Kristen Kovatch Bentley hails from Jamestown, New York where she’s set up a little “racehorse ranch” on the family farm and cattle operation. She grew up in southeastern Pennsylvania at a local lesson barn and first dabbled in western riding after lawn-darting too many times over fences as a junior.
When a high school guidance counselor told young Kristen that “you can’t make a living with horses,” she set out to prove him wrong in as many creative ways as possible — first by working summers at a guest ranch in Wyoming starting homebred Arabians, leading guest rides and herding cattle in between college semesters at Alfred University in New York where she majored in English and captained the western equestrian team, and later by staying on at Alfred to teach and coach professionally.
After realizing that the professional teaching and training life wasn’t for her, Kristen transitioned to life as a “horseback writer” — she served as the managing editor at Horse Nation and rode her husband’s family collection of oddball horses before deciding in 2017 that it was time to step back into the competitive world in a big way. She acquired her first OTTB Jobber Bill and prepped him for the Retired Racehorse Project’s 2018 Thoroughbred Makeover, finishing seventh place in Ranch Work (and demonstrating how livestock keeps you humble by chasing a cow around the arena in the Freestyle). The RRP seemed to like Kristen as much as she liked her experience at the Makeover, and she was hired on as the Communications Manager shortly after.
Since the Makeover, Kristen and Jobber have established themselves as a real force in the ranch horse show pen, bringing home two Open buckles and beating out some very nice Quarter horses! In addition to Jobber Bill, Kristen also owns OTTB Regal Justice, who is currently serving as her husband’s working ranch mount, and her latest adventure, off-track Standardbred and kill pen rescue Western Flash.