Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bailey Horejsi. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bailey, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made?

When I was getting ready to go to college, I fell in love with South Dakota State University. Partly because of the state itself and partly because of their College Rodeo Team. I knew I wanted to college rodeo there but I didn’t have the horse to make it happen.

After sitting out my first year, I was bound and determined to rodeo the next year. My high school horses health was on the decline and I needed to find a replacement while he enjoyed retirement. That’s when I came across this ad for a horse that was going to be at an auction. I fell in love with him instantly!

I knew it was a long shot but I reached out to the owner and asked what it would take to pull him from the auction. Dualin was what she called him. A 4 year old bay gelding with the coolest white marking on his face. She told me her price and I set up a time to come see him. After swinging a leg over him, I knew he was going to be something special. Now my only problem was the money.

After some thinking, I emptied my savings account but was still short on the money I needed to buy him. I begged my grandparents for help and they co-signed a loan for me so I could make Dualin mine.

To this day, it is the best choice I ever made and I can’t thank my grandparents and boyfriend (now husband) enough for believing in me and what I saw in that little bay horse.

I still have him and he gets better with each run and year that passes. He has won over $26K and still winning.

I’d do it all over again the exact same way and realized that in the words of Cody Johnson, “Dreams won’t chase you back” so you better chase them while you can.

Bailey, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Growing up, I was fortunate to have a grandfather who fostered my love for horses. No one else in my family was very involved with them, but he and my grandmother bought me a horse before I could walk, and I don’t remember when horses weren’t a part of my life. I rode as much and as often as I could but didn’t have the means to compete until I was about 15. When I moved to college, I joined the South Dakota State University rodeo team and bought a few young horses to follow my dreams after my old horse passed away. At first, I just rode for myself and worked on honing my skills by getting on as many horses as I possibly could. I was always trying to fine-tune myself and get better as a rider, but training was never really on my mind.

It started out giving riding lessons, and then I began taking a few outside horses for friends while I was in college and rodeoing. I didn’t think of myself as a “trainer,” but I would get asked, and word of mouth got around, and I kept saying yes to outside horses. In 2019, I got married, and we moved back to Minnesota. That’s when Wicked Midwest Performance Horses was born, and I jumped further into training horses and giving lessons. I thought, “hey, I can do this and maybe make a career.”

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

For me the best source of clients is word of mouth. In the horse industry, meeting people and making positive connections are the best way to grow your business and brand. You’re going to turn a client into a friend faster and more often than you’ll turn a friend into a client.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

With any venture as an entrepreneur and business owner, smooth sailing isn’t a reality. However, I was blessed with amazing clients turned friends and people in my corner pushing me to keep going when I wanted to throw my sucker in the dirt. With horses, the saying goes, “it’s not if you get hurt, it’s when and how bad,” and boy, is that ever true. Between my injuries and broken bones to horses getting injured and sick, to just the mental part of it, it takes a toll on you, but there honestly isn’t a different path in life I would rather go down. Horse training isn’t for the faint of heart and won’t get you rich. It will create relationships with people and animals that last a lifetime.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ thewickedmidwest
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/thewickedmidwest/
• Other: TikTok: baileyhorejsi

Image Credits
Nick Johnson with 144 Visuals