About Licensed Parelli Professional™ and 3 Star Instructor Kristi Smith
Kristi has spent her whole life with horses. Growing up in Iowa she and her family were recreational riders. She has spent lots of time camping and trail riding all over the country.
Kristi was first introduced to Parelli Natural Horsemanship™ in 1996 in a training class she took while enrolled in a Horse Science program at a community college. Her goals were to be a horse trainer who specialized in starting colts. The original Level 1 program was presented to her as a skeleton for colt starting and so she attempted to do this for several years. However, it didn’t take long for her dream to turn into her nightmare. And so her professional goals were put on hold for a few years.
Then, in 2004 she was chosen to do a lesson with Linda Parelli at a tour stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She and her levels horse Maxi were the example of “My horse won’t go.” During that 2 hour lesson Kristi Smith learned more about herself and her horsemanship than she had in the previous 10 years. It was then that she knew that she could be a professional in the horse industry, stick to her principles, and have fun doing it. Parelli™ was the way to get there.
She enrolled in the 10 week Parelli™ school program in January 2005 where she was instructed by Licensed Parelli Proessionals Helen Topp and Carol Coppinger. She took another 10 week school in the summer of 2005. She then went into the 10 week Parelli™ University program the same summer with Licensed Parelli Professional Kaffa Martignier.
She completed the 6 week Parelli™ course cycle offered in 2006. Kristi Smith then went on to go on tour with Pat and Linda Parelli for 6 months in 2006. And, most recently has been committed to the Parelli™ Faculty team since January of 2007. During her time on faculty she has participated in 3 colt starting courses with Licensed Parelli Professional™ Rob McAuliffe, taken lessons with Walter Zettl as well as had private instruction from both Linda Parelli and Pat Parelli.
Kristi Smith is very excited to start her career as a Licensed Parelli Professional™ 3-Star field instructor based in Iowa. She hopes to have opportunities to travel the world sharing her passion and experiences with those who love this program and their horses as much as she does.
