Raised in South Dakota, from a young age Karlee Peterson and her sister would “train the heck” out of mini ponies that they’d purchase for a measly $75 from the local newspaper advertisements. Selling these gentled ponies for a bunch of money that they’d use to go jackpot and compete. Starting that process all over again as they got older with training full-sized horses – tips and training they were taught from their parents.

“Incredible hardworkers that we come from,” says Karlee in regards to South Dakotans. “Grew up training a lot of horses right there in the beautiful hills of South Dakota.”

“What was really special about the horses that we got to rodeo on is that either my parents started them or we, as a family, trained them,” says Karlee. Growing up, they’d be on the road for five weeks at a time and after that time being together, in close quarters, in a living quarter horse trailer taught her a lot of respect for her family, the western lifestyle, her competitors, and more. “It’s really special for me to have that bond with so many of my friends for such a long time and getting to grow up together.”

“Without my mentors, there is absolutely no chance that I would be here today,” says Karlee, who was able to surround herself with two extremely incredible people that took her under their wing despite her being green. They taught her more than just television, they taught her life lessons, and how to be informed with the news. They taught her how to have fun and to have no bad days – they all add up to more than you could ever imagine and completely turned Karlee into the person that she is today.

Listen to Karlee’s episode here!

COWGIRL 30 Under 30 is sponsored by The Cowboy Channel, Wrangler, Montana Silversmiths, Durango Boots, Charlie 1 Horse Hats, and Cavender’s.

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Listen to Shaina Zollman’s episode, Owner/Producer, HORSEpro.tv, here!