By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
"Women control a horse without using brute force because
physically they're incapable of that," says Kim Kulesa.
Trainer Kim Kulesa knows
By Tim Ryan
what it takes to tame a horse
Star-BulletinWHERE there are horses, there are usually women. Go by any large horse corral and the chances are that the majority of those in the saddle are females. Visit a stable and most of those you'll see grooming, washing or giving first aid to horses will be women, too.
In a 1994 study of participants in equestrian organizations and competitions, most were women.
"The bottom line for most women involved with horses is you're controlling an animal that weighs at least 1,200 pounds," says Kim Kulesa, who is a horse and riding trainer at Hilltop Ranch in Waimanalo. "Most women are used to being controlled, so for a woman to be able to handle something this large it's a real release."
And they do it better, too.
"Women control a horse without using brute force because physically they're incapable of that. We have a softer touch, a softer voice and a more patient temperament which this huge animal responds to. For men it always comes down to macho, so they have a far tougher time with horses," Kulesa explains.
That's a lot of horse sense for someone just 21. But Kulesa, who has been riding since she was six and teaching since 15, is a special kind of trainer with a special kind of talent.
At 18 she was asked to join the Lipizzaner Stallions traveling show to tour the United States and Europe. She was the youngest and only woman rider/trainer along with five other men, German and Austrian.
The Lipizzaner Stallions are the aristocrat, the royalty and the nimble dancers of the equestrian world. Their distant ancestors bore Genghis Khan out of the wastelands of Asia to conquer much of the then-known world. The fleet Arabic strain in the Lipizzaner line patrolled, guarded and raided treasure-laden caravans in the sands of the Sahara.
"I got a lot of Lipizzaners that had been trained rough and could not be ridden very long or well," Kulesa said. "Having a woman's touch really helped me to bring these horses around for dressage training."
By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Kim Kulesa with Dani, a 6-year-old Andulusian
at Hilltop Ranch in Waimanalo.
Dressage? The word comes from the French verb "dresser," which means "to train" in English. It is one of the three Olympic equestrian disciplines that includes a program of balancing and obedience work that prepares a horse for future pleasure-riding or competition, Western or English.In dressage training, the natural movements a horse can make on his own, free in the pasture, are repeated as exercises. These range from simple patterns and circles at the walk, trot and canter to more extreme movements.
The idea is to gradually enable the horse to carry more of his own and his rider's weight more over his hindquarters than over his forehand. This mobilizing and strengthening of the hindquarters results in lightening of the forehand and a horse that is much easier to steer and to stop.
It's a matter of physics, Kulesa said. The horse's immense strength becomes more available to him as he uses himself more efficiently. Because of the obedience required in the exercises, this strength is also instantly available to the rider.
"Simply put," Kulesa says, "dressage is the basis of being able to control your horse at every degree, to have your horse at any position or place when you want, to have one part of the horse here and the other part there and every portion working in complete harmony."
As for teaching a horse dressage, Kulesa said it's like taking an average person and making them into an Olympic athlete -- It takes time, effort and money.
Transforming the average horse to dressage levels and takes years and should take place daily, said Kulesa who has about 20 students, all women. Even then sometimes rider or horse or both fail to make the grade.
"Some riders are good and some aren't," she said. "If you don't have a good feel for horses it doesn't matter how hard you work, it's something that won't happen for you. It's so much about natural talent."
The first word out of Kulesa's infant mouth was "hoss." Her parents couldn't afford full-time riding lessons for their daughter so they gave them to her as birthday and Christmas presents. Eventually Kulesa started working at local stables to pay for riding lessons.
She left Kailua Intermediate in the eighth grade to be home schooled so she could work and train with horses during the day.
"I did my school work from 5 to 7:30 a.m. then went to the stables to work for like 10 hours then I would come home do more school work until 10 p.m."
Her hard work with horses apparently is mirrored in her studies; at age 16 she received her high school diploma, a year earlier than her contemporaries.
After six months with the Lipizzaner show and while performing in Mexico, Kulesa decided to call it quits and return to Hawaii to re-establish herself as a teacher.
"I had never intended to stay as long as I did anyway," she said. "It's great to experience the 'airs above the ground' (an equestrian phrase meaning rearing, jumping, hopping) but I was tired of 20 hours days."
Despite her vast equestrian experience and solid reputation in Hawaii among knowledgeable horse people, Kulesa's age still works against her.
"Most of the time I don't tell people my age. I guess it will haunt me until I'm 30. I should probably dye my hair gray."
But she has taken the time to find a boyfriend who "likes horses but isn't into them."
"Other guys I've dated didn't understand the horse thing and never adjusted to being second place. My boyfriend was a friend first and sort of took the time to understand."
One thing remains constant, Kulesa said.
"Horses are a lot easier to control than any man I've met."
