Kathleen Johnstun has been begging and pleading with anyone and everyone who owns horses to let her spend time with them and learn to ride since she spied her first horse as a child. Her dream of a childhood pony manifested instead into summer horse camps in Carnation, WA. Luckily, a childhood friend's family owned a ranch nearby her home in Twisp, WA (Methow Valley) so she learned to ride Western there. 

After college, she purchased her first horse, a buckskin Quarter Horse mare. Together, they enjoyed western trail riding where they lived in Mazama, WA. 

In 2004, she began riding with the best riding instructor ever, Annie Budiselich of Methow Valley Riding Unlimited, and switched to English riding. Because the Methow Valley is known for Cross Country Skiing, Annie taught Kathleen the parallels between horse riding and nordic skiing, which she had been doing her whole life. Here she learned dressage basics and jumping. She competed with the Moccasin Lake Ranch riding team in several dressage and jumping shows from 2006-2009 in Washington State. Additionally, she was able to volunteer with Let 'Em Ride for several seasons, which is therapeutic horseback riding for special needs students in conjunction with the Methow Valley School District. 

In 2010, she moved to Portland, OR to attend graduate school at Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education and was forced to take a break from horses until 2017, when she began taking dressage lessons again at Anamchara Stables with various riding instructors. In 2018, she traveled 130 miles across the Scottish Highlands on horseback over the course of 6 days with Highlands Unbridled. 

Since 2018, she has been instructing private dressage lessons on weeknights and Sundays and assisting with summer camps at Anamchara Stables, in addition to teaching 6th grade. Kathleen is patient and enjoys teaching riders that horses and horse riding can inspire confidence in students, which can translate positively into other areas of our lives. She especially enjoys working with students with special needs.