Kansas Carradine is the definition of fierce. Her entire life she has worked with thousand-pound animals, performing acrobatics requiring strength and grace, and recently racing through Patagonia unsupported on horseback. Now Carradine, who has called Tahoe/Truckee home many times in her life, faces another fearsome task, the internal journey, working to help humans becoming emotionally balanced through their interactions with horses.
Carradine grew up in Southern California and was introduced early to the equestrian environment, as her family owned horses. The animals called to her with their peacefulness, athleticism, complexity, and desire to bond. Already a strong rider, she started training at age 11 at Riata Ranch, a trick-riding school, staying there exclusively until she was 18.
“I’ve been doing it my whole life; I don’t remember a time without horses,” explained Carradine as she reminisced about her childhood. There was no stopping young Carradine as she delved into acrobatic stunt riding and the professional horse industry. She performed trick riding at Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeos, sporting events, and high-level equestrian shows throughout elementary school and her teen years.
In 2004, her knack for performance found a new calling in Cavalia, an equestrian spectacle. Created by a Cirque du Soleil founder, the large-scale horse show was an acrobatic and theatrical production, featuring jaw-dropping stunts by equines and humans. Already comfortable under the spotlight, Carradine joined as both a rider and trainer for the shows, which fit her love for bringing joy to people. Along the way, she earned the name “Circus Cowgirl.”
“Circuses historically were places where the kind of people who were maybe ostracized, a little bit different, or even looked at as freaks, they were all welcomed,” explained Carradine about her perspective on the circus. “(People) went from town to town and brought joy to people in their uniqueness. And so, to me, the circus is about inclusivity as much as it is about community.” She further elaborated, saying that she never exactly fit in a box and knew that adding “Circus” to “Cowgirl” made the perfect name.
For 15 years, Carradine toured the world with Cavalia, which performed on five continents with up to 70 horses. It was the largest touring show in the world, Carradine said, and she played a major role in its acrobatic productions. Unfortunately, when the Covid-19 pandemic devastated the live entertainment industry, the production took a hiatus and the Circus Cowgirl ended up leaving the organization. She was unsure what to do at the time and debated finding another show to join, but instead spent time mulling over the deeper meaning of horsemanship, thinking about how horses are used by humans, and realizing she wanted to focus more on their spirits. She decided that her lifelong friend offered great gifts in healing humankind.
This journey toward therapeutic horsemanship started with her own emotional work. In 2003, Carradine began exploring a practice called HeartMath as a method to regulate her own emotions.
“I, like every other human on the planet, have struggled with mental health issues. Even though I seem to have a really glamorous, interesting career, I still struggle with depression at times,” she said.
HeartMath investigates the science of a technique called heart coherence, which Carradine describes as a synchronization in our physiology that helps create a calm environment, not just for ourselves, but also for the animals around us. Horses, she says, are the original biofeedback machine; they mirror what’s going on inside of us.
She became a HeartMath-certified trainer and soon started teaching its tactics for emotional self-regulation, mixing in horsemanship techniques in riding and groundwork.
“[Horses] have always really taught me a lot about the power of being present and being calm, and we talk about that, but knowing deeply how to do that is something that I feel helps all of our overall mental balance,” Carradine said. “Everybody’s going to have things that happen in life that are troublesome, and so it’s very skillful to know how to bring ourselves back into center. The portal that I use is gratitude; the more that we can find something to appreciate, it helps us shine a light at the end of a dark tunnel.”
As the Circus Cowgirl crafted her blend of teaching, learning about herself and others, she connected with other horse-people who were exploring this metaphysical side of horses, such as Warwick Schiller. Originally from Australia, Schiller is an internationally known horse clinician and author, who in recent years veered to a similar realm. His Journey On podcast features more than 150 episodes exploring people’s transformational growth, mostly in the horse world, and Carradine has been a guest more than once.
Earlier this year, Schiller offered Carradine an exceptional opportunity in yet another area of the horse world: the Gaucho Derby. The Derby, held in the Patagonia Mountain Range of Argentina, is a 10-day journey across 500 kilometers (approximately 310 miles) of rugged terrain on horseback. The race is held in February — summer in the Southern Hemisphere — and there is no set route; riders study maps and choose their own way. On top of that, riders go unsupported, which meant they carry all their supplies with them. Most participants prepare for up to a year for this race, but Carradine had just 6 weeks. She, of course, practiced by-the-book methods of training, including intense physical conditioning such as high-intensity interval training (HIIT) for her fitness, but also doubled down on the HeartMath path.
She explained that it was a stretch to prepare for the Derby at such short notice, but then again, you are only as good as your horse. She headed to Argentina with anticipation and eagerness to finally meet in person the seven horses she’d be completing the course with. Although horses are tough animals, traveling an immense distance with only small moments of rest takes its toll; therefore, each day the rider switches the horse they will be traveling with. The moment Carradine saw each horse, she says she knew they were compatible with each other through what she calls their “heart connections.”
“If you don’t have a good connection, there’s a lot of challenges and frustration, and that can drain your energy,” she explained. “But for every horse that I had, I just flooded them with so much appreciation and praise, and I put all of my horsemanship skills into just finding cooperation, and it ended up being an amazing, amazing event because of that.”
Carradine further clarified that she actually started connecting with the horses before she ever set foot in Argentina. “There was a very conscious intention, a very specific process to connect with them energetically,” she described.
She and Schiller stuck together during the ride and both ended up completing the challenge. Carradine says she couldn’t have finished the event without the community she found. She felt an organic connection with everyone, from the horses to the humans, and crossed the finish line “eight abreast,” side by side with seven other riders and their horses.
Now back stateside, Carradine, who has lived in Canada for the past 9 years, is shifting her home base to Tahoe/Truckee. Across the region, she is teaching her blend of horsemanship and HeartMath, with trick riding thrown in for good measure. She emphasizes that her clinics are not just for horse-people, as all humans benefit from emotional regulation.
“I have a lot of people who are just interested in learning about emotional self-regulation or really the healing power of being around these amazing animals,” Carradine shared. “Some people who are in the mental health industry, frontline healthcare workers, or those who work in the equine therapy industry, also come.”
For years, Carradine has spread her love of horses to the world, quite literally, and it seems the Circus Cowgirl has no plans of stopping any time soon.
