NAWD Professional Teri Smith

I started riding when I was 4.  By the time I was 10, I had my first horse. It was an un-broke 2 year old. Luckily she had a very sweet disposition and I developed a pretty good relationship with her from the beginning. She just came right along and we rode right on out on the trails. I wish they could all be that easy. My mom gave me some guidance when I needed it and I was definitely lucky. Working with problem horses and starting young horses became a specialty for me in later years.

My Uncle had a ranch in Texas and I would spend as much time as I could down there. His family rodeoed and I was sure that was where I belonged. I got a nice ranch horse from them to take to Kansas City and found by accident that he could really jump! He liked to jump out of the pasture and go eat in the neighbors corn patch so I built some jumps and began learning a new riding style.

When I was 12 I started trying to show at local hunter/jumper shows. I began with lessons at Allendale. The instructors there were amazing and the riding school would bring in guest instructors from all around the USA, England and even Austria. I got a great start in dressage and valuable instruction jumping.

At the age of 14, I started riding horses for other people. The riding school would put me on all of the new horses so my experience grew tremendously. There is no substitute for riding lots and lots of horses. There is also no substitute for great instructors. When I went to Texas Tech at age 17  I majored in Park Administration, Agriculture and COWBOYS!!! This is also where I worked at learning some team roping. Although I didn’t become very proficient at roping I did have great experiences at team penning.

Some of my favorite highlights are:

  • 2003 Mounted Police Basic Training course.  I also worked with horses and officers to help develop the KC Mounted Patrol.
  • 2004 Competed in the Mounted Police Colloquium, Lexington KY
  • Obstacles, Crowd control, Equitation, Formations and Tactical
  • 2005 Mounted Police Instructors certification, Southern Police Institute, Louisville, KY
  • 2007 Royal Canadian Mounted Police 2 week training, Ottawa, Canada
  • Dressage and Musical Ride

I am a student of Tom Dorrance/Ray Hunt training offered by the Legacy instructors. I have attended and hosted clinics for the past 18 years.

I have judged Hunter/Jumper shows and local Saddle club shows around Kansas City,  I hold current Judges cards in ETS, EXCA, UHCA, AHCA  and am working on certification in Western Dressage, Working Equitation and Ranch Horse competition.

Kitty Hawk Ranch
122nd & Prospect Ave
Kansas City, Missouri

Phone:   (816) 942-7219
E-mail: kittyhawkranch@yahoo.com