We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cara Blanchard. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cara below.

Cara, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

From the time I was in middle school, I knew I wanted to be a horse trainer. While in school, I worked hard to gain education and experience. My dad and I spent most weekends at horse shows building my resume.

After college, I started Cara Blanchard Training, Inc. and began taking in horses to train for clients. The universe had other plans when the economy crashed in 2008 and many of those horses that came to me to be trained, never left. They instantly became a part of my family. At the time, there was a large demand for riding lessons in my area and I conveniently now had a handful of horses to create a riding lesson program. Cara Blanchard Training was packed full with a waiting list for years. We offered private riding lessons, kids clubs, toddler days, 4-H, a Girl Scouts, birthday parties and more.

In 2019, I got pregnant with my son and realized that I needed to make some big changes in my business. Not only did I need to slow down to have time for my baby on the way, but my horses were now nearing retirement age. I racked my brain and researched for a year as to what would come next for me and Cara Blanchard Training.

Having a c-section and being an avid, competitive equestrian proved to be a bit of a conundrum. I started practicing yoga as a gentle way to get myself back into riding shape. Along with yoga came breath work and I fell in love with its possibilities. Quite often, especially at horse shows, my students and I experience crippling anxiety from nerves and excitement. Practicing breath work, yoga and mindfulness proved to have priceless benefits in these tense situations. I jumped all in and became certified in breath work, yoga, yin yoga and mindful meditation.

My program, Stable Yoga, was born. Stable Yoga offers an online course, in person classes and retreats at our farm. These retreats also keep our retired school horses involved without them having to do any physical work – they just get love.

Cara, 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?

I have long had a dream of working specifically with adult amateur women. After having my son, it gave me the opportunity to completely revamp my business. I let most of my lesson horses retire and started focusing on teaching dressage riding lessons to ladies my age and older.

I enjoy having a supportive, compassionate group of ladies in my barn, it’s refreshingly peaceful. For most of them, riding and showing horses is a childhood dream and I’m happy to assist them in making those goals a reality.

Having Stable Yoga as a part of Cara Blanchard Training has allowed me to provide them with the tools to keep them limber and balanced when out of the saddle, in between rides. I’ve also given them the tools like mindful visualization and breath work to help them through their nerves and see the bigger picture.

I pride myself on continuing my education so that I can provide as much knowledge, experience and innovative information for my students so that they can achieve their goals and live their best life.

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

I started my Facebook business page 4 or 5 years after starting Cara Blanchard Training, Inc in 2005.

For many years I used this page to advertise my business. I shared lesson and camp opportunities. I often posted things like students’ progress and horse show results.

While my posts always got some attention, my page didn’t start growing exponentially until I started sharing my writing and my story.

I share my stories and experiences in life, with horses and as an entrepreneur. I give daily encouragement and motivation and inspire others to live their best life. When I started being my authentic self, I attracted my ideal tribe.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Women, especially, like to know that they’re not alone in their struggles; that someone else has climbed the mountain that they’re standing below. As I share my stories and offer words of advice, I ensure my tribe that they, too, can make it to the top of their mountain. I’m here, reaching out my hand to help them up. I write stories about the speed bumps in my path, how I overcame them and what I learned. I reassure my tribe that it’s about the journey and who you become along the way. All the while, I teach them tools to build their physical, mental and emotional strength while on the path to their dreams – whether those dreams are horse related or in life.

Contact Info:

• Website: CaraBlanchard.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/carablanchardtraining
• Facebook: Facebook.com/teamcbt

Image Credits
Jennifer Juniper Photography Robin Curry Photography Matt Kilbourne (husband)