Jona Robles didn't start in the horse world, in fact, he only got started with horses when he was trying to impress a girl. A former professional basketball player and walk-on kicker for the University of Oregon, Jona had his degree in psychology and thought he'd always use that degree. But his education, combined with his physical athleticism, made horses an exciting challenge and one that he started to find success in quickly.
Leaving his full time job at OHSU, Jona began training horses full time taking on any and all horses of whatever discipline, whatever issues, and more. As he honed his craft, he started to become known for his colt starting processes and started traveling as a clinician and instructor.
Right when everything started to go right, however, Jona began to feel overwhelmed with burn out. Problem horses, surrounding yourself with the wrong people, and over working himself, he stepped away from horses. At the time, he didn't have plans to come back.
Getting away, traveling the world, and taking care of his mental health, it only two weeks for his body to reset and the burn out to go away. He came back with a vengeance, a new program and boundaries to protect his mental health, and was caught off guard when he was accepted as a finalist in the Wild Card competition of the Road to the Horse colt starting challenge.
Join us in this episode as Jona talks about his upbringing, getting into horses, the details of the Road to the Horse that both the public see and the behind the scenes that only competitors are privy too, how he handles his mental health as a horse trainer, and his preparations for the big contest in Kentucky where he'll compete against the biggest names in the country!
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