Elevate: Meet Ashleigh Kendall

Welcome to Elevate, our new spotlight series to honor, lift up, and highlight riders just like you from all disciplines and walks of life. If you’re like us, supporting and growing our equestrian community is an important mission, and a mission we are proud to hold at the heart of Sterling Essentials.

This month, we’d love you to meet Ashleigh Kendall, a dressage, mental skills, and performance coach from Cambridge, New Zealand with a barn full of horses and love.

SE: Have you always been a horse girl? When did you start riding, who introduced you, how did you get started?

AK: Yes! My mum first took me for riding lessons when I was very young, but I didn’t get my own pony or start riding properly until I was about seven or so. My mum had ponies when she was a kid and has some very horsey people in her family, so it was natural my sister and I would end up riding, too. We have been so lucky to have a rural upbringing surrounded by horses and animals.

SE: What is your favorite or current discipline and what do you love about it? Has it always been your discipline or have you explored others, as well?

AK: Dressage for sure; I love the discipline of it and how you can produce the horses to be stronger mentally and physically. It takes so many years to get them through the levels, and I love how intimately we know our horses just from the training we do every day. I love how good dressage horses are like rockets and spicy to ride, too; people often mistakenly thing that dressage is chill, but good dressage horses have to be a little nuts! When I was a kid I did a bit of everything and I loved jumping on my ponies.

SE: Hahaha, I love that - they have to be a little nuts. LOL! So who are the horses in your life, and when did you begin working with each of them?

AK: I have six horses -

Giovanni MH (Gio), he is a 12 year old hanoverian gelding by the stallion Gymnastic Star out of a De Niro mare. He is extremely quirky! I have had him eight years this year and have taken him from being a green five year old, through to competing both of our first Prix st George! He is currently with my friend who is going to compete him.

PSL Jahzara (Ruby) is a six year old warmblood with all the dutch breeding you could wish for with Jazz, Krack C and Flemmingh. I have known her since she was a day old but I didn’t get her until she was two years old. I broke her in myself and now she is beginning to learn the half passes and harder work. She is an absolute queen, very fun and is huge, so we have taken her slowly although I think she is still doing great for her age!

PSL Jetstream (Jet) is five years old and shares Ruby’s sire, and he is out of my other mare PSL Pepper Potts, by Prestige VDL. I got Jet unbroken when he was rising four. He will begin competing very soon! He is very sharp and fun to ride.

AEA Gemmingha (Gemma) is 23 years old by Flemmingh and is the mum of Ruby, so she is very special! She was imported from Australia, and she has had 11 foals with some of them still being young and the older ones include international level Grand Prix level horses! I have known her for years, but only purchased her two years ago when I found her online advertised as a schoolmaster in very bad condition. A friend thankfully helped me buy her and she has been here loving her life ever since.

PSL Pepper Potts (Pepper) is 12 years old and by Prestige VDL; she is Jet and Flora’s dam. She has also had six other foals, one who I bred last year and is now in an amazing home. She is the sweetest mare and has such beautiful babies.

Belleflore K (Flora) is Pepper’s foal who was born on the 28th December 2020. She is by the Bellissimo M son, Bellario, and is just the most perfect foal I could have hoped for!

SE: Wow, that’s a full barn! What are their personalities? Do they have any fun habits, quirks, likes/dislikes?

AK: Gio is extremely quirky and weird; he has to accept you and know that you respect him before he will do anything for you, but he is a really nice guy and he does try hard. He would fight a lion for you.

Ruby walks around like she owns the place and has done since she was born! Her and I get on so well; it’s always felt like we have just clicked. She has a huge heart, and I think she will go far.

Jet had the heart of a mouse when he arrived, but he is getting braver and more willing to try all the time. I think he has a massive future ahead of him.

Pepper and Gemma are both very sweet and loving, always giving kisses! It is easy to tell Gemma is Ruby’s mum because they both have this huge presence about them. Flora is still so young, but she seems like a real old soul and is just so lovely.

SE: What are their favorite treats?

AK: They all love Oddfellows which are mints! I normally buy them the spearmint flavour and they go crazy for them!

SE: Ok, so baby Flora stole our heart! What is her story? Favorite baby quirk? What are your plans and dreams for her? Will you be breeding more horses?

AK: She is just so adorable and sweet! She is very cool and everything I had hoped she would be! I feel so lucky to have been there when she was born, and I feel like we have a great bond already, but in saying that she is very friendly to everyone too and is confident without being cocky, which is nice. My plans are to break her in, then put her in foal, and then begin her riding career after that. Hopefully, I will take her through the levels.

I am breeding another foal from Pepper this year to Total Hope (Totilas x Weihegold). Total Hope has two champions at the top of the sport in his parents, so I very much hope that some of that will rub off on the foal, and hopefully it is a filly too! I love mares! I also would love to breed Ruby via embryo transfer in the not too distant future, too.

SE: Beyond your amazing breeding program, are you working on any particular goals or skills at the moment?

AK: I think good riders and horsewomen/men are always working on improving themselves, so I am always going to lessons and working hard at home to get better. My goals are to finish this season on Ruby at Horse of the Year in March, then train hard over winter and go up some levels, as well as to get Jet out competing and then have them both competing at the Premier League/ National level shows next season! Long term, I would love to produce them both to compete overseas.

SE: What is one of your most favorite riding or competition moments? What was memorable?

AK: Competing Gio in our first Prix St. George was very special. I will always cherish that day, as well as being able to ride him in the big arena at Horse of the Year for both of our first times. I didn’t appreciate how amazing that was at the time, but I really love reflecting on it now. We had a lot of firsts together, and my journey is largely his so I think that is always going to be something I really treasure. Winning my first national and Horse of the Year ribbons on Ruby was super cool, too, especially because I had started her myself and they were her first shows and were massive for a young horse. Other than that, I have a collection of every day training moments with the horses that I really love and hold closely to get through the hard days.

SE: You also have a beautiful coaching business. What is your business all about?

AK: Thank you! I have a business called Empowered Mind, and I am a mental skills coach so I help anyone who needs guidance through strengthening their mindset in any area of their lives! I work with a lot of riders through my business, Dreamtime Dressage, combining the two. My other clients include people seeking mental health coaching for depression, anxiety, etc. as well as those just wanting to remove limitations from enjoying their lives. I have clients come and visit me in my office and also meet with many all over New Zealand and further afield over Zoom.

I began by posting about mental health and performance on my page on social media and then it just grew from there. I went back to uni to get qualifications in psychology and since then it has really grown! As well as one on one sessions, I also have a rider specific Supercharge Your Mindset course which involves one on one sessions in person or via zoom, downloadable resources and a friendly small group on Facebook for members to support each other. It is so much more than a generic course, and I am available for participants to chat between sessions too so they get added benefit of extra support!

People can see more at my website www.empoweredmind.co.nz and get in touch with me there or by following my social media accounts @empoweredmindmentalskills or @dreamtimedressage on Facebook!

SE: As a busy adult, those days are full, but what do you do when not riding or working?

AK: I love going on trips with my husband and spending time with my family!

SE: What is your favorite off-property place in New Zealand to ride?

AK: There are so many amazing places in New Zealand to ride, we are really lucky. I grew up always near a beach and now I live in a land locked region, so the beach will always be my favourite! But there is a place locally to me that is an amazing farm which is perfect for galloping up the hills!

SE: What are the top three things on your bucket list – riding or otherwise?

AK: That is a tough one because I don’t have a bucket list as such! But I would love to train a horse to international level Grand Prix and compete overseas, travel off the beaten track more and go on some epic adventures!

SE: What is your favorite Sterling Essentials fragrance?

AK: I can’t get enough of citrus! I am always smelling it because it is just so refreshing!

Thank you for having me, I love your products and everything you do at Sterling Essentials- one of my favourite brands!

Thank you to Ashleigh for letting us chat with her amidst her busy day! Hands down, I am in love with Flora and wish I lived closer so I could visit that cutie patootie every day. We wish Ashleigh great abundance and fulfillment with her coaching and riding journeys and invite you to keep up to date with her and her coaching words of wisdom on Instagram at @dreamtimedressage and @empoweredmindmentalskills.