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Kristin
ometimes putting the right horse and rider combination together takes time.
For amateur Kristin Kern, the search was worth the wait. Trainer Aaron Moses led her to a three-year-old gelding, I Wrote The Code, or Brady who is by VS Code Red out of the great mare Suddens Leading Lady, a daughter of RL Best of Sudden.
“Kristin’s been looking for a horse to be her next show horse and level up,” says Moses. After taking an extended break from the western pleasure arena, Kern was eager to find the ideal partner to make her arena return with. Moses says, “She wanted something she could make a big comeback on.” Kern adds, “Aaron and I were on the hunt. We had been looking for a horse for quite a while. I realized that sometimes the universe has a way of making things happen.”
Just when Kern started to get discouraged in her search for the perfect partner, the universe brought her Brady. “I realized it would be worth it to wait for the right one,” she says. “We had started looking at yearlings. One day I was at Aaron’s and out of the corner of my eye I saw Brady in the arena. I watched him go around and he was a dream; I definitely fell in love.”
Moses spent a lot of time thinking about what horse would make the right match for Kern. As I Wrote The Code developed, he realized what an ideal partner he would make for Kern given her goals in
the pleasure arena. “It really made sense that he was the right fit for her.” Moses adds that the horse is also not short on personality. He says, “All of the horses out of that mare have some personality. They’re goofballs and are fun horses to be around. He’s entertaining and just likes to be with people.”
Brady’s dam, Suddens Leading Lady, owned by Paula Czapko, had an outstanding show career and went on to produce winning foals, including This Cowboys Mine, whom Moses piloted to earn the title NSBA High Point 2 YO Western Pleasure and WEC Champion in the 2-Year-Old Maiden Western Pleasure. “I’ve ridden a few other horses out of Suddens Leading Lady, she produces some great ones,” says Moses. “I started Brady as a two and he rose up pretty quick. We gave him time to mature and now he’s really coming into himself. It’s so nice to see a horse you believed in from the start get to where he is now.”
Kern and Moses plan to debut I Wrote The Code in the maiden western pleasure at an upcoming major show. “He’s got a lot of look and presence and he’s very correct at each gait,” says Moses. “He’s always wanted to train up right from the start. He’s a great one like that.” Later in the year, Kern plans to make her debut in the non-pro division aboard Brady. “After he debuts, we’ll get Kristin on him, and she can begin showing him in the three-yearold and limited non-pro events. I’m excited for that, I think that will go very well,” says Moses.
According to Moses, the horse has what it takes to make a great open and non-pro mount. “He has great self-carriage, which will make him great for Kristin. He’s a very balanced horse and has a great top line. He jogs great and lopes great. He’s a complete horse. I think he’s going in a positive direction for what I want to be presenting,” says Moses.
“I’m eager to see what the next year brings for her and Brady,” shares Moses. “Kristin has a ton of feel. When she comes to ride, even after not riding for almost ten years, it’s like she never missed a beat. That’s really impressive to me.” He adds, “I’m thankful to be working with her and honored she chose us to be part of her comeback.”
Kern grew up in Pilot Point, Texas. Her mom Sheri Kern-Gepp bred and raised horses. Kern and her sister Blair both were riding and showing from the time they could walk. “I was born into it. It was all I knew, and I loved it so much,” she says. Like so many horse crazy kids, Kern’s time was spent on the road with her family traveling to shows. Her dad Woody was a big support for her at the shows.
“It was such a fun way to grow up. I showed at the major shows and had some amazing horses,” says Kern. Kern’s first show partner with whom she found major success was Zizzles Hot Impulse. “She was my first horse with some real accomplishments, and we won the Congress together,” she says. Kern also showed the great gelding Big N Rich in youth western pleasure. “I shared him with my sister, I probably showed him the most as a youth. He is one of the best horses of all time,” says Kern.
In 2014, Kern’s father passed away. “It was difficult not having him at the shows. I still loved it, but it wasn’t the same,” she shares. Kern decided to take a break from showing.
She showed at her final Youth World in 2015, but the loss was still too present. “I felt Dad’s absence too much, so I decided to put my old life behind me for a bit and went to college,” she shares.
Kern’s mother Sheri also took a step back from horses during that time. Kern went on to earn a degree in Psychology from the University of North Texas and is now pursuing a master’s degree from Northwestern University with aspirations to become a licensed therapist. Academics became her life. Eventually, she hopes to incorporate horses into her work as a therapist and blend her two worlds.
When her mother Sheri reentered the horse world in 2023, Kristin followed suit. “Mom started breeding again and asked me if I wanted to test the waters and get back in,” shares Kern. “I felt it was a good time, and I had missed the horses. It’s been very healing in a way and nice to find that part of myself again.”
Kern and her mother both own several broodmares, and Sheri now has foals on the ground out of the great mare Marilynn Monroe. She also owns the stallion Fortunateson.
Certainly, Kern has seen changes in the western pleasure arena after an almost ten-year break. “The competition has ramped up. It’s certainly a lot tougher today with the specialization and talent of the horses. But that doesn’t deter me. It motivates me to try harder and do my best,” she says. They say the more things change, the more they stay the same and there’s no place that’s truer than at a horse show. “It’s still so familiar and nostalgic in all the ways it’s stayed the same,” Kern says.
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