spending on the social medias, but I don't know how you could be in the horsey world and have not seen her photos. They are beautiful, warm, stunning. Her style really stands out. And she's really been at this, I feel like time kind of. I love that so much because you really do get a sense of that and like a feel for it. And like you do really, like, I feel like when I see your photos, it's like, there's an emotion to it. Like there's something that you kind of feel. It's like, aw, you know, and it is very kind of warm fuzzies. And I think that's what we all feel with our horses. So I really enjoy that. ⁓ Can you tell me like, from a business perspective, you're saying, you you kind of went full time in 2017. Was there a moment where you were like, ⁓ I think I could make this like, really being interested in the show world really lined up with kind of her rise as a photographer. So like I really see her as somebody really iconic ⁓ inside this industry. So I was really looking forward to this conversation and we get to talk to her a lot about like her own horse journey. ⁓ So yeah let's jump right into it. a thing. Like I could really grow this situation. Kirstie Jones: Yeah, I, you know, the business grew very organically. So I was working a job in full-time finance. I was living in downtown Dallas. nights and weekends is when I was taking pictures and it got to the point where I started traveling. People were asking me to travel to take the pictures. And so when I hit that 2015, 2016, it was starting to get unsustainable having a full-time job with the photography business because Crysta Brown: rate. Kirstie Jones: I essentially had two full-time jobs at that point. So I just hit kind of a tipping point where I just felt like the business had so much momentum. I wanted to see where it could carry me. It kind of felt like I could always fall back on finance if this little dream of mine didn't work out. And so it just felt like the right time to take a leap of faith and head into entrepreneurship and owning and running my own business. ⁓ And even when I left the office that I was working for, was like, hey, but if this doesn't work out, like, I'll be back. And praise God, by His grace alone, I am still standing a decade later. So yeah. Crysta Brown: That's so good. Yeah, no, it seems to be going great. Super happy for you. So, OK, let's say I come to you and I'm like, I want to get photos done. What are like the makings of a great photo shoot? Like when you have the ones that stand out of you're like, this is the magic. What can we do as the person wanting to get photos done to like help ensure we get some of that magic in a photo shoot? Kirstie Jones: Yeah, thank you. Absolutely. I... Okay, I have a couple opinions on this. The big one is what's the purpose of the shoot? I think if you have an objective, that'll really, really help you. ⁓ Just in terms of making sure that the end product is what you needed and wanted, okay? Because some people go into it wanting senior pictures. know, some people are about to retire their horse. Some people... Crysta Brown: Okay. Kirstie Jones: just bought a new show partner and they're super excited about the future. you no matter what, we're just trying to slice out and capture this moment in time of your life, your relationship with them. But if the goal is advertising, then we need to know what does your trainer approve of outfit wise, location wise, you know, or if it really is just trying to capture, you know, this relationship that you have with them, or if there's a favorite spot that you guys like to go to. ⁓ Crysta Brown: Right. Kirstie Jones: I think having that objective helps me substantially. then along with that, the objective will kind of go through what you should be wearing, you know, because some people are going to want to wear their show clothes and maybe they come from that from an advertising perspective or truly they absolutely love their outfit and they want to capture what they did in that outfit. Because again, the show proofs are just different. They're great, but they're different. Crysta Brown: Okay. Okay. totally fair. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Kirstie Jones: So there's that, or do you want to dress up? Do you want to be in heels and a long flowy dress? Or is that completely not your personality? You're a barn rat. You want to be in jeans and boots. So it really comes from what are we capturing? What do you want to remember this by and as of? And what are you using these photos for? Because that will really help narrow how are we going to dress you? Crysta Brown: You Thank you. Kirstie Jones: where are we gonna go? And most of the time I'm just shooting where the horse lives. But sometimes people wanna haul somewhere special. ⁓ If it's the favorite trail ride they go out on or a place they get to go hand graze their horse or if there's some type of emotional thing there or it's just a pretty spot that they wanted for photos, maybe there's flowers or a lake or something like that. ⁓ But that helps, think having the objective helps decide what you're going to wear and then. Crysta Brown: Yeah. Kirstie Jones: what you're wearing and where the location is, is really going to play into like posing prompts and things like that. ⁓ But I just want to make sure that the end deliverable is what you need, what you want, and what you're going to be really happy with. that's the most important thing for me. It's just kind of like, what are we doing? Are we celebrating his retirement or, you know, is it? Crysta Brown: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Kirstie Jones: Your favorite broodmare just had a new foal or is this your new show partner who is all of your hopes and dreams and you know, we're trying to commemorate what's about to happen for you guys. ⁓ Is it your senior pictures and you just want to remember this slice of time in your life? What's going on? What's the story that we're telling? And then how can we tell that story together? Crysta Brown: Yeah, can totally imagine. As you were saying that, I was like, yeah, I guess that is really relevant to the conversation. I don't know why I never considered, oh, I need to make sure my photographer understands what I'm trying to get out of this. But it's like, as you were saying that, I can literally imagine myself, your eye would shift. If it's about your horse's retirement, then I imagine it's more capturing him. And there is some of me and him, but it's this moment of thank you almost, gratitude maybe. Whereas like, Kirstie Jones: Yes. Yeah. Yes. Absolutely. Crysta Brown: Yeah, like that anyway, that really makes sense to me. And that's really interesting to consider. Speaking to outfits, is there anything like, think everybody it's like, we plan to get photos with the horse. Like the hardest question is like, but what do I wear? Like, and I mean, obviously I love when the colors are right. But I think beyond that, it's a little bit like, do I go casual? Do I go this? Is there anything you could maybe speak to as like what? Kirstie Jones: Yes. Yes. Crysta Brown: translates well on camera? Like what is it like, ⁓ I love when people kind of come, maybe we can speak maybe not as much to the show clothes vibe, but maybe a little bit more to like when you want to do a casual wear. Kirstie Jones: Yeah, so I think the colors are extremely important, even in casual wear. So I know it should be a top consideration in your show clothes, without a doubt. But it's, you know, I have this big, I have like a 40 page welcome magazine that I send my clients and what to wear is like 20 of the pages. And it's a really big deal to me. The colors complementing the coat colors of the horses. And if they have multiple horses, you're trying to complement potentially, you know, if you're multiple. Crysta Brown: What do know? Right. Mm-hmm. Kirstie Jones: colors, you're trying to complement that as well. So, and then another layer on top of that is like your skin tone. So you want to compliment yourself, your own skin tone, your own body type, and the color of your horse. So there's a couple of considerations there. And, you know, neutrals are going to be generally quite safe. Off whites, ivories, blacks, that'll kind of match everybody. The greens and blues are going to match everybody. Crysta Brown: Yes. right. Kirstie Jones: you get into like murkier territory and the reds, oranges, yellows, ⁓ against some of those coat colors. So I send ⁓ a lot of help, but I, I really, mean, I think that the color theory is a big part of it. but in terms of what you can wear, it sounds so cheesy, but confidence is literally everything. It has to fit you and you have to feel good. And it has to feel like you. If you're putting on a Crysta Brown: Thank you. Right. Right. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. Kirstie Jones: costume because that's what other people are wearing or you think that's what you should wear, you're gonna be insecure not feeling like yourself, like you're just made up in somebody else's clothing. And that's what's more difficult for me than a person who comes in front of a camera exuding confidence being like, I look so good in this outfit. that comes across in the photos. You you carry your chest higher, there's so much tension that's relieved, all sorts of stuff. So I think that there's a lot of factors in flattering your body. For me personally, I have parts of my body I want to hide. I have insecurities. I think that we all do. I don't like my arms. So in 99.9 % of the clothing I choose for my own photos, my arms are covered, my back is covered. ⁓ You know, I like... Crysta Brown: Mm-hmm. Right. Right. Kirstie Jones: longer sleeve like it's just it's my own insecurity whether it's Crysta Brown: It doesn't have to make sense to anybody else. It's just what makes that skill good. Yeah, exactly. Kirstie Jones: Yeah, literally. It's what makes me feel good. And I'm going to be more confident if I am covered in this area, this area, this area, and then I'll show off X, Y, Z, you know. So I want to highlight where I'm confident and I want to conceal any insecurity. And then I want the colors to, you know, compliment myself and my horse. I personally, and again, it's just a personal style thing. I love flowy. Crysta Brown: right. Kirstie Jones: outfits, movement, ⁓ what not. But I think if you can just come at it from a perspective of what will I feel confident in? Because if you've never worn a dress a day in your entire life, don't come in a dress. It's just, it's not you. It's not you and you won't feel like you. So you know what I mean? Crysta Brown: Mm-hmm. Right. Right. So you're saying that my photos aren't my opportunity to like soft launch new me. It's like I should be, I should be living in like the me that I am so that I feel good and comfy in my photos. Is that what you're trying to say? Kirstie Jones: I think it will come through the end image if you feel confident rather than if you feel already concerned about an insecurity or an imposter or you know what I mean, something like that. Crysta Brown: Mm-hmm. No, it makes perfect sense to me and like what you're saying about confidence makes a lot of sense to me because like this is everyone is surprised when I say this but like I am the worst like in getting photos done because as soon as that camera picks up I'm gonna be like and I kind of get nervous and I kind of soul up and I start to get really rigid in my body movements and it translates and the photos yes Kirstie Jones: it's in your jaw, it's in your collarbones, in your fingers, absolutely. Crysta Brown: And it's not like in the general view of the photo, but you can tell there's a tension. You can tell I'm not completely comfortable. anyway, I'm curious. I don't know if you've, I'm sure you've worked with somebody like me before, but is there anything we can do to bring our best selves into our photos more? Because I'm telling you, it's like five out of 10 times I get photos done, I'm like, ooh. It's just not my favorite. Kirstie Jones: Yeah. Yeah. I completely understand honestly it's a big part of why when I show up at a photo shoot My camera isn't even out of the bag yet. I usually spend 15 30 minutes Talking to you getting to know you because I have a big lens and it's really intimidating as soon as I bring it up so for you and your horse to be honest and so ⁓ The majority of when I get there and talking about you know, where are we gonna go? What are we gonna do? What are you gonna wear? Let me meet your horse. Talk to me about your story and whatnot Crysta Brown: Right. Mm-hmm. Kirstie Jones: I'm trying to bring your guard down before the lens gets lifted up because it is so intimidating. And so I want to know, can I make you laugh? know, where are you going to be more comfortable? Where's your horse going to be more comfortable? Are we going to need to stay near the barn near his friends? Do I think what we can venture out really far? Because another big factor is for most horse girls, the worse their horse is behaving, the more up. Crysta Brown: Okay. Yeah. ⁓ as soon as you pick a camera up. ⁓ my gosh. And as soon as a camera picks up, every horse I've ever owned is like, what is my worst behavior? Let's try that. Kirstie Jones: height that they get. They choose picture day, they choose picture day without a doubt. So I am trying to manage a lot here. I want to keep your horse comfortable because keeping him comfortable will keep you more comfortable. If he gets too tense and uptight, naturally you're going to get pretty tense and uptight. So there is, I mean, again, I think fashion is just an outward expression. Crysta Brown: Yes. right. you Kirstie Jones: of you. So I think if you're feeling good in your clothes and you're confident in where we are and you you've done maybe a little bit of homework with your horse, maybe you've taken him to a couple of the spots before, or if you want to ride bareback, maybe you've practiced that once or twice before. practice. Please practice. ⁓ If there is something you want taken of the photo, I just, that's all Crysta Brown: Mm-hmm. That's a really good point. We probably should be preparing. Yeah. Kirstie Jones: just practice. There's nothing like picture day for it to be the first time you've either ever gone off the property or ever got on bareback or ever did XYZ ever taken the head stall off. Crysta Brown: makes perfect sense to me. Yeah, you're making me think, I had a friend who she really wanted to wear this like pretty skirt in her photos, but like the days before she got out there and she had ⁓ like, yeah, it was ⁓ like a flower sack or something like that, but she was just all over her horse making sure it wasn't gonna be an issue. And of course they got great photos out of it. Kirstie Jones: Yep. Good girl. Uh-huh, uh-huh. Perfect. And I've had girls want to take bridles in their wedding gowns and just take a bed sheet out. Just take a bed sheet and desensitize their horse with a bed sheet, you know, because you don't want to get your wedding dress dirty before the pictures. But yeah, anything you can do to help your horse out, because this is a day that you are asking him to do things he has never done before or he rarely has to do. So for any... Crysta Brown: Mm-hmm. But then it's no big deal. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it is kind of unusual. That's fair. Yeah. Kirstie Jones: show horse. I mean, even just standing for two hours is an ask that you don't generally require of them. That is not in their daily repertoire to just stand next to you quietly with their ears forward. So what we're asking them to do already is out of their daily norm. And so they're going to be like, what's happening here? You know, so anything you can do to help them prepare and take a breath and be like, ⁓ yeah, I've seen this before. I've done this before. It's no big deal. That just helps. Crysta Brown: No fair. Kirstie Jones: Everybody bring the nerfs down a little bit. Crysta Brown: No, those are such good ideas and I genuinely couldn't tell you why I have never considered, like, oh yeah, like make sure your horse is prepped for it because I'm the biggest on like prep before you go to the horse show, like all those things. But even when you said like, you should make sure you like walk them over to some of those locations where you're do the photos, it's like, oh yeah, duh. But I just never thought about it. But yeah, then you're gonna get more out of your. Kirstie Jones: Yes. Crysta Brown: photos and then it's not just horse management and like, did you get it? ⁓ All of those good things. Nope, that is really cool. ⁓ Like speaking more to photography, I'm being selfish here, but do you have any, like, can you give me a rundown of the things that any of us with an iPhone could do to maybe improve some of our photos of maybe just our horses or maybe we. Kirstie Jones: Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Crysta Brown: God forbid, hand the phone to my husband and I ask him to take a photo of me and my horse. Like, what can we kind of keep in mind to improve some of this? Kirstie Jones: What? First tip, always and forever, wipe the lens of your iPhone before every picture. Even if you just wiped it, wipe it again. Because your fingerprints and the film and the fly spray and the dust and the smudges affect the quality of the picture so much, whether it's of your horse or not. My biggest tip, wipe, like use your shirt, wipe the Crysta Brown: Yeah. Kirstie Jones: lens and it will instantly like because sometimes they just come out super hazy. ⁓ It's just because your lens was dirty. So wipe the lens. Number one, if you're if you're bringing your iPhone out, wipe the lens. ⁓ Then you really got to watch the light sources. So light is everything even for an iPhone. Light is everything. So Crysta Brown: Love it. Kirstie Jones: Directional light is usually super flattering if you want to bring them to the end of the barn isle. ⁓ That is going to give so much more natural light onto them than if you were to take it in the wash rack or something like that where there's just, you know, probably yellow overhead lights and no natural light. You want as much light as you can and you're trying to watch which direction it's coming from. ⁓ Another like just thing to consider is that there is a lot of distortion on the iPhone camera. So if you're taking a picture of your horse head on, his head is going to look disproportionately larger than his body. If you keep him more sideways and parallel to where the camera is, it's going to be less of that sort of distortion and making him look cartoonish and kind of silly. ⁓ So those are just kind of some quick tips of like, light is everything. You can consider some things in the backgrounds if you're... know, there's a dumpster or a trash can or something like that. light is very important and definitely wipe your lens first. Crysta Brown: That's probably a good thought. One time I took a photography class and they were like really big on the rule of thirds. Is that like, does that, is that real? should I be considering the thirds when I'm like framing up a photo? Kirstie Jones: Okay. It, yes and no. Okay, so it's definitely a rule and then, you know, the next thing artists will say is rules are meant to be bent or broken. So it is something I wouldn't place a huge emphasis on while taking the photo, but if you go in and want to crop it and edit it later, your iPhone will put that grid on. And in my opinion, it would be too much to focus on it in the moment as you're snapping. Crysta Brown: Right. Hmm. Right. Mm-hmm. Kirstie Jones: but it could come into consideration if you're gonna go back through and like crop or edit and those grids show up, those grids will help you place things into thirds. ⁓ And so then it could be a consideration of yours and really just use your judgment. Does this look better centered? Does it look better skewed over onto the two thirds line? You know, and just kinda, you get to be the artist at that point and you get to decide what looks best. Crysta Brown: No, you're so right. Like it is an art form. I'm not sure like my selfies are an art form, but what you do is absolutely art. ⁓ No, that's really cool. I love all of that. Can we, ⁓ before we like completely switch gears, can you talk to me a little bit more about what you're doing ⁓ with the KMP Learn? I like personally am super interested in it cause like I'm kind of doing something similar with like some courses and things. And I'm curious, how did you? get to this point and what are you offering? Kirstie Jones: Sure, gosh, that started in 2015. My Instagram following was getting bigger and a lot of people had a lot of questions about photography and I was still working a full-time job, so I didn't want to be rude and not answering every question, but I was noticing that a lot of the questions were the same. So I just started a separate blog where I could send people to that answered kind frequent questions, common questions, and then eventually I would take topics or just Q &As, take questions from people and just blog as much educational content as I could. So that way I was able to answer people's questions, but kind of point them in reference to, know, because if you're being asked what kind of camera do you shoot with 80 times a day, it was easier to just send them back to a link that sent you the camera, the editing software, where I bought it from, the camera case. Crysta Brown: right. Kirstie Jones: all the lenses that I have. It was more thorough way to answer your question and for me a much more efficient way to answer your question. So I have had that blog since 2015. So it has been 11 years that I've been posting free education. So I always encourage if people are interested in photography, just it's KMP for Curse Your Marine Photography, KMPLearn.com. just go back in the archives. Cause if you just keep going page by page by page, there's so much information that I've been blogging for many years on there. And then I think it was about 2019 that I came out with the video courses or at least started to. And there's probably a dozen now. Some of them are just business focused on pricing and marketing and really could apply to any business. And others are very photography specific on editing and black backgrounds and posing and working with light and Crysta Brown: Okay. Kirstie Jones: Stuff like that. So yeah, there's all sorts of topics now that it's just like a pay per view video system. That yeah, people, if they want to learn more and go more in depth, then they can do that as well. Crysta Brown: That's so cool. I mean, yeah, it makes perfect sense because what does everybody want to ask a photographer? It's like, what camera should I have? And having a place that you can send them to, absolutely. But then also, I think as a businesswoman, how smart to be able to replicate yourself in a way because you're kind of in a service industry, really. So you really have to be yourself in front of the camera all the time. Kirstie Jones: Yes. Crysta Brown: So I love that you've found this other way of like, well, maybe you can't do a photo shoot with me, but you can purchase some help from me, like how to assist yourself, do a little more on your own. That's great. I think that's cool. So talk to me about your personal horse journey. How did you kind of get to the place you're in now? Tell me about the horse you have now. And then I've got some questions for you. Kirstie Jones: Sure, sure. So I started riding when I was about three years old. My mom really loved horses but never had the opportunity to ride them. So as soon as my sister and I were old enough, she enrolled us in riding lessons. And it just, it didn't really stick for my sister, but it certainly did for me. We were in gymnastics, we were both in gymnastics and horses. And it kind of a point we had to choose. My sister went with gymnastics, ended up being a cheerleader, cheerleading college. And I was like, ditch the gymnastics, it's horses all the way. So I grew up riding so many different styles. Like I started in dressage lessons. I showed miniature horses at one point doing the in-hand trail and driving and all sorts of stuff with mini horses. ⁓ I rode hunter jumpers through middle school. I did the all around in high school. did 4-H growing up. So I did everything from gaming events. I mean, in 4-H I did the Crysta Brown: Right. Really? Okay. Kirstie Jones: barrel racing and the flag race and pole bending and all that stuff. And I jumped in, then I did the, you know, there was Western equitation, English equitation, trail showmanship, all the stuff and things. I did a lot growing up and I loved all of it. ⁓ And so when I went to college, the agreement with my parents was that I had to sell my show horses. So at that point I had been showing Crysta Brown: Everything. Mm-hmm. Kirstie Jones: mostly Peyton Pinot throughout high school and I had an all around horse for that and so I had to sell him and I rode on the horsemanship team at TCU on their equestrian team and when I was down there they taught me the reigning and I also showed the reigning for them. yeah, I have a background of a lot of different disciplines and I just can't really choose which kind of comes into my current situation. Crysta Brown: Wow. Wait, really quick though, I find that so interesting because that must have really gone hand in hand with when your photography business was like growing into all of the different disciplines because like, am I wrong in thinking you kind of started focusing more on all around horses and now you do all sorts of different types of horses? Kirstie Jones: Yes. So I will say, had I had stuck to one specific group, it would have been infinitely easier from a marketing perspective. Simply because the disciplines in the horse world don't cross as much as you think they do. The dressage riders don't really know what's happening in the cutting world, and the cutting riders don't know what's happening with the Arabians, and the Arabians have no idea who the top quarter horses are. Crysta Brown: You I know. I know. Mm-hmm. Kirstie Jones: ⁓ They're really kind of siloed. So from a marketing perspective, it would have been easier. I was coming from TCU with a background in all around in majority paints. So that's instantly the market that I fell into at the very beginning was paint all arounders that grew into some quarter horse all arounders, but I was extremely intentional. Crysta Brown: Right. Kirstie Jones: about, I love all horse lovers, I love all horses, and I really wanted to transcend some of just, you know, being pigeonholed into certain disciplines. And so I was super intentional about getting cutters and Arabians and warm bloods into my portfolio and trying to connect where I was in Texas with some of those other barns, simply because it's what I was really passionate about. ⁓ And still one of my favorite parts of my personal business is being able to see how every barn operates and works. And I ask a thousand questions to every horse trainer that I go to, you know, just trying to learn, okay, this discipline, body clips, this discipline keeps them under lights. What are the pros? What are the cons? Why do they do what they do? Crysta Brown: Yeah. Yeah. Kirstie Jones: ⁓ You know everything. have so many questions. How are y'all hauling off your manure? How are y'all handling fly management? What do you guys feed? I'm so snoopy. I love learning about how they care for their animals, what they're doing with their animals. And at the end of the day, I'm just so fascinated by these animals in... Crysta Brown: Mm-hmm. No, because it is so interesting. Yes. Kirstie Jones: what they give us. I mean, you look at a high level cutting horse and the amount of athleticism or the Grand Prix jumper or, you know, the high level trail horse at the quarter horse show, the precision, the control, how much of their body they are giving you. I still think it's insane. Every time I load my horse in the trailer, which is every day, because I don't have a place to ride at home. Crysta Brown: ⁓ my gosh. Kirstie Jones: I'm like, he doesn't need to do that. It's super scary back there. He's a prey animal. And he just loads himself, unloads himself, the amount of trust he has in me to just do that simple act, like let alone everything else we ask of these animals. Anyway, I'm in awe of the horse. I love the horse. I'm super agnostic about what breed the horse is. I just love horses and I love people who love horses. So I had just been intentional from the beginning about casting as wide of a net as I could. And also that makes it harder because now I have to know who are the top FEI, hundreds of the writers and who are the most prolific reigning stallions currently and who are, you know what I mean? Like I'm taking tabs on a lot of different industries so that when I show up, I can have a conversation with whoever is at the barn and ⁓ try to keep my feet in the water, you know? Crysta Brown: Yeah. Yeah. No, I think, well, I just imagine you having so many touch points with so many different industries as you were developing as a rider probably also gave you the ability to develop an eye for what each discipline looks for as well. Because it's like, especially, you know, now I'm around a lot of show jumpers and, you know, dressage riders. They don't want their horse posed the same way I want my horse posed. And that's really different too. Yes. Yes. Kirstie Jones: Yeah, yes. Yes. Correct. Correct. They want a very different neckline. They want a very different top line. Correct. Crysta Brown: And I feel, so some of our friends here in Northern Ireland, they saw one of my backdrop shots and they'd never seen a backdrop shot before. That wasn't a thing. And they were like, ⁓ my gosh, he looks like a statue. And I was like, yeah. They were like, was that a real horse? I was like, yes, girl, that was a real horse, I promise you. But I do find it, it's so true that our disciplines are so segregated. I genuinely. Kirstie Jones: Yes, yes, yes. you Crysta Brown: No, absolutely nothing about the reigning world. Like I have been around horses and Western horses my entire life at this point. And like still to this day, I have like tried hard to understand the reigning and like still I'm like, I don't understand why that one was a plus half and that one wasn't like, just, totally don't get it. But anyway, I love that you found a way to kind of be connected to all of those. then with the horse that you have now, are you kind of like, Do you have specific goals in mind? Like is the ranch really where you want to play? Cause I think I saw some photos of you jumping. Kirstie Jones: Yeah. Yeah. So that that's a really special horse. He kind of fell out of a reigning program as a three year old. Crysta Brown: You do everything. Okay. Kirstie Jones: and landed in a roping program. And so when we purchased him, it was to be a rope horse, for charity prospect for our trainer, Bryce Briggs, and then to be turned into an amateur roping horse for my husband, because my husband was getting into roping. Now, side note, my husband had never ridden prior to 2020. So we had been together since 06. Crysta Brown: Okay. ⁓ Kirstie Jones: It had taken him many, years to decide to try riding. And when he wanted to try riding, only thing he was interested in was roping. He wanted to go fast. He wanted it to be on his athleticism and skill level too, not just the horse. And so he was just really attracted to team roping specifically, because he wanted to stay on the horse. Calf roping where you get off the horse was a little too far. So team roping, he wanted to stay on the horse. So team roping is where he wanted to. Crysta Brown: right. Okay, fair. Yeah, reasonable. Kirstie Jones: We started looking for a horse and it just needed to be a family horse. wanted, you know, they're in team roping. have some fancy broke horses and some ranch broke horses. I wanted fancy broke because I came from the all around. So I wanted buttons. wanted to be able to lift their back and maneuver them. Some ranch team ropers, they really, they truly only have one lead and it's just cowboy broke, which is left, right, forward, back. so Crysta Brown: Right. Right. Right, right, right. Kirstie Jones: You know, requirements was I had to be a family horse that was safe for my daughter to ride, would turn into an amateur horse for my husband to rope on, and be have enough buttons for me to just play around with. And so we, Bryce Briggs found this horse for us in 2021. ⁓ And he went on to do the futurity the Rope Horse futurities with him. And he had a really successful ⁓ career. And then my husband roped on him. ⁓ And then I stole him from my husband and was like, we aren't going to share a horse. I love this horse, this horse is mine. So that was a couple of years ago. I bought my horse or my husband, a different rope horse. and I stole this one. So I brought him home. once, as soon as we moved on to a couple of acres, ⁓ I brought him home and decided I was just going to play with him, but I Crysta Brown: Aww. Kirstie Jones: Again, I'm interested in so many different things. So the ranch was very natural for him because of his reigning background and he has a really broke handle and I come from kind of a horsemanship background and ranch kind of blends a horsemanship pattern with the reigning horse, right? mean, essentially. So that just instantly fit and certainly fit Bryce Briggs's training program because he has them so broke. So. Crysta Brown: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Kirstie Jones: We started with some ranch stuff, but I have taken him to literally dressage trainers. have a jumping lesson on him today. I've taken him to jumping shows. I've shown him in the hunters and the jumpers. He's not much of a hunter, so we're doing the jumpers. And yeah, so I'm doing the jumpers with him. I, this year, want to teach him to drive. I want to break him to a cart just because... Crysta Brown: you Kirstie Jones: I think it'll be really easy. He's so broke. Last year, my husband really was like the VRH, which is the versatility ranch horse. He was like, you guys are gonna rock it. That's what this horse will be really talented at. So I tried that last year. And while it was very fun, I had never done cattle events before. So there's six classes in the VRH. You have to do the ranch cutting, ranch reining, ranch cow work. Crysta Brown: You are my spirit animal because I also want to do all the things. Mm-hmm. Kirstie Jones: Ranch trail, ranch riding and halter or ranch confirmation, whatever. ⁓ So I tried to learn the cows and it was so hard. I gave it a full year. I did my best and now I'm retired from cow events. Cause my God, there's, there's, it's a whole other ball game. will, I will say unequivocally, NRCHA shows and people, the absolute most fun I've ever been around. They are, Crysta Brown: Yeah. It's a whole other ball game. Kirstie Jones: extremely kind, extremely welcoming. Everybody's rooting for everybody. There is a camaraderie because it's the cowboy versus the cow and everybody wants the cowboy. We have a common enemy. We aren't competing against each other. The cow is the great equalizer. We aren't competing against each other. It's us versus cow and everybody wants the cow to lose. So we have a common enemy. So I just, had never, I mean, and I'm talking from hunter jumper shows to Crysta Brown: Yes. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Kirstie Jones: paint shows, quarter horse shows, everything that I personally had been an exhibitor in, I had never felt so much joy, fun, camaraderie, never met a stranger in this warm up pen, everybody wanted to know my life story there, I had never felt that welcomed into an association quite like the cow horse people. If you're burnt out on horse showing, go try going to the cow horse show, okay? Crysta Brown: Okay. We all need to go. Oh God, Scott's going to listen back to this and this is going to restart his hyper fixation. Kirstie Jones: If you're tired of politics... ⁓ no, sorry. I retired it. I gave it one year and I was like, I'm going to try, but I retired because let me tell you, cattle fees are so expensive for the cow to just kick my butt. Holy cow. Those cows, I can't get none of them to do what I want them to do and they are so mean. And I was like, cows ain't for me. I ain't no cowgirl. Okay. ⁓ Crysta Brown: Yeah. Yes. Say more of that. Mm. Yeah. No, I feel you. Feel no shame. I loped for a cutter when I was like, I don't know, 16 or whatever. I was just like, sitting on a horse was just so exciting. I was happy to do it. And it turned into some opportunities to like ride an actual cutting horse, like, you know, and go to a couple shows and like, I got my booty handed to me. And I like to think now I would be more capable of being aggressive enough. Kirstie Jones: Yes. Yes! Literally. Crysta Brown: But it's a very different mindset when you're kind of that pleasure all around mode where it's like, feel everything, I control everything, it's all right there underneath me. When you're watching that cow and you need to get out up in front of its head to get it to move, like. Kirstie Jones: ⁓ No, there's no plan. And that's the thing, coming from all around, we have plan A, B, C, and D. We went through it with our trainer at this cone, at this marker. Here's what we do. If our horse flips us a bird, here's what we're gonna do there. You know what I mean? Like we have a plan to execute and there's a plan B and C if it doesn't execute the first way, you know? You let a cow in the arena? Girl, there ain't no plan. There is no, stay in the saddle. Crysta Brown: Yes. ⁓ Right. Right. No. Just... Yeah. Kirstie Jones: Like, that's the plan. You can't know cat they're kicking out. You don't know if it's soft, if it's, you know, a pup, if it's... Anyway, so... Crysta Brown: Right, right. Like stay with it. Do your absolute best. the craziest part to me, but yes, and I feel like too, it's like, it's hard enough already, the fact that we like team up with an animal. Like my horse is like such a variable all in themselves, and the fact that we add more animals to the equation, there's just a lot that can happen. Kirstie Jones: Yeah. ⁓ girl, and the team roping, because now you've got two people, two horses, and the darn cow with a mind of its own. There's so many brains in one event in five seconds. Well, which is why it attracts a certain person. I'm telling you, back to the camaraderie and ⁓ how much fun those people are to be around, is they just, they genuinely understand someday it's your day and the other day it's not your day. Crysta Brown: I just... I think the control freak in me couldn't handle that. I don't know. Yeah. Kirstie Jones: And no matter what, they're all going to go get margaritas afterwards. And so there's just this like, lausé fare. Like we're all here to have fun. We're just here to chase a cow. Some days we do it well, some days we don't do it well. And it's just like, like I said, this great equalizer where it's not the best horse that wins every day. Like in some other events, maybe you know the winner before the class happened. ⁓ In this event, you don't know the winner before the class happens. It might be you, it might not be you. You might be the bottom. Crysta Brown: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. There's so many variables. really can, yeah. Yeah. No, I think that's interesting. you know, it's cool that you get to experience so many different environments, so many different barns and like, I don't know, is there anything that you've seen in maybe some other industries that you would like to see like come into the all around world more? Like even if it's just the how people are treating each other or I don't know, like, is there anything that like we should hear and know? Kirstie Jones: I would say if you get the opportunity even as a spectator to go to NRCHA or any type of cow horse event, spectate because what they have right is it's not that serious. It's not that serious. And I think we need to carry that over in some of the other disciplines that are really uptight. It's like, yes, we're spending a lot of money and yes, we're all very competitive and yes, we want to see progress and we want to see success and we want to win. But like it's a hobby. It's not that serious, you know. It's supposed to be fun. And more than that, hopefully you started this because you love your horse. Hopefully we're all in this for the love of the horse. Crysta Brown: No, literally have a hat. It's not that serious. Kirstie Jones: If you're on a horse you love, you won. I don't care if it bucked you off in that arena. I don't care if it spooked at the cone that it's seen 40 times. You love it, you're there, you're in the arena, that's a win. A win is a win. Crysta Brown: You got to spend a whole day with your horse, like all about them. that is, that's the point. That is the point. Kirstie Jones: I mean, you know, so go ice their back and put some liniment on their legs and love on them and let them hand graze and just enjoy being in their presence. Because A, you don't know how many rides you get. You really don't know how many rides you get. You don't know how many days you have with them. So if you got a good horse and you love that horse, enjoy it. Like it's, it's not that serious. Like have fun. Take the picture, laugh, have fun. And then it's all about the people around you. So absolutely. Crysta Brown: Yeah. Kirstie Jones: Have fun with them too, go out to dinner. You know? Have a game night. Crysta Brown: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I love that. It is so much. We talk all the time on this podcast about how it's like, yes, like we all want to get better and develop as horsemen. But like, I cannot say enough times that like, that's not ultimately why we do this though. Like I don't, it might motivate me to try to become a better horseman to know that I want another NSBA trophy or whatever the thing is that year for me. But at the same time, like when I go to the horse show, Kirstie Jones: Absolutely. Crysta Brown: really what I'm there for is to be around the community and my friends and spend all this time with these cool horses and just like enjoy the privilege of it all. And I think when we start to get burnt out on the industry, I think it's because we forget that piece. We get too focused on these. Kirstie Jones: Yes. And it's easy too, because you have a lot of competitive people in a small area. And when you have that many competitive people, especially when there's prize money or something to be won, ⁓ it can be very easy to forget the beginnings, to forget why you fell in love with it, to know why you're there. Crysta Brown: Yeah. So, going back to your current horse. So you gave up on cattle events. So now what? Kirstie Jones: Yeah. yeah. So he's still team roping with my husband ⁓ every now and then. So he's still got to be a rope horse. ⁓ Crysta Brown: Okay. Kirstie Jones: I this year, ⁓ and doing a few ranch shows and events, I'm want to be back into jumping. put that on pause when I tried to really get into the cows last year. So I'm headed back to the jumping. I really want to barrel race him too. So I'm trying to put the pattern on him, ⁓ because that's another area of the industry that I've never explored. I've never hauled to a jackpot. I've never been around all the barrel beddies, ⁓ and whatnot. So I want to see it. I want to dip my toe in it. I want to experience it. Crysta Brown: Right. Stop. Kirstie Jones: I'm gonna have the slowest time and a smile on my face. So it's, I'm just ready to go fast. And so my husband's like, what are you doing? And I'm like having fun. I'm having fun. Okay. Crysta Brown: I girl as the honor roll champion and a PHA barrels, steak race and pull bending. Let me tell you, do it. It's so fun. I just think it's fun to do novel things with our horses sometimes, especially, and I'm not talking about like the three year old green bean guys, like just, just no. But when you have that like really broke good-minded creature, it's like. Kirstie Jones: ⁓ Absolutely. Yes. Crysta Brown: Just enjoy them. Like, it's not gonna hurt him to extend a lope and go do something different and keep his life interesting. Kirstie Jones: Absolutely. Nope. And you know what? At the end of the day, what's crazy is I go to so many different horse trainers, right? At the end of the day, you are capturing their face, lifting their rib cage, making sure they take a big step behind. It's all the same. Like when I go to a barrel racing trainer, everything has been don't let his shoulder drop, drive him from behind, engage his core. Guess what? That's the same thing the ranch trainer tells you. Crysta Brown: Yeah. ⁓ You're like, I know all those things, yeah. Kirstie Jones: That's the same thing the trail person tells me. That's the same thing that dressage rider, you know, whether I was working on his lead change or a trail pattern or the reining, they all tell you the same thing. Like at the end of the day, it literally is all the same goal, which is why when you have a broke horse, you can do more events. And that's one thing that I don't know if people realize it's also like very healthy for them mentally. Crysta Brown: Yeah. Kirstie Jones: to do different things. Like as soon as they understand body control, which again, with the green bean, stay on task for a while. But once you've got body control, you can apply that to virtually anything because the mechanics of it are so similar. Those horse trainers are telling you the same things. ⁓ And your horse, think, is more versatile than maybe you even realize if that's something you want to do. If it's not something you want to do, Crysta Brown: Yes. Yeah. Mm-hmm. bright. Kirstie Jones: Be super happy in the event that you're super happy in. Yes and amen. But I think maybe some people don't realize if they bought an XYZ horse, if they bought a reigning horse, they think their horse can only be a reiner. Well, no, we're seeing extreme success in the ranch stuff, but I would also venture to guess it would trot over a crossrail for you and do other things too. Crysta Brown: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Well, and I feel like just to be clear, it's not like we're talking about how you're gonna go to the Olympics and the show jumping, right? But for you to be able to, right. But it's like, yes, it takes a very specialized horse to be in that top tier of the industry. But I do think a lot of horses and riders are capable of kind of like, Kirstie Jones: Yeah, no doubt, no doubt, no doubt. This is low level stuff, people, low level stuff. The highest bracket, absolutely. Absolutely. Crysta Brown: dabbling in some of these new pens at appropriate levels. Yes, that's what I was gonna say. Yeah. Kirstie Jones: And even if you just call it cross training, just call it, you know what I mean? Just their body condition for, know, whatever it might be, just cross training. Just try something different, try something new. It'll help their body, it'll help their mind. And if you hate it, don't do it again. And if they hate it, don't do it again. Crysta Brown: Look. Can I just say too, like for me, I wish more all around riders, especially the ones with the dreams of the ECH and the horsemanship would cross over and go spend some time with dressage trainers because the time that I spent with a classic, a classical dressage trainer genuinely changed my life as like a young horse woman. It took me from sitting on a horse and looking pretty to influencing my horse and being able to make things better. Kirstie Jones: Yes. Yes. Absolutely. And if you don't want to take your horse, lesson on their horses. Find a hunter jumper trainer or dressage trainer who will let you lesson on their warm blood. You know, if you don't want to haul your own pleasure horse to go do that, go learn it yourself and apply what you like. You don't have to take all of it, you know, out with the bad, but take what you like. Take what you think you can apply. ⁓ Just be a better horseman in general. Crysta Brown: Yeah. Yeah. So have you always kind of kept yourself like working with different trainers or was there a point where you were like, I want to add more to my, I don't know, book of skills or this horse's book of skills. Like how did that come to be? Kirstie Jones: Yeah, so when I was a youth, I very much rode with one trainer at a time, right? So I really wanted to jump. So all through middle school, I did hunter jumpers. When it came time for a step up horse, I could not afford it. That industry is significant. when I, you know, I had a pony that I took through all the pony stuff. ⁓ and when it was time to step up, I got priced out of that industry. That's when I bought a paint horse and I went to the all around and Crysta Brown: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Kirstie Jones: You know, I, and so all four years of high school, was, it was same horse, same trainer, you know, and, and we did many events, the horsemanship, the ECH, the, you know, what, what, what have you in the all around, but you know, I was very siloed in that. So what, even though my background was diverse, it wasn't necessarily simultaneous like it is right now. Now in my adult money, adult fun stage, everything is simultaneous because I'm just really trying to enjoy the horse I have. Crysta Brown: Right. you Kirstie Jones: again, I don't know how many rides I get. don't know how much time I have and he's probably the best horse I'm ever going to own. So I'm just like fully having fun. Whatever I want to do. I feel like I'm getting a lot of judgment from a lot of people. Why would you do that? You're terrible at it. And it's like, you know, I'll be last place with a smile on my face. Crysta Brown: No, ⁓ my gosh, not from us. for the joy. No, I like am so like, yes, do it because I don't know if you're just like cut from the Scott and I cloth or something, but like I just have found so much joy in like doing different things with my horses. And also just like you're saying, the function of a correct horse is the same no matter what discipline you're playing in. They might go about it a different way. We may ask for a little bit more forward, neck here, neck here. Yeah, there's some things like that. Kirstie Jones: Yes. Yes. The Q might be different. Yeah. Yeah. Crysta Brown: But it is still the same. Everybody wants lifted shoulders, engaged abs, hind and engaged and tucked in. That is a cross discipline. Right. Kirstie Jones: Yes. The neckline might be a little different, but honestly, the mechanics are very similar, whether you're on a cow or in a raining pen or over a fence or around a barrel or whatever it might be. Yes. Crysta Brown: But I remember we took ⁓ my sweet gray mare that we had. She was just a general riding courthorse that we found here in Ireland. We ended up getting to do, ⁓ kind of found she really loved the trail, the all around trail. So that's kind of the route I went with her. But at one point, they do adult pony camp here, which I do think should be a thing in the States, which is really fun. Kirstie Jones: There's one not far from me this summer. They're calling it adult summer camp. And yeah, yeah, yeah. I just saw a flyer the other day. So someone is trying to revive it. Crysta Brown: Stop it. I love that. We all need to go. Yes. we, so they have like adult camp and everybody goes and you like, you know, do a series of lessons and there's some talks and things like that. But they were like, do you want to put your horse over fences? And I was like, you know what? Sure. And you know, they were like people very sweetly were like, ⁓ my gosh, like, do you jump? Does she jump? I was like, well, like. Do I jump? Sure, I can. But also, she has a lot of trust in me. We have a good partnership. Like, I'm really not asking for anything that different. It's just making sure she's confident over this obstacle. But these are all the same things. My contact means the same thing. My foot means the same thing. So no, I think what you're doing is so cool. And I think you're going to be like, you're already a strong horseman, but like you will be a stronger horseman. from the diversity that you're putting yourself through. So I wish more people, even if it's the same discipline, I honestly wish in the all around community we were more comfortable with kind of learning from different individuals and like doing clinics and things more often because I've seen this within my own clients. Like there's sometimes I have been saying the same thing over and over and over, but. clinician comes over and they say it in that little different way. They have a different way of approaching that same subject and it clicks for that person and that's a win for me. That is a win for all of us. I am so happy when I see that happen. Kirstie Jones: Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely, without a doubt. Crysta Brown: ⁓ okay, so you guys are focusing on the ranch. Did I see the other day that you did bridless ranch riding? Tell me about that. Tell me about that. Kirstie Jones: I did. ⁓ Okay, well, I had just had baby. that horse, I showed him at the World Show in November, I was seven months pregnant and he's pretty much been off since then. My husband grabbed him a couple times to rope on him, but he's just been on. Yeah, yeah. Not recommended. I had a hard time. Crysta Brown: You showed seven months pregnant? How was that? Okay. Yeah, I bet. Kirstie Jones: I have no regrets, but it was challenging and also tons of fun. It was great. So my horse has just kind of been on a really big vacation. They advertised this horse show and it's a AQHA show, but they were having like a fun event with money added and I... Crysta Brown: Okay. Yeah. Kirstie Jones: was instantly when they advertised a bridleless ranch riding. was like, yes, I ride my horse bridleless Like he's even roped bridleless. He's broke. He's broke. ⁓ So I was like, yes, I'll enter. And then the show time came up and I didn't ride him like the whole entire week before. I really was gonna scratch. was just like feeling very overwhelmed and ⁓ not very confident. And ⁓ husband, like most things, I... Crysta Brown: Entered. Wow. Yeah. Kirstie Jones: I rely on him for everything. He was like, trust your horse. You can do this. And he like shoved me in the pen, which is pretty much how the entire world show went to. I wasn't practicing at all. The trainer would warm up my horse for me. I literally would just step on the highest mounting block I could find and go out and ride in the pattern. And so he shoved me, you know, I'm trying to scratch all my classes there. He shoved me in the pen. He's like, trust your horse, trust yourself. You guys will be great. Crysta Brown: Aww. Because what could you do? Yeah. Oh my gosh. you Kirstie Jones: So the same thing happened in this class and yeah, he shoved me in that pen and my horse was absolutely perfect, especially considering the circumstances and it was a lot of fun, a lot of fun. Crysta Brown: ⁓ my gosh. I am so grateful that you have taken the time to come on and chat with us. And I I've loved kind of seeing your journey even just kind of from afar on the social medias, but I've loved watching it grow and watching your business grow. And now I'm absolutely, I cannot wait to see what happens in your own horsey career and we will be rooting for you. So if people... want to hear more from you and they're like, ooh, I need to book photos with you right now. Where can I find you? Kirstie Jones: Yeah, my website is kirstiemarie.com and there's contact form there you can fill out. That's probably the best way or on any of the social medias. Kirstie Marie photography on Facebook or at kirstie with three E's K I R S T I E E. Crysta Brown: ⁓ okay. I love that. No, genuinely thank you again for coming on. And guys, we're going to leave you and just remember that you can't be all of the good that the horse show world needs, but the horse show world needs all the good that you can do. Until next time.