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Kristal Gessler

Achievements

About Kristal Gessler

After growing up your typical horse crazy kid, I knew from a young age that I was destined for a career in the equine industry. After working for a few local equine facilities, as well as training and working extensively with Marcia Kulak, I decided it was time to take the leap and start my own business. I spent a year traveling from barn to barn teaching and building a good client base and establishing a reputation which enabled me to finally acquire my first rental barn and set up my base operation in Ballston Spa, NY. After the first winter of full operation the business amazingly outgrew the facility and we relocated to a beautiful semi private facility in Burnt Hills, NY, where we have been operating out of since June 1st 2019. We are a full service training facility for young event horses and dressage horses in there early years of training and competing.

Eventing Background

USEA Rider Profile Click to view profile
Area area 1
Highest Level Competed BN
Farm Name Kristal Clear Equestrian
Trainer Marcia Kulak

Latest Articles Written

Road to the Thoroughbred Makeover: Back on Track

By on Jun 9, 2020 11:00 am -

For 616 accepted trainers, the journey to the Retired Racehorse Project’s 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, is underway! The 2020 event will take place at Oct. 7-10 at the Kentucky Horse Park. Between now and then, five eventing trainers will be blogging their journeys, including their triumphs and their heartbreaks, successes and failures, for Eventing Nation readers. Today, we’re checking in with trainer Kristal Gessler. You can read her first RRP blog here.

Kristal is from Rexford, NY, and operates her business, Kristal Clear Equestrian, a new sport horse training facility specializing in restarting OTTBs, out of Burnt Hills, NY. This will be her second year competing in the Makeover — last year she finished 6th in eventing with her 4-year-old Prolific. This year she returns with Fraternal (barn name “Romeo”), a Godolphin-bred 2017 17-hand Thoroughbred gelding (Into Mischief  x Sister State, by A.P. Indy). Here is Kristal with her latest update:

Photos courtesy of Kristal Gessler.

After a long 60 days of uncertainty as to whether or not Fraternal and I would be attending the Thoroughbred Makeover or having to sit this year out, I believe we are finally back on track and ready to forge ahead in our training.

Back in April Fraternal sustained an injury playing in his paddock, as babies do, pulling some major muscles in his back making it impossible for him to carry any weight on his back at all. Add in a major growth spurt at the same time and this usually wonderful goofball became quite miserable with anything, even a brush, touching his back. After multiple vet visits including x-rays and ultrasounds it was determined he just needed some time and TLC to heal and grow.

As disappointed as I was at the possibility of not attending the 2020 makeover, Fraternal’s health and wellbeing is of the utmost importance. He is extremely talented and shows great potential to be an upper level competitor in the future. So taking a step back was the only option.

During the first 30 days of Fraternal’s “vacation” he spent his time lounging around, enjoying his daily grooming sessions and weekly PEMF sessions.  It became quite clear he was getting extremely bored as he was consistently getting into a lot of mischief and becoming a bit of a handful. So it was decided that he needed to start back into a low impact routine to keep his mind busy and engaged.

While still technically on “vacation” he began spending his mornings turned out in a large, lush green filed with a very dominant mare, who is doing a great job of reprimanding his extremely coltish behavior and teaching him how to be a respectable young man. There is nothing like a good mare to teach the youngsters how to behave appropriately. Along with this new turnout routine fraternal spent a few days a week doing extremely light ground work, including physical therapy exercises such as lots of stretching side to side, lifting his back, walking over raised cavaletti, endless desensitizing, and just hanging out with me as I watched other riders work their horses. This new routine proved to be quite successful as his coltish behavior became less obnoxious and he seemed much more content.

This week was his first week back into a full program. We started our week back, in full tack, working on groundwork both in the ring/round pen and out in the jump fields. While he was quite content in the ring and round pen showing off a new quite, calm and relaxed demeanor, he was quite exuberant and excited when we moved out to the jump fields. After a few days of consistent work out in the field he became much more civilized and showed us how much he really enjoyed being out  of the ring and out in the open fields.

Day 1 back in the saddle. I’m not going to lie, I was filled with mixed emotions. Excited to be back in the saddle on this amazingly talented youngster but terrified that he wasn’t going to be better and we would be back to square one. As I stepped into the stirrup,  swung my leg over,  and quietly sat in the saddle he remained calm, cool, and collected. That alone was a huge step! Before the 60 days of vacation just the weight of the saddle alone would make him dip his back and grind his teeth in discomfort.

We walked away from the mounting block and he continued to remain relaxed, back felt great, he walked freely forward without any protest. I was elated to say the least! That first ride we were able to walk/trot/canter quietly without any issue and he felt great. It was a huge relief, we are finally back on track.

Day 2 back in the saddle pretty much went the same as day 1. We kept everything exactly the same, very quiet and slow. Just a little walk/trot/canter with a few added distractions going on in the back round: dogs running around, manure dump trucks and tractors emptying the manure bin, and he remained quiet and relaxed and completely tuned in to me and our session. I was extremely happy and overjoyed.

Day 3 back in the saddle we decided to take things a step further. No ground work to start our session, instead we went for a quiet warm up hack with a buddy around the farm before our flat work. Success! After a few head tossing baby moments we quietly led the way around the farm and into the ring where we were able to work, walk/trot/canter, with another horse working around us, maintaining his composure and staying focused on the task at hand. When finished we ended our ride with another hack out around the farm, even schooling the ditch on the way back to the barn. Breathing a huge sigh of relief as we are headed in the right direction and ready to continue our journey to the 2020 makeover.

Looking forward and beginning to plan a proper competition program for him is proving to be extremely difficult due to Covid-19. Our season is just beginning to get underway here in New York,  finally. We are a few months behind where I  would have liked him to be at this point, but we will keep moving forward and take every opportunity possible to get out and get as much off property exposure as possible before our trek to Kentucky. Stay tuned for more monthly updates on Fraternal’s journey to the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover.

Road to the Thoroughbred Makeover: Slow and Steady Wins the Race

By on Mar 30, 2020 2:00 pm -

For 616 accepted trainers, the journey to the Retired Racehorse Project’s 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, has begun! The 2020 event will take place at Oct. 7-10 at the Kentucky Horse Park. Between now and then, five eventing trainers will be blogging their journeys, including their triumphs and their heartbreaks, successes and failures, for Eventing Nation readers. Today, we’re checking in with trainer Kristal Gessler. You can read her first RRP blog here.

Kristal is from Rexford, NY, and operates her business, Kristal Clear Equestrian, a new sport horse training facility specializing in restarting OTTBs, out of Burnt Hills, NY. This will be her second year competing in the Makeover — last year she finished 6th in eventing with her 4-year-old Prolific. This year she returns with Fraternal (barn name “Romeo”), a Godolphin-bred 2017 17-hand Thoroughbred gelding (Into Mischief  x Sister State, by A.P. Indy). Here is Kristal with her latest update:

Our daily groundwork sessions. Photo courtesy of Kristal Gessler.

In a world that has been completely turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic, I am one of many equestrian businesses that is now operating on a skeleton crew. As we are doing our very best to continue operations and training schedules as normal as possible, trying to cram everything into one day has proven to be exhausting and we are seriously missing our barn family/clients. But that’s enough of the doom and gloom we have all been bombarded with over the last few weeks. We are all in the same boat and just need to buckle down and get through this so we can get back to our normal lives/routines and competitions.

I introduced Fraternal (“Romeo”), my 2020 Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover hopeful, to you in my last post. Fraternal enjoyed 60 days of turnout with a few buddies to let down and grow up a bit. During those 60 days, Fraternal enjoyed his weekly PEMF therapy sessions, chiropractic, and of course a new pedicure for his new career.

Fraternal quickly became the barn favorite because of his charming demeanor and never-ending antics. If there is anything even remotely edible and left within reach you can guarantee it will be in his stall/paddock. If you walk by his stall without acknowledging him you can be sure that a tantrum will incur until he receives the attention that he believes he is entitled to. Don’t even try to eat something in front of him as he believes whatever you are eating he must have (just like a toddler) and will consume whatever it is you have.

Fraternal is a barn favorite. Photo by Kristal Gessler.

I can’t even count the the times I’ve walked out to his paddock to find all the PVC drainage poles completely rearranged like a game of pick-up sticks, or better yet see him running around with them in his mouth like he is playing fetch. He is absolutely a giant toddler on four legs, but he keeps us all laughing and smiling every day.

After 60 days of leisure, the December 1 deadline approached and we were ready to start a workout regimen. Fraternal and I spent a lot of time on the ground establishing a connection and boundaries. Fraternal is everything a 3 year old should be: goofy, exuberant, opinionated, curious, talented, and just plain full of life.

Fraternal took to his new career like a fish to water. He soaked up everything like a sponge, working over cavaletti, through water, over small logs, ponying along with the more seasoned horses, assisting in lessons, and soon mastered the ground work like a seasoned pro.

We then moved on to working under saddle. As with most young OTTBs, during his first few rides he was a bit tense and unsure of what was going to be asked of him. As the days went on and he grew accustomed to his routine and what was expected, he slowly began to settle in and relax.

Body conditioning: top photo March 2020, bottom photo October 2019.

As with all of my young horses, desensitizing plays a huge role in my training. I want to set them up for success in any situation that may arise, so to prepare them for this I do my best to create situations and stimuli they may come upon at any of our competitions. Being an eventer and aiming to compete in eventing at the Makeover, there is a lot that Fraternal needs to become accustomed to seeing.

Fraternal has shown us that he is more of the sensitive type, as he is reactive to all noises and goings on around him. This means I am going to have to be even more diligent about desensitizing him to everything possible. Many of our training sessions have included me riding him while someone is walking/running around with an umbrella, flag, tarp, etc., encouraging him to ignore what is going on and try to only focus on me and what I’m asking.

As most of you know, asking this of a young horse can be extremely challenging. “Slow and steady” was our motto and after a few sessions I had his complete attention even when there was complete chaos going on around us.

We then introduced working with another horse in the ring. This has proven to be our biggest obstacle to overcome yet. As every time the other horse passes us or comes up behind us he decides it is playtime and tries to engage the other horse in a game of tag, catch me if you can or watch what I can do. Let’s just say it was a very interesting first few session with lots of laughs involved. As the days passed he became more comfortable with other horses working around him but would still throw out and antic or two just to see if I was paying attention.

Golf cart desensitizing. With our assistant Juliet trailing behind. Photo by Kristal Gessler.

Many of our days are spent just sitting on him teaching lessons so that he learns to be patient and can watch the more experienced horses jump around, hear them knock rails, listen to them galloping around, with absolutely no pressure or expectations for him. At most of our competitions there are many golf carts or mini bikes, bicycles, tractors, etc. going around the show grounds.

To help prepare him for this, we do weekly golf cart walks where he walks beside the moving golf cart, getting accustomed to all the noises that it might create. Walking alongside quietly while hearing all the noise on the road, Fraternal is quickly excitable but with a soft reminder is brought back to the correct working mindset and we can continue on.

As we work, one day at a time, we will hopefully continue to progress and begin our competition season once this virus has finally ended. For now it’s continuing on with our daily training schedule and doing the best we can in these uncertain times. Stay tuned for our monthly updates and training progress.

Road to the Thoroughbred Makeover: Meet Kristal Gessler & Fraternal (‘Romeo’)

By on Feb 25, 2020 9:00 am -

For 616 accepted trainers, the journey to the Retired Racehorse Project’s 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, has begun! The 2020 event will take place at Oct. 7-10 at the Kentucky Horse Park. Between now and then, five eventing trainers will be blogging their journeys, including their triumphs and their heartbreaks, successes and failures, for Eventing Nation readers. Today, we meet trainer Kristal Gessler.

Kristal is from Rexford, NY, and operates her business, Kristal Clear Equestrian, a new sport horse training facility specializing in restarting OTTBs, out of Burnt Hills, NY. This will be her second year competing in the Makeover — last year she finished 6th in eventing with her 4-year-old Prolific. This year she returns with Fraternal (barn name “Romeo”), a Godolphin-bred 2017 17-hand Thoroughbred gelding (Into Mischief  x Sister State, by A.P. Indy). Take it away, Kristal!

Kristal’s 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover hopeful, Fraternal. Photo courtesy of Kristal Gessler.

From a young age I had a big interest in OTTBs, and while I had many different types of horses there was usually always one in barn. Growing up on my family farm horses were not the main focus and were only a hobby for us kids. That hobby quickly turned into a passion that I knew I wanted to turn into a lifetime career. I guess you could consider me one of those, almost now extinct, “barn rats”; even though we kept our horses at home I spent most of my time in the barn caring for and riding/driving as much as possible.

I worked with several local trainers — everything from hunter/jumpers to natural horsemanship, learning and soaking up every bit of information I could possibly find. It wasn’t until later into my adult years that I discovered my true passion for eventing and dressage. After finishing college, doing the whole stay-at-home-mom thing and going through a divorce, I decided I wanted more for myself and my son. I didn’t want to have to give up my stay-at-home-mom status and send my son to daycare so I looked for a job that would allow me to have him with me everyday.

I was then introduced to five-star eventer Marcia Kulak. I spent many years training and working alongside her, and learning everything I possibly could regarding the training and management of high-profile equine athletes. The days were long but an experience unlike any other, the best learning environment and window into the eventing world that I could receive. After many summers working closely with the Kulak team, and winters spent in a few different local barns, I decided it was time to step out of my comfort zone, take the leap and start my own business. I spent my first year traveling locally, coaching, and training young horses and riders of all ages and levels. The goal was to develop my reputation and a solid customer base, which was accomplished, and November of 2018 I was able to rent my first barn and establish a base for my training business.

That first winter was amazing and exhausting all at the same time. As with most new businesses the first year was full of ups and downs and lots of learning experiences. It was during this time that I discovered the Retired Racehorse Project and the Thoroughbred Makeover. As I did my research into the RRP/Thoroughbred Makeover and coaching a client through their first year competing at the Makeover, I decided I wanted to jump in and give it a try. I spent countless hours researching and combing through all of the Thoroughbred aftercare and rehoming programs and decided to contact the Godolpin rehoming program.

After many emails back and forth with the director of the U.S. program based in Kentucky, I was matched up with Prolific, a 4-year-old gelding. He was tall, dark and handsome so I said yes and he was shipped to me in February of 2019. From the moment he stepped off the trailer it was love at first sight; I couldn’t believe this beautiful creature was mine!

Our journey to the 2019 Makeover was not an easy one as he had many health complications to overcome, but with our amazing team, veterinarian, farrier and coaches, we were able to get him on the right track. We spent the spring/summer schooling, schooling, and more schooling. Everything was a training opportunity. We took him along to every competition and exposed him to everything he could possibly see when we arrived in Kentucky.

He had three competitions under his belt before we prepared for his final competition before the Makeover. It was at this final competition at GMHA in Vermont when he finally peaked and all the pieces came together. The cross country course was the biggest most intimidating course he had seen yet and I wasn’t sure how he was going to react to it, but I felt it was going to help to prepare him for what he was going to see and give me the best insight into how he would perform over the fences in Kentucky. From the moment he stepped into the start box he was game on. With only a few looks at the running water crossings, he tackled every question without any hesitation and loved every minute of it! I knew from that moment I had an extremely brave and bold cross country horse.

The next week we were off to Kentucky and extremely excited to compete and be a part of this amazing adventure. The week was filled with every possible experience and emotion, from excitement, to nervousness, to doubt, to pure exhaustion. The competitors and staff were absolutely amazing — never before have I felt such a sense of community, and helpfulness. Yes we are all there competing against each other with one goal in mind, to win the Finale, but everyone was so helpful and positive, and just truly wanted to see you succeed. They set a new standard that I wish more competitions would strive for.

Prolific after cross country. Photo courtesy of Kristal Gessler.

Prolific stepped upped his game at the Makeover performing his best dressage test yet that season, earning him second place after dressage. He put in his best effort in show jumping, which is his toughest phase, producing a beautiful round with one unfortunate rail. When it came time for cross country it was time to go out and have some fun. When it was our time to go we galloped off, taking the first jump quietly, and then he kicked into cross country gear and away we went. He tackled every question with a boldness like never before — I was beyond excited. As we approached the final jump I knew the gallop was next. Never letting him truly go before I wasn’t sure what to expect from him. We landed from the final jump, made the turn and I told him to go, he questioned me for a second then took off like a rocket, shooting up the hill, through the finish flags and earning him the highest score on his card for his gallop.

I came off course on cloud 9 and in tears. Prolific overcame an uphill health battle, he made it, conquered it, and had a blast doing it! We wound up placing 6th overall, making it in the top 10 and into the awards ceremonies. This journey was like none other and I was so proud to be a part of it! Prolific and I are now looking forward to the upcoming show season and continuing to move up the levels in eventing.

After competing for the first time at the Makeover, I am completely hooked. What an amazing experience and way to promote the Thoroughbred breed and there afterracing careers. Being at the Makeover opened myself and my business up to new opportunities and solidified my career goals in retraining OTTBs for there second careers.

After all the competing was over I decided I had to do this journey again. While still at the Makeover, on our down day before the Finale, we were able to tour the Godolphin facilities, where I was able to look at and choose my 2020 Makeover hopeful, Fraternal (“Romeo”). This handsome young gelding shows all the potential of an upper level competitor and I am very excited to bring him along.

Fraternal was able to make the journey home with us after the Makeover where he enjoyed some down time with a few buddies as we awaited the December 1st deadline. After the deadline he began a very light training schedule. I start all of my youngsters on the ground, putting in many hours of learning the fundamentals of ground work or “rope work” as I call it before ever starting them under saddle. Fraternal soaked up everything like a sponge and is proving to be extremely smart, willing and athletic.

He now has a full 30 days under saddle and just recently participated in his first dressage clinic with Jeff Lindburg, where he has shown that he has a ton of potential and a great brain. Our goal for the 2020 Makeover is to compete in eventing, but we will see what he will be best suited for mentally and physically as we get closer.  I am very excited to share our journey to the 2020 RRP Thoroughbred Makeover with everyone and hope you enjoy and follow along with us.