WORK LIFE

would do a pony show,” she said. “Nothing fancy though, normally [I] would play around and do chores.”

Starting in first grade, she spent any free time she had with the horses. Kimmel didn’t know exactly how she got her start at the stables; she just knew that she was “a horse girl from day one,” she said.

While she didn’t have any other humans with her in the stables, she did have a very special teammate, who was 800 pounds and 14 hands high. He was a feisty chestnut horse by the name of Starbucks, who

Kimmel became the owner of when she was nine years old.

“We kind of grew up together, you know,” she said.

For Kimmel, growing up with Starbucks involved hours of training, including daily walks around the property and within the ring.

There was also physical labor, like bailing his hay, shoveling his waste, and keeping him and his stall clean.

Training also included Kimmel riding Starbucks to teach him commands.

Once they had established their working relationship, Starbucks start-