About

Kimberly Dunn formed Idyllwild horsemanship & mindset coaching, with a mission to help horses and their people to form harmonious and balanced relationships. 

Kim with three horses

Kim is passionate about building confidence from the ground up and developing relaxed, confident, happy horses, and people.

Kim’s Story

Kim has had a passion for horses from a very early age. She started her equestrian career as a teenager and was instantly hooked.

Working with horses of all shapes and sizes, disciplines and backgrounds, Kim finally found her niche in western riding, working with American Quarter Horses. It was with quarter horses that she learnt the foundations of western style groundwork and fell in love with the western competition discipline of Reining.

Under the tuition of Lee Rutter from The Oakridge Arena, Kim was lucky enough to compete successfully in the reining industry in the UK, placing well in classes, and winning a circuit year end award for Freestyle Reining.

“Kim is a fantastic horse woman, she’s kind and patient, and explains everything in an easy to understand way. Highly recommend Kim for anyone wanting to develop the bond with their horse”

Nikki Brown

During this time, Kim also developed a passion for teaching, having the opportunity to teach many lessons to beginners, and more advanced western riders, as well as coaching clinics and summers camps, and achieving a UKCC Level 2 Coaching Certificate in Western riding. 

More recently, Kim has travelled the world in order to expand her equestrian education and refine her horsemanship skills. 

Working and living in 3 different continents, Kim has had the opportunity to experience all walks of equestrian life, including:

  • Grooming at top competitions and events
  • Assisting and taking part in live productions and performances
  • Working with horses on film sets
  • Cattle and ranch work
  • Liberty training
  • Remedial problem solving
  • Preparing horses for the beginning of their career

Kim has been lucky enough to work alongside and receive mentoring from several world renowned and gifted trainers, including:

  • Multiple Freestyle Reining champion, Equine Entertainer and Performer, and Road to the Horse winner and competitor, Dan James, of DoubleDan Horsemanship.
  • Talented European reining trainers Cira Baeck and Kika Bengyakova
  • Multiple award-winning Canadian Equine Entertainer and Performer, Movie and TV Horse Trainer and Producer of colt starting event ‘Heart of the Horse’, Niki Flundra.
  • Skye Liikanen and Joshua Knight, endorsees of DoubleDan Horsemanship, who have competed very successfully in the USA in The Thoroughbred Makeover and multiple Mustang Makeovers. They now run their own successful training business, Knights Equestrian in Queensland Australia.
  • And finally, Kim was lucky enough to spend some time learning from Warwick Schiller, an international clinician, mentor, and general horse guru!

During these travels Kim has mastered her horsemanship skills, learning from incredible trainers and working with a variety of horse breeds, disciplines and backgrounds, each with multiple different requirements and needs. With this knowledge and experience she has developed her own unique approach to horse training, working from a foundation of mutual respect, communication and trust to create soft, responsive, and happy horses.

“Kim has such a special talent to work with both horse and student, to accomplish each individuals goals. Her diverse knowledge, partnered with her heart for horses, is what makes Kim an incredible clinician”

Niki Flundra

Having spent the majority of 2020 helping train young horses with Louise McKnight of Broadway Performance Horses, Kim has now relocated to Devon, where she currently resides with her small furry teaching assistant Mavis, and her American quarter horse, Snoox.

Kim currently holds a UKCC Level 2 Certificate in Western Riding, spent 2021 judging online shows for the International Liberty Horse Association, and now hosts her own podcast ‘The Enlightened Equestrian Podcast

She is a qualified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Mind Coach,  a certified NLP and EFT practitioner, she is fully insured, and cannot wait to further help people and their horses up and down the country…and across the world!

Let Freedom Rein Podcast

Kim was a guest on the Let Freedom Rein Podcast and talks through her passion for horses and her journey towards mastering horsemanship. Listen below to find out more.

Alternatively, download the podcast