JOEL KIESNER • ASHTON KIESNER • WYATT BUDD
ARABIAN ENGLISH PLEASURE JR. HORSE WITH JOEL KIESNER AAOTR MATURITY WITH DR. JOE KINNARNEY
Afires
Joe Kinnarney
ARABIAN COUNTRY ENGLISH PLEASURE JR. HORSE WITH JOEL KIESNER
Saxton DGL x SA Adriana Proudly owned by Dr. Joe Kinnarney
ARABIAN COUNTRY ENGLISH PLEASURE AAOTR 19-39 WITH EMILY SHIPPEE
Afires Heir x Noble Fortune
Proudly owned by Emily Shippee
HALF-ARABIAN ENGLISH PLEASURE AAOTR 19-49 & JACKPOT WITH EMILY SHIPPEE
Afires Heir x Ritida
Proudly owned by Kathy & Emily Shippee
ARABIAN ENGLISH PLEASURE AAOTR 19-49 WITH EMILY SHIPPEE
Afires Heir x Noble Aphroditie Proudly owned by Karlton Jackson & Emily Shippee
HA Toskcan Sun x Mis Superior Proudly owned by Debbie Buszka
AEPA SADDLE SEAT FUTURITY WITH ASHTON KIESNER
HALF-ARABIAN COUNTRY ENGLISH PLEASURE JR. HORSE WITH JOEL KIESNER AAOTR 60 & OVER WITH CHRIS GILLHAM
Afires Heir x Coconut Cream Pie Proudly owned by Christina Gillham
ARABIAN ENGLISH PLEASURE JR. HORSE WITH JOEL KIESNER
2020 U.S. National Unanimous Champion English Pleasure
2020 U.S. National Unanimous Champion English Pleasure AAOTR
2019 U.S. National Unanimous Champion English Pleasure
2018 U.S. National Unanimous Champion English Pleasure
2017 U.S. National Unanimous Champion Pleasure Driving
2016 U.S. National Unanimous Champion English Pleasure
2014 U.S. National Champion English Pleasure Junior Horse
2013 U.S. National Champion AEPA Saddle Seat Futurity
2012 U.S. National Champion English Pleasure Futurity
Afires Heir x Noble Aphroditie | Proudly bred by Karlton & Mary Ann Jackson & owned by Karlton Jackson & Emily Shippee Arabian Horse
AEPA SADDLE SEAT FUTURITY WITH JOEL KIESNER Prosuasion x Heirs Noble Love
Going into a show like the U.S. Nationals, we’re usually talking horses, and this story includes some pretty formidable English performers. But this time, we’re focusing on the other half of the combination: the horseman, longtime amateur rider and driver Dr. Joe Kinnarney.
“The first thing you need to know about Joe is that he might be the most positive person I’ve ever known in my life,” says Joel Kiesner, who’s trained Kinnarney’s horses for nearly 30 years. “Even if he has a bad ride, he’ll come out of the arena and tell you what went right, not what went wrong. He’s one of the hardest working people I’ve ever known, and he’s also the hardest-playing. He just lives life at a hundred miles an hour all the time.”
For Joe, the positive ring attitude is a no-brainer. “If you’re not having fun, you shouldn’t be doing it,” he says. “The human-animal bond with horses is a special feeling. When you’re out there competing, you’re there as a team. Those of us who do it know that they love it as much as we do—a good show horse wants to be in the ring, they want to win, and they know when they do. When you have that bond with them, hopefully there is a synergy.”
“Joe is not just a horseman,” Kiesner notes. “He’s an equestrian.” As a teenager with his sights on the Olympics, Kinnarney trained with silver medalist and coach George Morris before a car accident cut short that dream. Once settled in his career, he reframed his ambition with national championships in Arabians, and in the past few years, world’s championships in Saddlebreds.
The human-animal bond he cites extends beyond horses; it is the motivating factor in his work as a veterinarian (he’s a 1980 graduate of Cornell) and was a hallmark of his presidency of the American Veterinary Medical Association. What’s important, he
Cover Storysays, is compassion. One of his priorities at the AVMA was to recognize how society is changing its views on animals, as pets are regarded as members of their families and livestock, for many, is more than just food. There has been an explosion of new treatments to support animal health, he notes, and that helps both individual animals and their people.
The drive to excel is part of his nature, and his commitment to Arabians and Half-Arabians is serious. His nationals candidates are well-bred and talented. They either already own titles or their potential demands a chance in the ring.
In Tulsa, RGT Mercury Rising, last year’s U.S. National Champion in Half-Arabian English Pleasure with Joel and reserve champion in amateur with Joe, will show with his owner both under saddle and in driving. (“He’s never been better than he is right now,” Joel offers.) KT Heir Lord, 2021 AEPA Saddle Seat Futurity Champion, will be with Joel in Junior Horse and Joe in the Maturity. Four-year-olds A Southern Gentleman (Junior Country English Pleasure) and Enchanted Heir (Half-Arabian AEPA English Futurity) will appear with Joel.
“The horses are Joe’s passion,” Joel observes. “He’s going to show up. He’s had his fair share of bumps in the road [cancer, joint replacements], but nothing ever gets him down. He’s working hard at getting ready. He has great horses and the opportunities for great things abound.”
What is remarkable is that horses aren’t the only recreation in Joe’s life. He’ll be traveling to Antarctica soon, the last of the seven continents on his bucket list. (And he doesn’t just touch down in airports; a speed round of questions reveals favorites from Florence to Lima, Sydney, Kenya and Quebec.)
Now, though, Kinnarney’s most important activity is closer to home. “I think as you mature in life, your values hopefully get strength ened,” he reflects. “But the things you’re looking for change. For me, spending more time with my kids and grandkids, watching them grow and develop, is really big. I got a lot of what I am because of my human-animal bond; giving them the opportunity to take lessons and show horses—hopefully, they may have that same growth.”
It’s easy to see why others like Dr. Joe Kinnarney. Asked what he likes about himself, he hesitates. “I think I’m fairly easy to get along with,” he ventures.
Joel Kiesner responds with a horselaugh, “That’s the understatement of the century!” He turns serious. “We have the good fortune that Joe loves Arabians,” he says. “And he has a pipeline growing up out in the pasture, so he’s going to have great young horses coming into the barn every year.” u
Cover Art by Jenn Trickey