BRANDON – The love of horses for the Kent family started when the oldest sibling, Joslyn, took a riding lesson when she was 6-years-old.
Her sister, Izabella, a senior at Alexandria Area High School, teaches horse lessons. Her brother, Isaac, recently learned the trade of colt starting (training young horses) and horse training, along with becoming a horseshoer and farrier. Their family farm is
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Guenther Photography
According to a 25-page business growth plan that Izabella put together for a DECA project,
was established in 2022 as a family-owned and operated horse lesson and training facility. It’s located on a hobby farm near Brandon and sits on a 20-acre parcel of land. It includes an 80-foot by 60-foot barn, a 120-foot by 180-foot horse riding arena, obstacle course and a forest of wooded trails.
Izabella and Isaac said as they all grew up, the love of horses grew, as well. All three of the siblings, who are the children of Amy and Scott Kent, learned to ride. And so did their parents. Weekends growing up were spent traveling for events, shows and trail rides.
“It was all of us together doing it,” said Isaac.
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Guenther Photography
He said he and his siblings all learned to ride on their pony, Lightning. It got to the point that they were all too big for him to ride him. But they all had their own horses, too. The siblings wanted to keep Lightning around, but they felt he needed a job.
Before they became an actual business, Joslyn would offer to take family and friends for rides around their property. They made some posts on Facebook about it and Izabella said they all realized there was a “want in the community” for more.
She said they had a great community of people who loved horses just as much as they did and after about three years of mostly family and friends or friends of friends coming out to their farm, they decided to grow it into a business and Blue Saddle Farm was born.
“Blue was one of our horses,” Izabella explained about the name. “He was the most incredible horse ever. You could do anything on him. He was a great lesson horse. He could be crazy fast, but also go so slow. He was so patient. So, we named Blue Saddle Farm after him.”
She also noted that they kept the name generic because they offer more than just lessons and they want to continue expanding.
Both Isaac and Izabella plan on working at Blue Saddle Farm as their careers.
Isaac said, “I can’t speak for Izzy, but yes, this is 100% my plan. I want to continue this. I just graduated from Oklahoma Horseshoeing School so we can now incorporate farrier work into this.”
He explained that he is both a horseshoer, someone who puts shoes on horses and a farrier, which is someone who makes horseshoes.
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Taking this career path is something that Isaac said he figured out during the COVID-19 pandemic. He spent a lot of time with their horses.
“I found that spending time with horses is what gave me my center, my peace,” he said. “I was spending five to six hours a day with the horses and I couldn’t get enough.”
When it came to making a decision about college, his mom gave him the idea of equine science. He looked into it and ended up enrolling at the University of Minnesota-Crookston. During his first year, he got connected with a horse trainer at ASH Performance Horses, a training facility, and started working part-time for the trainer. Working with the trainer really piqued his interest in horse training.
The summer after his first year of college, he worked as an intern for TJ Clibborn, who runs A True Partnership out of Deerfield, Wisconsin. This is where colts are trained.
“We worked with horses that had never been ridden before and we hopefully made them safe enough for their owners to ride,” said Isaac.
After that summer, he decided that going back to college in Crookston wasn’t where he wanted to be, so he enrolled in farrier school. Because that school didn’t start until January, Isaac went back to work, this time as a full-time employee, at ASH Performance.
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“I had the opportunity there to ride about seven to eight colts a day,” said Isaac. “It was such a great experience.”
He added that going to farrier school was another aspect of the horse industry that was going to be beneficial to him and the family farm.
As for Izabella, her plan is to attend the University of North Dakota this fall to get her doctorate in occupational therapy. She plans to enroll in the fast-track program so that she can get her doctorate in four years.
With the occupational therapy degree, Izabella said she would continue working at Blue Saddle Farm and would open a hippotherapy center. Hippotherapy is a form of physical, occupational and speech therapy in which a therapist uses the characteristic movements of a horse to provide carefully graded motor and sensory input. A foundation is established to improve neurological function and sensory processing, which can be generalized to a wide range of daily activities, she explained in her DECA business growth plan.
“That is my dream,” she said.
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As for their sister, Joslyn, Isaac and Izabella said she lives down South and although she doesn’t work on the farm, she will always be a part of it. She helps with merchandise – designing and selling items. Joslyn worked with a local artist for the farm’s logo and then she designed tumblers and water bottles and other merchandise to sell.
Their mom, Amy, is not only the social media manager, but also does pretty much everything else Izabella and Isaac don’t do, they said. They said she takes care of the animals – which include not only the horse, but peacocks, sheep, goats, a highlander steer, pigs, mini donkeys, cats, dogs, ducks and chickens. They said she also does the “adult stuff” like insurance and taxes and manages things that are “above our level.” Their dad, Scott, who is the Alexandria Police chief, also helps out on the farm, too.
“They both have been helping a lot with things we are still learning how to do,” said Isaac.
When asked why they like owning horses and being “horse people,” Izabella said it’s the connection she has between her and the animals.
“You can’t communicate with words, but you can figure out each other by movements and just how you can interact with them,” she said. “It’s a connection you can’t get anywhere else. They teach you patience, confidence, trust, you name it. You can get that from working with the animals, which is pretty incredible.”
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Isaac said he likes the exchanges he has with the young horses, the really young, uneducated horses, as he calls them.
“I like being able to take them and then give them a job, to make sure that their life is going to be better down the road,” he said. “Because nobody wants an uneducated horse or dangerous horse. People want nice, safe horses. I like being able to do that for them and I like what they can do for me, like giving me confidence in myself. I like the enjoyment of doing that, the sense of peace that these animals give to me. I like that exchange, which is pretty cool.”
Izabella also said that she loves doing lessons so much because she can see a difference in the clients from start to finish.
“From the first time someone comes out and they just stand there and stare at the horse and shake. Then they get on. And by the end of the summer, they’re running around on that horse and they have so much confidence,” she said. “It’s so cool. It’s awesome to see how that horse changes them throughout the summer.”
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The Kent family, especially Izabella and Isaac, love to share their passion and love for horses with others. They are open to anyone and everyone who wants to come out and visit their farm, take lessons, book birthday parties and more.
They want people to experience everything they have experienced, they said.
“Our animals and the lifestyle we have is a true gift,” said Isaac. “To keep giving that to others is what is important.”
For more about the farm, visit the Blue Saddle Farm, LLC, website at
