Meet Kasey Bugayong | Horse Trainer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kasey Bugayong and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kasey, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My thought process behind starting Rockin’ K Horse Training was more of a dream and an idea my younger self. I had always wanted to have my own business, be my own boss, and help horses. I really started thinking about making training horses a profession of mine when I started helping a family friend in the summer of 2015. I helped her with starting her new born foals, to the first saddling of her 3 year olds, to working on her finished barrel horses. It helped me to see what I was capable of and how well I could hold my own doing something like that. Horses have been with since I can remember and I have always loved them and the idea of working with them so I finally made it my business profession in the fall of 2018 after graduating college and get married.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Rockin’ K Horse Training did not just spring out of the ground and become something in a day or two, I have been working on this business and bringing to its full potential for quite a few years now. I started learning how to train horses, work horses and understand them from a very young age. I helped my parents with the raising and training of personal horses to help work on outside horses every now and then. I also learned a lot about horses from close family friends and fellow competitors at barrel races, horse shows even at the local sale barn I learned a lot. When I went to college on a rodeo scholarship I learned even more, from the classroom to the the arena and from close friends I acquired over the couple of years I was there. Then I learned even more from my husband after we got married.

So one of the things that I have to really say I most proud of, is the fact that my business is always willing to learn and expand it boundaries to learn something new every day. Whether I use the knowledge I find I am always willing to know more.

Rockin’ K Horse Training will eventually expand to be more knowledgeable in being able to take care of the horses needs more in depth (for example: floating teeth, message therapy, chiropractor, and possibly acupuncture for horses). This is just a taste of what I hope to bring to the horse industry world.

Getting where I am today is very small to most of the big name horse trainers in today’s world but I do hope I can make a big difference in what I plan to do over the course of my life time. Was getting where I currently am today easy? No. My family has definitely had challenges but I will have to say that listening to my Lord and Savior to the best of my ability has definitely saved us from completely failing. I have learned that you it is easier to accept what has happened and to let go of what has not happened yet. No one can control every aspect of life and life does not get easier when you hold onto things.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Springerville, AZ is not a very big town, but for a town of about 1,700 people there is almost always something going on. The best time to visit is in the summer because there are a lot of things to do. On July 4th, there is a huge hometown rodeo that is put on. All businesses promote it and some even have discounts just for the weekend because of the rodeo. There is not one restaurant that is bad, but I would have to say my personal favorite would have to be Goob’s pizza, they are a hometown family owned pizzeria and it is always amazing. The Apache National forest is beautiful there are camping spots everywhere and plenty of fishing. I have even considered starting a Dude Ranch type adventure for families that would like to come visit during the summer.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family is definitely the reason I have got as far as I have in the line of work. My husband especially has been the main one behind at all times, there many times when we do not agree on things but that does happen in life. He has always been there to help me see the reality when I have been just looking at just the hopeful things. He has been there to help me make hard decisions and life changing decisions. In the horse training industry there are lot of people who can do better than me and other people who know more than me, but what most people in this industry do not remember sometimes is that family comes before anything else and mine definitely does.

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