Get Back on the Horse: Eight Decades of Mastery with Muffy Knox

She fell off the horse at six years old, and her mother gave her a choice: go in the house and cry or get back on. 

Muffy Knox chose to get back on, and she never stopped. 

In this conversation with Dr. Chad Hewlett, Muffy traces eight decades of life in the saddle, from a barefoot childhood on a Calgary-area farm in the 1940s to becoming one of Alberta's most respected equine educators, coaching four 4-H clubs simultaneously, teaching the first certified Western coaching program at Olds College, and helping shape the Alberta Paint Horse Club from its earliest days. 

Now at 80 years old, with a new hip and a new knee, she's still riding two horses a day and teaching private lessons, driven not by ambition but by something far more durable: the quiet, daily pull of horses. 

The insight that emerges from her story is one the equine world rarely says out loud…that you don't always need a plan, you just need to keep getting back on.

Listen For:

3:51 What did falling off a horse at six years old teach Muffy about choices in life?

1:12 What was it really like growing up on a farm with no riding instruction at all?

13:44 How do you rebuild everything — your farm, your finances, your future — after your house literally explodes?

16:05 What are the three types of coaches, and why does knowing which one you are change everything?

32:52 What does it mean to still be riding two horses a day at 80 years old with a brand new knee?

GUEST: MUFFY KNOX, EQUINE EDUCATOR & CERTIFIED COACH 

CONNECT WITH CHAD HEWLETT, VETERINARIAN | OWNER OF ENERGY EQUINE

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Transcript

Muffy Knox (00:00):

And my mom would say, "Do you want to go in the house and ball or do you want to get back on the horse?" So I learned then right there there was always choices. So I always made the choice to get back on.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (00:19):

Hello everybody. Welcome to another episode of Unbridled and Legendary. Today we have Muffy Knox. When it comes to legendary, for sure in my mind Muffy's, I've been here for 32 years in Alberta and Muffy's been a part of the horse industry, a central part. So we're going to go through a few things today. We sat down, had a little visit beforehand and talked about it. And just what I love about these podcasts is we're just learning so much about people that are really able to share with us some of the things that happen and just like how you do work through life. And in Muffy's sort of way we're talking about there's kind of always a path it seems like, right?

Muffy Knox (00:58):

Absolutely.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (00:59):

Yeah. It seems like we find a path, right?

Muffy Knox (01:02):

Sometimes you don't plan on it. It just happens.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (01:04):

Yeah. So we're going to start off with, I think the first chapter that we'll do is we'll kind of go through being born around Calgary and kind of growing up. And if you feel comfortable with it, I sure wouldn't mind if you tell us like the years as far as like when it all started. Because I think a lot of people in Calgary now, we're 1.4 million people here and in Muffy's early days, probably 200,000, right?

Muffy Knox (01:27):

Yeah.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (01:28):

Yeah. So tell us a little bit about just early life and being on a farm.

Muffy Knox (01:32):

Okay, great. I was born in Calgary in 1945 and I went to live with my aunt and uncle on a farm in the south of Forest Lawn and it was a mixed farm with cattle, some crops, pigs, chickens. And I just loved it there. Just loved it there. Of course, they had a few horses. Nobody was a skilled rider. They rode. I had two cousins and they rode for fun. They rode wild and free. They rode stupidly. And the choice was either you get on, you hang on, you don't cry or you stay home. And so that's how I've initially started to ride. I can remember my mom and my aunt working in the garden and there was a nice barbwire fence around the garden with a little grass plot about 12 feet from the garden to the fence. And I was allowed to ride in that area while they gardened.

(02:27):

And my whole goal at six years old was to get the horse to try. And as soon as he would try, I'd fall off and I'd start to ball and my mom would say, "Do you want to go in the house and ball or do you want to get back on the horse?" So I learned then right there there was always choices. So I always made the choice to get back on and we went from there and finally I got to sit on the horse and stay on the horse and at the tri, got to ride more and go with my cousins and I didn't have to ride behind somebody bareback. Now I could ride by myself on another horse. I remember one time we never rode with saddles and I remember one time being home, I don't know why I went ... Well, I probably wasn't alone, but I was in the barn area alone and I must have been maybe nine or 10 and I decided I was going to saddle the horse.

(03:19):

Did I know how to saddle the horse? Not a chance. Chance. Not a chance. So I somehow got saddled on the horse and these weren't ponies. They weren't probably 15 hand horses. I got the saddle on myself and I did it up and then I rode three miles to ask my cousin if I had it done upright. Talk about stupid, but that's how we rode then. Foolish, free bareback. I don't think I rode with the saddle until I was well in my teens. For real.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (03:47):

Yeah. And I think when we were discussing earlier, you told a little bit of a story about your mom and your aunt were working in the garden, like this gardening and probably getting things around her food as well. I'd be seeing flowers and all that sort of stuff. But there was a grass patch around the outside and you wanted to ride the horse and you wanted to do something. And anyway, can you tell us that real quick just to go with that?

Muffy Knox (04:11):

Well, yes, that was the beginning that I just mentioned that they would be gardening and I would be riding around the outside of the garden on that grass area trying to get the horse to try. That was my whole goal. Go faster, go bigger, just get her done. No instruction. My mom and my aunt knew nothing other than how to pick me up when I fell off.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (04:33):

Yeah. And I think you had said too that they just kind of said, if you fell off, they just sort of been like, either we go back in the house or get back on the horse.

Muffy Knox (04:43):

Is

Dr. Chad Hewlett (04:43):

That

Muffy Knox (04:43):

Right? That's right.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (04:44):

There's definitely a metaphor in there. A sense of like how this podcast comes together is like just talking a lot about that in life. When the things harder coming at us, we kind of have a choice. It's like, are we going to do this or are we going to find an excuse and go in the house so to speak against you? So you made your way through high school and inside of this section, this chapter, it's kind of cool because ever since I've known you, you've been in education. Again, I feel like I should have done some more questioning as I was out there being your veterinarian and asking questions, but I didn't know that you had a degree from the University of Calgary. This is so cool. Can you tell us a little bit about what sparked that? How did you end up being in school?

Muffy Knox (05:29):

Sure. In high school, I love sports, did all sports. And so I wanted to go to university become a phys ed teacher, but to get a degree as a phys ed teacher, you had to have a background in science and I was not good in science, but I was good in English. And so I took education with a major in English and phys ed was my secondary. But when I got hired to teach school in Calgary, right out of university, I got taught to teach phys ed. So sports, sports, sports all the way through. And so I would teach school all year and then in the summer I'd ride and teach lessons to my cousins coming up, neighbors, friends, whoever wanted to come and ride with me.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (06:14):

Yeah. I find that, and I think that's really neat how this educational background works into like coaching because that's literally been your life, coaching people and their horses. And sometimes as we go through this podcast, we'll see less than optimal sort of settings, right?

Muffy Knox (06:31):

Yes.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (06:32):

And it's really hard on my mind right now because we just finished 4-H on Parade with our last son, Rowans 12. We were just down at Calgary Stampede for four days and he showed us sheep and the cows were there and there was tons of horses there too and they were in the new nutrient center and stuff. So kind of going back to that a litle bit at this time as well, we have two things to weave in here. One is like you started doing some 4-H as well. Is that

Muffy Knox (07:01):

Correct? I got married in 72 and we lived on an acreage in Santa Ridge by the airport and there was a 4-H club there and they knew I was already showing at open shows. And so the leader of the 4-H club said, "I'm leaving next year. You got to come and take over." And I begrudgingly did it, but soon I just loved it and I could not have asked for a better learning ground to learn about how to teach horses and teach people than 4-H, because you have absolutely every kind of problem with horse and rider that you get to work with. And so it taught me a lot. The 4-H program, I cannot thank them enough for allowing me that format to work through. I worked with four different 4-H clubs in the Calgary area all at the same time, just trying to get people and horses to click and mesh and go together in a more appropriate and smooth way and safe way than what they were starting out, what they started out as.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (08:04):

Yeah. And not because we need to get too far into this, but like do you remember what groups you held?

Muffy Knox (08:11):

Saddle Ridge was my primary group and then because Kyoma where I lived was close to Iraqana, Sharon Taggart dragged me into the Iricana 4-H club. Then Airdrie got me and Bovelli had end us. I taught at all four of those.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (08:27):

Incredible. And the thing is that's interesting is like for sure Erdree's still going. So we're an AirDroop beep and sheep Erikana was there and so was Bow Valley or we're at Calgary at 4-H on Parade. So that was 1972 ish, is that right?

Muffy Knox (08:46):

Well after, a little bit after that. Yeah.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (08:48):

So let's say late 70s and in 2026 you still see some of those same families I'm sure.

Muffy Knox (08:55):

Yeah, I'm sure.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (08:56):

Generationally it's changed, but it's just interesting how that all came about. So then inside of that a little bit too, I think you were doing stuff at home. Did you guys have a little arena at home or with the 4-H clubs, did you always go someplace or could you go down to Indus or Bow Valley?

Muffy Knox (09:13):

Yes. As far as 4-H was concerned, it was never at my house. I always traveled to whatever facility they were at. So just about all of them were outdoor arenas and we kind of went rain or shine and did our thing and went on with it.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (09:30):

I guess I think a lot of people that are in education, they get a lot of fulfillment from helping other people just become better, I guess. Does that make sense? Did you find that too?

Muffy Knox (09:41):

That's your goal. Your goal is to help them, help them get better and find your place as the coach. So even though when we moved to Kioma, as I said, Sharon Tegger was my neighbor. I knew Sharon from all the little open horse shows we went to, but I didn't know when we moved out there that she would be my neighbor and her and her husband Hap brought up the first registered paint stallion to Alberta. And then because I was the neighbor, I got all the offspring to start and to go to the shows and show them and get Sharon to show and her son to show and all the 4-H kids that she drug in to buying and paint and they all came too. So it just much roomed. It went on and on and on and on. And that's basically how I got in the training business.

(10:32):

I wasn't out there to be a trainer. I was just out there doing my thing, showing my little corner horse mare, doing very well on the open show circuit and doing pretty good on the quarterhorse circuit and then all of a sudden I was a paint person.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (10:49):

Good. I was trying to find a way for us to get into that chapter. So then if we use the paints to sort of bridges between chapter one of Muffy Knox growing up in Calgary, University of Calgary degree, starting and doing some 4-H and then that sort of transitioned you.

Muffy Knox (11:06):

Another step.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (11:07):

Another step, right? We think about the path. Now we're out at Kioma, which if you don't know Alberta, Kioma's probably what, 60 kilometers from Calgary?

Muffy Knox (11:16):

Maybe a little less. It's 30 kilometers east of the Balzac overpass there.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (11:21):

So

Muffy Knox (11:22):

Probably

Dr. Chad Hewlett (11:22):

Around 40K Northeast of Calgary, beautiful part of the world out on Prairie, just outside of the industrial area. It's more ranching and farming community out there. Farming.

Muffy Knox (11:34):

Yeah,

Dr. Chad Hewlett (11:35):

Lots of farming. And at that time, you and Bob were married

Muffy Knox (11:39):

And

Dr. Chad Hewlett (11:40):

You had bought a place, you said 1978 or 79?

Muffy Knox (11:44):

Yes, 78. We bought the place at Kyoma, very rundown, very old. We knocked down buildings. We hauled garbage for years and years and years and years and started to build new fences, new pens, things like that. We were just kind of getting on our feet and I was getting a few distant horses to ride and we had a propane explosion in our house and the house blew up. So that really set us back because we were paying on the farm and now we have this house, which was an old house anyway, but the weird part about it was we had all the water system for all our waters in the basement and the propane tank had run out of propane and it was supposed to shut off when it run out. It did not shut off and the propane man came and filled the tank with propane and it filled the basement.

(12:36):

So when somebody drank out of the water and it clicked to send the water, the house blew up so it didn't fall in rubble. It just lifted the whole house up, spread it at the bottom and landed it outside the foundation. So it was like a house at the circus that everything, the doors were twisted. It was a real mess and that was in probably June and of course we were worried about having a house by winter. So we had to buy a move on house and get all that done and borrow money from the bank at 21% interest. So that really gave us a kick in the pants. So things were pretty lean for quite a few years till we got that back, paid back and got back on our feet.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (13:25):

Yeah. And I think you're saying to me that Bob had a job in town or was off the farm

Muffy Knox (13:31):

And

Dr. Chad Hewlett (13:31):

Then you were working pretty much all day long at the

Muffy Knox (13:34):

Horses and lessons. Yeah. And

Dr. Chad Hewlett (13:36):

As you say, and then at night you would still be-

Muffy Knox (13:40):

Either people would come haul in lessons or I'd go to 4-H somewhere to teach lessons. Yeah.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (13:47):

So if we go again in our chapters, we went chapter one, now we're in chapter two and at this time we're still teaching 4-H doing the paint horse thing. And then how did that transition into Olds College? Because Olds College sits in here too as far as the teaching. Is it a little further down the line or am I getting-

Muffy Knox (14:04):

No, you're right about right. Equine Canada, Canadian Equestrian Federation, as it was called then, came up with a program to certify coaches. They were having so many complaints from the industry that people were just hanging out with their shingle and becoming a coach and they thought certification was a great idea. And so I think there was a meeting in Calgary and I just went out of curiosity to find out what it was about and I asked some questions and that was a big mistake. A week later they're calling me from Ottawa to say, "Would you like to be the coordinator of the program in Alberta for this CEF Western coaching?" And so I got into that and then right after that, Olds College phoned me and said, "We hear there's a new Western coaching program. Why don't we have it at Olds College and you could come and be the instructor." So it was just finding a path.

(15:01):

It all just sort of fell into place and actually worked really well for me because I had an outdoor facility. We obviously with our house problem couldn't afford to build an indoor arena. And so I would work at home training horses from as soon as I could in the spring, March or April to September at the end of show season, started school at Olds in October and went to February and then did it over and over and over again. So it worked out great for me. I learned a lot more about how to coach and how to deal with horses and how to help people who weren't real competent at riding to train their horses to be better. Then I kind of found where I fit in the mold. In my mind there's three areas of coaching and one is you're a recreational coach, you're just going to have fun, teach some safety and do that thing.

(15:57):

Second, you're a skills coach, you want to teach skills and improve and you may be competitive, but your main goal is helping horses and riders increase their skill level. And the third is competitive where you're going to compete at the highest level you probably can and challenge yourself to the utmost. And I found within that realm of right after teaching at Olds College that I fit in the skills. Well, I did have some interest, but I didn't really want to go to the World Show. I was intimidated by people at that level. I knew I wasn't at that level. I knew the horses I was training wasn't at that level, but I had no trouble preparing my students and the horses to the best that I could. And if they wanted to go to the next level, send them on, go to somebody else that wants to go that way.

(16:49):

It's got to be, you got to want to do what you're doing and you got to get yourself, although you're going to be uncomfortable in the beginning, you've got to get to a place where you're comfortable with it and you've got to experiment with it all and you will find your place where you fit in the grand scheme of things.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (17:08):

That's beautiful music from my ears. I'm not going to like because we have so many young people around us inside the education or veterinary space, not because we're trying to be an education space, but just end up doing that as part of your profession. And I love where you're at with that because as a young person, I think just sometimes they worry so much about like what's going to happen. Where am I going to be? And I like the fact that you said some of these things sort of, it was like a winding path that you really didn't, you couldn't leave the other end of the tunnel.

Muffy Knox (17:41):

Didn't see it at all. I had no major goal. I just wanted to fit in there somewhere and it just built itself.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (17:49):

Yeah. And it's time for us to ask this question to you because you probably, maybe you've thought about it, maybe haven't. Do you have a bit of an idea how many riders you've helped?

Muffy Knox (17:59):

Not a clue. With 4-H and the students that went through old college and no, I don't even want to guess. A lot. A lot. Yes. Because I have people that'll come up to me in the store and say, "Are you Muffy Notch?" Yep. "Well, you taught me. " Yeah, don't you remember I had a horse called Blue? Yeah, I remember that.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (18:23):

Yeah.

(18:24):

Yeah. In our conversation, because I came here in 1995 in the summer, kind of summer, fall, and we're at Calgary Stampede with Dr. Rock and Dr. Atkins, Dr. Moore was there too and Greg Andrews make all that crew, right? Yeah. They were your bed. Yeah. So I'd moved here, you're talking about this ahead of time and back then whenever you were with a mouth. In fact, I got that old truck and I drove out to Kioma within the first week and I met Bob at the house and it was, I can't remember if it was a choke or a colic, but it was a painters. And then the next week I literally met happen Cher and Tyree too, really being not from the area, moving into Calgary and really knowing it's not a soul. It's just kind of interesting how these foundational things come about.

(19:20):

And of course, I had no idea how that all fit.

Muffy Knox (19:24):

Yeah. It's pretty impressive.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (19:26):

And

Muffy Knox (19:27):

I think along the way, you've got to decide what your goals are and you've got to surround yourself with people that can help you. As you mentioned, all the vets that you mentioned, I can remember Dr. Rock saying things to me and I thought, "You mean old bugger." But you know they were so true and so good and he was just laid it out exactly like it was. And I appreciated that so much and all of you taught me so many things that I could deal with on my own and I had a pretty good feel of when I needed veterinary help or body workers or whatever, chiropractors, whatever it is I think it's important that you are not afraid to look outside for help because so many people, I know in the beginning I thought, well, I should be able to figure this out myself and deal with it myself.

(20:19):

There's lots of things you can't. So give a little bit of help with someone that you trust and is going to tell you like Dr. Rock did exactly how it is and then get on with life.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (20:32):

And of course being out in that area I think there's a friend that we both consider strong friend of ours and she would have grown up and rogue with you a little bit, but her mom was coached too, but Tina walking. And then I mean, you just think about the impact that Tina's had on our industry

Muffy Knox (20:52):

Absolutely 4-H. She was an Irican of 4-H and the open shows that we went to, she went to with her mom and her sister and yeah, I can remember her really well and when she first started doing her body work, she'd come to my house and I'm thinking, "Oh, I'm not sure what she's doing, but she seems to think it's okay." And on we all went and it all came out, right? It was a learning ground.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (21:19):

And she was

Muffy Knox (21:21):

Just so powerful now.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (21:24):

That was part of the staple part of our industry

(21:26):

With the evolution of how body work and sports therapy has become part of horses and we just think back to like how we didn't have that, right? Yeah. If we kind of take that as the middle chapter of where we're at and we already talked about the fact that I'm not doing another podcast with you somewhere along the line. I know ID because you were just barely scratching the surface here. What would you say over the last, because now it's 2026 and when I came, it was kind of the 90s without taking too big of a swath, but like where did you see ... So we were at Olds College, things were going on. We did some horse industry branch too, without fracturing too much, but how does that fit in as far as like the paints and Sharon and all the other folks too?

(22:13):

Because for sure I knew you when I came it was a little bit old college, but you were the paint, like you were the person that got people. If they had a paint horse and they wanted to go someplace, they need to start with you.

Muffy Knox (22:26):

Well, a lot of them did, but I mean there were lots of others too, but paint world was small. Our shows were all called poor boy shows that were held at somebody's farm. You camped out, you tied your horse to the trailer or put it in some granary or something overnight and we went there and it grew and the horse business became showing business became, it changed a lot. It has changed a tremendous amount whereas at that time you could pull your horse out of the pasture, grab your two kids, grab your saddle, whatever it was in bridle, and come to the show and feel pretty good. And then it came to the part where, no, you really need to have a horse that's trained by a trainer, which we probably shouldn't talk about that today. But anyway,

(23:17):

We can get that another time, but it became you had to have some money to go, you had to have some money to go. It just became, and not because the paint horse club or any quarter horse club or anybody was making money, it just cost more. Bring in outside judges from the US, flying them up, giving them a hotel, giving them a rental car, feeding them, having the show at a bigger facility that you have to pay more and more money for, having the American associations charge more and more fees, you had to be prepared to go and the intimidation factor become greater if you weren't at that level and didn't have a coach and you went, you didn't even get in the ring before you felt intimidated just to go in the warm upring. I remember dragging a few 4-H kids that were good riders and had nice paints, not necessarily showbread, but nice page, good quality horses came and the mother said, "We're going home.

(24:18):

We're just so uncomfortable here." And I couldn't talk them into singing and I said, "I think you're right. There's something about the era of horse showing that it got to that. And even though the trainers do a good job of saying hello to you and hi, how are you and would probably help you if you had a problem, but have you got the nerve to ask them for the help?" And they're not going to help you unless you ask for the help. It's just become that game and it's become so expensive that it's not a family affair anymore unless you've got the means to do it. And I think that's very sad, very, very sad. So I'm so glad that this little open horse show at Disbury or Olds Northern Trails is just bursting with peoples.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (25:08):

That Northern Trail

Muffy Knox (25:09):

Is just unbelievable. And so horse show was kind of Quarter Horse and the Paints are really struggling because they can't afford to have the show and people won't go because the costs are so high and so it's a never ending battle. And so they are combining shows, combining to have a show together and boy, that's the only way they can afford to do it. And it's still very expensive, very expensive. But I mean, I'm not here to knock it. That's just how it is. And it's not that anyone's doing a bad job or not trying to make it affordable and fun and all that, but sometimes it isn't. So I don't know how we got on that, but

Dr. Chad Hewlett (25:50):

It's okay because that has become more the modern era a little bit too. And I think if we reach back to that a little bit ... Yeah, we're in my office here at home and I have pictures up on the wall of like when I was a kid and everything was pretty much backyard. I grew up, I was at Iowa Lodio Cowboys Association was a little association was very little. It was the 80s and 90s in, right? So a few years behind when you started, but I think you still need some grassroots at some parish for some of these young riders to come out of. And so that Didsbury horse show, kind of fun to see. And then Cody, my daughter, still does some of the shoots by Apaloosa, but the little spotter horse shows too.

Muffy Knox (26:43):

Yeah, they're open.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (26:44):

Yeah. It's more of an open format. She finds that a lot of people will come that are just ... We need to find a place to get young people in, right?

Muffy Knox (26:54):

Absolutely.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (26:56):

Again, through this podcast, it's all about how do we just develop into better people because of the horses like that the way you shoe them due to sports therapy, and sometimes it's being a veterinarian like I'm doing.

Muffy Knox (27:10):

A lot

Dr. Chad Hewlett (27:11):

Of times it's being a coach like you're doing, right? I don't know, I'm always looking for ways for us to continue to advance excellence in young human beings.

Muffy Knox (27:21):

Well, that's

Dr. Chad Hewlett (27:22):

Right.

Muffy Knox (27:23):

And that grassroots thing you mentioned is just such a big deal of going and learning how to win, learning how to lose at the open shows. And there used to be a zillion open shows. And I think there's still quite a few in Edmonton area, but there sure isn't from Calgary South. They're few and far between because the people who are running them have given it up or died or passed on and nobody won't pick up the slack. And so they're starting to come back a little bit I see, but that Northern Trails one must be given all the credit in the world of all the work who's ever handling the reins behind that is doing and welcoming new people to get in there because you don't go. I think it's really a mistake. Well, it's not a mistake. I think it's really disappointing for so many people to say, "Well, I'll go and I'll put my kid in or lead line, even lead line at a breed show." Do you know the saddle and the outfit they have to have to go in there and feel comfortable?

(28:24):

I mean, it's ridiculous, just ridiculous, but that's just how it is at that level. I'm not saying it's bad, but it's hard to bring in people. These open shows are the step. They're like 4-H. Go to 4-H, go to the open shows. When you get good there, then dabble your toe in a breed show instead of jumping and say, "Well, it cost me $1,500 for the weekend. I didn't even get a ribbon and I'm feeling totally intimidated by the whole situation. I'm scared to lead my horse down the alleyway." Had a girl standing at the door when I went out with her horse, a new girl that I didn't know, so there's horses tied in the stallway, and when I come back, she's still there. So I said, "Are you waiting for somebody?" "Well, I'm waiting for them to move the horses. "I said," You just start walking in and they'll move the horses, "but she would've stood there all day and waited because she was too intimidated to art found the Barnelli.

(29:25):

So that's just how it is.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (29:28):

Yeah. It's good though that you're there to keep moving that along. It's always nice to have the foundational members of our society and I think for us as in that mentorship category too, it's how do we help these young people?

Muffy Knox (29:43):

Find the path. Find the path be moving Allen. Maybe not find it, but not get too far off it.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (29:49):

Sure. And I know we talked this morning, this worked out so nice because it's raining and the wind's up and we're still training horses outside. So are you still like this, we'll kind of finish off This last chapter with the Muffy Knox in 2026. So still riding a few horses and coaching how many people coaching?

Muffy Knox (30:07):

Not very many. In 2022, I got a new hip because my body was just falling apart. I was on sound. I needed to come and see the vet and had some shots and it helped a bit. I got a new hip and that worked pretty good. And then my knee fell apart. So just this last fall, I got a new knee. That was not near as fun as a new hip. So I guess I still have some desire to ride because I spent all winter trying to do ... My knee surgery did not go well. I trying to bend my knee enough and then trying to get on the saddle. Not on the horse, just on the saddle on a saddle stand. I couldn't get my leg over. So that was my big worry all winter that I wasn't going to be able to get on.

(30:49):

And so finally I figured out I modified and got away that I could get on. It's pretty ugly. I wouldn't want you to see it too much. I can get on. But the good news was after I got on, felt pretty okay. And my leg worked okay. And I mean, I know I'm old now and I don't have the strength and my timing's a little wonky. So am I training young horses? No. Will I take your horse in that I've already trained and give it a tune up? Yes. Will I teach you a lesson? Yes. So probably more lessons. The good part about it is the 4-H people and people that I taught millions of years ago, it seems, are now coming back because now their kids are up and growing and they're riding again and want to get back getting their horse doing something, whatever it is.

(31:37):

And so back to the teaching thing. So haul in lessons, yes. All winter I traveled to arenas. On Monday I teach here. On Tuesday I teach here. And it was funny ever since COVID, before COVID, it was always group lessons. I'd never do more than four or six in a group because I didn't think you were getting your money's worth. And since COVID, just about all the barn managers wisely shut it down and there could be no more than two horses in the ring at a time. So many of the people chose to go private lessons. Now I am the private lesson. Nobody wants a group lesson. And I don't know if it's just me or what. Everybody would prefer to pay a bit more and have a private lesson. So my number of people in lessons is way down, but I still can teach for three hours here and three hours there.

(32:29):

Three people, but that's enough for me. And now I'm riding again and I'm riding. I can ride two horses comfortably again a day. Three is a little sore. Four, I'm pretty sore. So that's where I'm at and loving it. And because now I'm not concentrating on the person that wants to go to the horse show, I'm just concentrating on the person that wants to go to learn the skills, the pressures off to get them ready for this show next weekend or so and so. It's still there. You still want to achieve the goals, but it's less and we can go at it at a little more relaxed piece.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (33:11):

Well, without being too, not kind of like we're contrary, but too thoughtful about this and just in this sense. So you said at the beginning 1945, that takes us to 1985 and that takes us to 2025. Yeah. So 80 ...

Muffy Knox (33:27):

Coming 81. Yeah.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (33:29):

Yeah. 81 years old just had a hip in 2022 so you were in your late 70s, just had a knee at Haiti and still riding two horses a day. And I remember when I saw you that when you came to the clinic today, you were a litle bit upset because you can't get anything done with the hoses because the weather's rashy. So I think what I love about this too for our listeners out there for sure is like it's so nice to be in something you love here.

Muffy Knox (33:58):

Yeah.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (33:59):

You know what I mean?

Muffy Knox (34:00):

I'm very fortunate. Yeah, you are very, very fortunate.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (34:04):

And being able to do all those things is so cool. And just the fact that we talk about it all the time, it's hard because it's going to be worth it. Does that make sense? I think those are things that sometimes that are suffering or sacrifice. Oh, that sounds terrible. Yeah, I don't. But at the end of the day, it's like-

Muffy Knox (34:26):

Would you change it? Would you change it? Yeah. You learn so much from it. Yeah. You gain so much from it. It isn't fun at the time, but you learn so much that you can use over and over again.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (34:41):

I really appreciate you taking the time to sit down with me today because through your life, if you look at these three chapters, this is a kid in the garden, nobody to teach you. You fall off the horse. You're probably crying. I know I did when I fell off my old mare, the old Gelban, sorry, Rocky, Brownie. Brownie was the first one that we had rock. So Brownie, I'd fall off, I'd be crying and I'd be like, "I don't want to ride anymore." And my dad would be like, "Yeah, we'll put that horse away. We're done." And then you'd get mad and you get back home. You think about, not because life was trying to stop you, but there's some sort of obstacles there too. The house blowing up some people would just move to town.

Muffy Knox (35:23):

This isn't what I signed up, sorry.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (35:26):

I don't like to sign. I mean that's right, but

(35:28):

I do love that how we have that perseverance because that's a fairly structural thing in your life. Get that together happens in June and by that fall we got to figure things out. I mean, and we can all probably bring some parallels and things that have happened in our lives, but I remember I didn't know that story until you told it to me today. And then just thinking again about moving through and then just even at this time, if we go to the third chapter and we talk about things, just having new joints replaced, having hip replacement, knee replacement, and still finding a way to be on the horse.

Muffy Knox (36:04):

That's what made you get over hip ... Well, hip replacement was pretty easy, but knee replacement. It's got to move enough that I can get on the horse. That was my goal.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (36:15):

Well, I think that brings us close to the end of this chapter or the story today and we sure appreciate you joining us. Again, if you can help us out and subscribe to our channel or leave a like, subscribe to our podcast, we sure appreciate it. This has been another episode of Unbridled and Legendary. I'm sure we had somebody legendary here.

Muffy Knox (36:38):

Thanks for having me. It was a good thing to do on a wet windy day.

Dr. Chad Hewlett (36:41):

Yeah, for sure.