For Colorado based trainer Kelly McDowall the best part about being a horse trainer is finding a horse that best fits the rider. One of the most important things to him is to surround himself with great horses.

“A horse trainer can make a bad horse great, but a horse trainer can also make a great horse bad. I try to surround myself with great horses and I try very hard not to ruin them,” McDowall says. “I try to spend more time making a really good horse great than trying to make the bad horses good. It keeps my goals for each horse realistic and that is better for the trainer, owner and horse.”

Growing up in Altoona, Iowa, McDowall had a love for horses at an early age and has been hooked ever since. His parents, Millie and Kit McDowall made sure he had a pony when he was little and a horse for 4-H and open shows throughout middle and high school. McDowall attended Colorado State University where he was a member of the school’s horse judging team. It was there he met his wife, Marnie.

“Marnie’s sister, Sara, and I were friends in college,” McDowall recalls. “Marnie was in college in a neighboring town and would come to visit on weekends.”

The couple was married in 1992 and after college McDowall went to work for Equine Equities in Omaha, Nebraska breaking colts for six months. Then for George Freeman in Sallisaw, Oklahoma for a year before heading to Castle Rock, Colorado to work for Marilyn Alkire. In 1996 he opened his own training operation in Franktown, Colorado.

“I have always been better at giving orders than taking them,” McDowall says. “But supply and demand was the real reason I decided to go out on my own. Several nice people had expressed an interest in sending horses to me so I decided to give it a try.”

Currently McDowall works out of his farm on 40 acres between Denver and Colorado Springs with a view of the Front Range Mountains and Pike’s Peak.

The facility boasts a heated barn, 80-foot by 120-foot indoor arena, 21 stalls, three large pastures, 12 turnout pens, and two 100-foot by 200-foot outdoor arenas.

McDowall is a member of the AQHA, NSBA and APHA and holds a judge’s card with AQHA and NSBA. He specializes in All Around events and says he does pretty much every show event that doesn’t involve a cow or a jump.

He also coaches many successful Amateur and Youth competitors including his own children, Klay, 16 and Claire, 12.

McDowall says he has been fortunate enough to ride and train many great horses throughout his career. The past couple years he has had the opportunity to ride Certainly A Blaze, the 2014 AQHYA World Champion in Horsemanship; three-time Congress Champion in 15-18 Horsemanship and 14-18 Western Riding; The Ultimate Zip, the 2014 Congress Champion in Novice Youth 13&Under Trail; Credits For Heaven, the AQHYA World Champion in Trail; Best One Out There, a 2-time NSBA World Champion in Western Riding and Trail; My Ace Is Hot, a multiple Congress and NSBA World Champion; We Be Blazin, a multiple Congress and NSBA World Champion; Zip Back And Rock, a two-time APHA World Champion; and Lucky Poker Chip an APHA World Champion. He has also had many clients earn top 10 and top five placings at the AQHYA World Show, AQHA World Show, All American Quarter Horse Congress and NSBA World Show.

While McDowall loves his job and customers, he says his greatest accomplishment has been his children and the hardest part about his job is being away from them when they don’t accompany him to shows. In his free time McDowall’s life is all about the kids. He picks them up from school, and enjoys watching their sporting or school activities. He’s also an avid golfer and fisherman.