We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kaitlyn Siewert a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kaitlyn, appreciate you joining us today. We love heartwarming stories – do you have a heartwarming story from your career to share?

REINS Therapeutic Horsemanship Program has offered so many wonderful memories to my life, one of my most moving moments was with one of our long time riders Harry Collins. Harry was a very accomplished developer that lived in California for the majority of his life. He and his wife Judy worked hard and raised their family in La Jolla and Rancho Santa Fe where they lived happily for many years. Harry and Judy were a significant part of establishing the San Diego Polo Club, and Harry played polo for many years. Unfortunately, Harry experienced an accident when his polo horse rolled over on him resulting in a severe traumatic brain injury. He got back on the horse for the first time a few years after his accident, at REINS. Surrounded by his family, and a team of certified professionals, REINS staff, Harry was helped onto the horse. I will never forget the way his body remembered what his memory could not. He sat on that horse with the reins in his left hand and his right hand on his hip, riding like he had never stopped. His family, full of emotion gathered at the fence line watching the mountain of a man, enjoy his passion once again. There was very little we could “teach” Harry about riding, so we did our best to just be there to safely facilitate his ride, and hover in the background. He would ride his horse with our REINS team just out of his peripheral sight on either side, and allow him the time to truly enjoy the ride without anybody bothering him. Week after week, Harry showed us how to just “enjoy the ride”. Harry rode at REINS for the better part of 10 years, and when it finally came time for him to hang up his reins, we were truly sad to see him go. Those days of walking with Harry, and the contemplative gazes that shined through his piercing blue eyes left such a mark on my heart. Not only did I get to witness a wonderful family support their “rock” through the toughest phase of his life, but Harry, in his subtle way taught us why “the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man” – Winston Churchill

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Have you ever had to pivot?

From 1997 when I started volunteering at REINS, until 2021 when I was suddenly diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, I was the “go to gal” when it came to teaching any lesson, heavy lifting, fixing fences, moving saddles, reorganizing the tack room and more. One day in the spring of 2021, I noticed that I was unusually sore after a long run, and my hands and arms were a little achy, by the end of that week I was unable to walk without leaning heavily on a cane, and my hands and fingers weren’t functioning as they always had. I had to come into work that Friday and call my team of instructors in, and tell them that I couldn’t safely do my lessons and I needed them to cover for me. This was the beginning of my new life with RA, a commonly misunderstood disease. RA is an autoimmune disease that attacks the body, it can attack every major organ, and cause degeneration and malformation of every joint. This disease usually causes pain to move throughout the body without any reason and can flare and go away in an instant.
I spent 9 months on a cane and unable to do the extremely physical job that I planned to make my career. I felt lost, and unsure of how I would be able to support REINS and contribute to the mission that I was so passionate about. I started really thinking of the goals that wanted to achieve to set REINS up for success in the future, and I decided that I would take on the huge project of getting REINS to become a PATH International Premier Accredited Center (PAC).
This milestone would ensure that REINS could adhere to the highest standard of safety and sustainability, and become one of the leading equine assisted learning programs in the industry.
In order to make this goal happen, it would take a person that had been a REINS long enough to really understand the way the program works, and would be able to write policies that would uphold the standards as well as continue to allow the program to run efficiently. I was the perfect person for the job…and was confined to my desk. Over the months of watching the staff step in and take over my role as Barn Boss, Instructor, safety manager, etc. I realized that without this incredibly limiting diagnosis, I would have had a much more difficult time stepping aside and letting others take on those roles. I would have not had the opportunity to really focus on the future of REINS and charge towards the goals set fourth.
Although I do not know what the future holds as far as my progression with RA, I understand that even with tough circumstances, there is often (not always) a silver lining. My perspective has definitely expanded and talking with the families here at REINS on my tough days, has really helped me to better understand some of the challenges they face, and how they navigate them. I have learned to give myself grace, and help to encourage others to do the same when they are struggling. I have learned that life really isn’t about getting stuff done day-to-day just to make it through, but to really enjoy the times that I feel good enough to accomplish what I have on my list and be happy doing it. I have found happiness in knowing that I am able to contribute to REINS success and future through my diligence in details rather than with my physical capabilities. It isn’t just about getting the participants their riding sessions, it is also about finding future opportunities to facilitate growth and visualize the strategic plans needed to carry the program’s mission forward.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Morale among staff can be a tricky balance between trying to “buy” their commitment with pay scale, perks, benefits etc. and having your staff truly happy to be working for you. It all comes down to the culture of your workplace, and making sure that those you employ are not just there because they have the skillset to do the job, but that they also have the same values that you find are important to your business culture. The cohesiveness among your staff will contribute to the culture that you put in place, if you have staff that get along well and share common values with each other, your culture will be able to shine through. Creating policies and procedures a that allow your staff some flexibility and independent growth can go along way to making them feel as a wanted, needed, and valued part of the team. REINS staff is made up a majority of women whom all have families at home which may come into play during work hours. We at REINS value the families of our staff, and want to allow them to be the care giver to their children, parents, dogs, whatever the case may be, without feeling torn between. Although there are some scenarios where this can be challenging, we really try hard to allow flexibility and trust that our staff will be honest with their work commitments. So far, our team has truly supported this culture and are always there for REINS when we need them. Being a wife, mother, and professional is incredibly challenging, but we are all in it together and support each other because we have the same values and want to uphold the culture of the REINS workplace.
If you have people that love their job, and are happy to come to work, you will have employees that will go above and beyond for you as a manager.

Contact Info:

• Website: reinsprogram.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reinsprogram
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reinsprogram

Image Credits
Jennifer McCallson Colleen Keaveny REINS Staff