Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandi Hartdegen.
Hi Brandi, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I loved horses from a very early age. As a kid, I occasionally had the opportunity to ride a friend’s horse, and every time I did, it just left me wanting more.
When I was 14, I had to complete community service and found a local barn where I could do my hours. That experience solidified my need and desire to be around horses all the time. My parents couldn’t afford riding lessons, but this barn gave me the opportunity to work in exchange for riding. I felt incredibly lucky. From that point on, I was either at school, working, or at the barn riding. Nothing else really mattered to me.
Eventually, I began doing pony rides for small children and later became an instructor at the barn. When I was 16, I was given a horse of my own. He was everything I had ever wanted. My parents still couldn’t afford to support such an expensive sport, so I took that responsibility on myself. I was driving by then and willing to work as much as I needed to keep pursuing this dream. At one point, I worked three jobs while going to school, and I never regretted a second of it. I already knew this was what I wanted my future to be.
In my 20s, I got married and had four children. During those years, I wanted to continue working with horses while also being able to raise my family, so I taught lessons on a lighter schedule; mostly afternoons, evenings, and weekends. I continued doing that for the next 16 years. I also went to college and earned my degree in Child Development, which would eventually become an important part of how I approached teaching children and building my riding program.
During that time, I was running a successful riding school in North County and gradually becoming more and more involved in every aspect of the business. In 2017, I took over the riding school and renamed it Brandi’s Equestrian Riding Academy. Over the next two years, I continued growing the business and, little by little, making it my own.
But I had an even bigger dream: I wanted a property of my own where I could build the kind of program and environment I had always envisioned. At the end of 2019, I made that dream a reality. I purchased my own property and moved both my family and my business there.
When I look back, so much of what I have today started with that 14-year-old kid who simply wanted to be around horses badly enough that she was willing to work for every opportunity she could get. I didn’t have the financial means to simply pursue this passion; I had to find a way to make it happen. That work ethic and love for horses have stayed with me throughout my life and ultimately helped me build Brandi’s Equestrian Riding Academy into what it is today.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There have definitely been obstacles and challenges along the way. My husband was in the Navy while we were raising our four children. We were fortunate that we never had to move, but there were deployments when he was gone and I was balancing our children, home, and work. I was also very fortunate to have my parents nearby. They were a huge source of support during those times and helped make it possible for me to continue working with horses while raising my family.
For many years, one of my biggest challenges was figuring out how to continue building my career while still being the kind of mom I wanted to be. I worked for a riding school and primarily taught in the afternoons, evenings, and on weekends. It allowed me to stay involved in the horse industry and continue developing as an instructor while keeping my family my priority.
The recession in 2008 was another difficult period. I was laid off for a time, which was scary. When you love what you do and have worked so hard to create a career around it, suddenly not knowing what the future of that career looks like is difficult. Eventually, I was able to return to teaching and continue moving forward.
Finances have also been a challenge throughout my journey. Horses are expensive, and I learned very young that if I wanted to be involved in this sport, I needed to find a way to make it work. That resourcefulness followed me into adulthood. I didn’t have a large amount of money waiting for me when I eventually took over the riding school. Everything happened gradually.
In 2017, when I took over the riding school and created Brandi’s Equestrian Riding Academy, the challenges changed. For the first time, I wasn’t only responsible for teaching; I was responsible for running the business as well. I had to learn the business side while continuing to teach, care for horses, manage clients and staff, and raise my family.
At the end of 2019, we purchased our property and moved both our family and the academy there. It was something I had worked toward for years, but the timing came with a challenge I never could have anticipated. Just a few months after moving, COVID hit. I was trying to establish the academy in its new home while the entire world was suddenly shutting down and no one really knew what was going to happen next. After taking such a huge financial and personal leap to purchase the property, there was definitely uncertainty about what COVID would mean for the future of the academy.
We had to adapt, just like everyone else did during that time. In some ways, having our own property became even more important because it gave me the ability to make decisions and adjust the program as circumstances changed.
Probably one of my biggest ongoing challenges has been learning that I can’t do everything myself. When you’ve spent your entire life being willing to work harder to make something happen, asking for help and letting go can actually be difficult. As the academy has grown, I’ve had to learn to delegate, trust my team, and recognize that growing something successfully means allowing other people to become part of it.
Each stage of my life has brought different challenges. Whether it was balancing motherhood and my career, my husband’s deployments, being laid off during the recession, taking the leap into business ownership, or facing a pandemic just months after moving the academy onto our own property, I’ve learned that there will never be a perfect or easy time to pursue a dream. You adjust, figure out what you can control, and keep moving forward.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Brandi’s Equestrian Riding Academy is a riding and horsemanship program that specializes in children and beginner riders. While we teach riders of different ages and levels, my passion has always been introducing children to horses and giving them the kind of foundation that can stay with them for a lifetime.
I think what sets us apart is that we don’t believe riding should only be about what happens in the saddle. I want our students to truly understand horses. They learn how to groom, tack, care for, handle, and communicate with them. They learn responsibility, patience, confidence, empathy, and how to work through frustration. Sometimes the biggest accomplishments at our barn have very little to do with how well someone can ride.
My degree in Child Development has had a huge influence on the way I have built the academy. I understand that every child learns differently, develops at a different pace, and comes to us with different strengths and challenges. We meet riders where they are rather than expecting every child to fit into the same mold. I think that is one of the things we have become known for.
We have also created a structured riding and horsemanship curriculum so our students can see their progress and have goals to work toward. Riders can start with us having never touched a horse and progress through increasingly advanced levels. I want them to understand that becoming a good equestrian isn’t about moving up as quickly as possible. It is about developing the knowledge, skills, confidence, and judgment to become a well-rounded horse person.
I’m probably most proud of the environment we have created. I want the academy to be a place where children feel safe to try, fail, learn, and try again. Horses are incredible teachers. They have a way of teaching patience, boundaries, confidence, responsibility, and resilience without saying a word.
I’m also incredibly proud of the community that has grown around the academy. Many families stay with us for years, and I get to watch children grow up at the barn. Seeing a child who was once afraid to even approach a horse become a confident rider is incredibly rewarding. Even more rewarding is watching that confidence begin to show up in other parts of their life.
Our tagline is “Where horses and families come together,” and that really represents what I have always wanted this academy to be. Of course I want to develop good riders, but ultimately I want to help develop confident, capable young people who love and respect horses. If they leave my program with those things, I feel like we’ve done our job.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
My definition of success has changed a lot over the years. For most of my life, I was always chasing the next step. I wanted my own horse, then I wanted to become an instructor. I wanted to take over the riding school, grow the business, own my own property, and continue making it bigger and better. There was always another goal waiting for me.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with being driven. That determination is a huge part of how I got where I am today. But somewhere along the way, I realized that if I was always focused on what came next, I was going to miss the life I had worked so hard to create.
Today, success looks much different to me. I still have goals for myself and for the academy, but I don’t need the next accomplishment to feel successful. I genuinely enjoy my everyday life. I get to wake up on a property I dreamed about owning, walk outside and see my horses, teach something I have loved since I was a child, spend time with my family, and watch an academy and community that I built continue to grow.
Success is also seeing the impact we’ve had on the kids and families who come through our program. It’s watching a nervous child gain confidence, seeing students grow up at the barn, and knowing that horses and our program have played a meaningful role in their lives.
For years, I thought success was reaching the next destination. Now I think success is being able to look around at the life you already have and realize you’re happy to be there. I still want to grow and challenge myself, but I’m no longer waiting for the next accomplishment to enjoy what I’ve built.
For me, being happy in my present, everyday life might be the greatest success of all.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://brandisequestrianridingacademy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandisequestrianridingacademy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brandisequestrianridingacademy
