"Never Lose Your Spark" Cowgirl Profile: Lizzie Iwersen of RFDTV

Horseman. Team Roper. Television Host. Fashionista. I'd call Lizzie Iwersen a jack of all trades. She has found a way to turn her passion into her career by hosting the show Horse Talk Live, and spending her workdays getting to know the equine industry's finest. She took some time out of her busy schedule to answer some questions for us. Enjoy!

CV: How did you go from horse-crazy Montana girl to hosting your own television show?

LI: I've always been horse crazy and loved every single thing about horses and the people who love them like I do. But I never would have thought I'd end up spending my day talking about them on national TV. It was just when I had decided to go to Montana State to continue to rodeo in college that my mom's horse died. He was a super star that I ran barrels and stepped off of in the goat tying. Being that he was so hard to replace, I decided to change gears completely. I ended up going to
school in Reno, NV and to pursue my other passion of snowboarding. After 4 years there and a year
in Spain, I moved to Portland, OR. I spent almost 3 really, really fun years in Oregon. But I realized it was time to get my life in gear- ie: get back into the horse world.  I applied for a position here in Nashville, TN with RFD-TV. It was over 5 months later when they actually offered me a position. Within another 5 months my sister and I road tripped down here with everything I could fit in my car. A few months later my sweet parents sent me a horse from home. It's been here 3 and 1/2 years that I've lived here. Originally, I was hired for marketing. I guess maybe it was apparent that I loved to talk to horse people about horses so that's why they put me in front of a camera, to do just that!

CV: Tell us about Horse Talk Live.

LI: Horse Talk Live is just what its title implies: An hour spent talking about horses. I've invited people and products in to be guests, always trying to cover as many different disciplines and issues as I can think of. Sometimes, if something comes up in my own life- a product or an issue i am going
through with my own horses, I decide that it's something we should cover on Horse Talk.

CV: Who is the most fun or interesting person you've had on the show?

LI: It would be so hard to pick the most fun I've had on the show or the most interesting person I've met. I can, however, say that Craig Cameron is one heck of a guy. And I did four episodes with the Total Team Roping Crew and we certainly had a lot of laughs. I was not spared in any jokes and had to fend for myself- both off-air and on-air- for 2 days. I also really thought that i knew a good deal about horses before Horse Talk. But spending as much time as I have now with veterinarians and horsemen, I realized that it's true you won't ever know it all and the process of learning is life-long. I love the horse health episodes and find all those subjects fascinating- as well as so helpful as a horse owner.

CV: As a television personality you are a style icon for many women across the country. How would you describe your style and what or who has been your biggest fashion inspiration?

LI: Picking out 5 different outfits a week can be a challenge, let me tell you! I truly love being a cowgirl and believe it's a privilege to be able to dress like one. Although my style is always changing, a few things will always be a part of my wardrobe: A good hat and a wild rag.
I love cowboy hats and love that I have a job where I can wear one everyday. JW Brooks makes my hats and his wife Jody is a cowgirl whose style has influenced me- she ALWAYS looks good. Kathleen Brannon, the designer of Desert Sage Bead Art, is, in my opinion, the best dressed woman in our industry! Every time I run into her, I make it a point to try and dress more like her, but it never happens- style like that can't be recreated. It is my mom and sisters, however, who will always be my biggest influences. Our mom was very particular about how we dressed and we are so much better off for it. My mom always has- still does-remind us to wear a ribbon in our hair, to be feminine no matter what we're doing. I still do wear a matching ribbon whenever I can. It was my mom that turned me on to accessories like wild rags and turquoise jewelry.

CV: You travel a lot for your job. What is the neatest place or event you have been to?

LI: Travel is a huge benefit to my job. I went to Brazil in 2012 which was obviously a neat opportunity. But, honestly, I just eat up any horse event I go to. Last year I was invited to ride in the celebrity challenge at the Snaffle Bit Futurity. That event is first class and is at the top of my list. Road to the Horse is always a big event for me, a lot of real horsemen attend that event. Nothing, though, compares to the Wrangler National Finals. That, for me, is ten days of Heaven.

CV: Who is the cowgirl that you look up to and admire?

LI: I look up to a lot of cowgirls, but Pam Minick is a cowgirl that I've always seen as a good person to learn from. Getting to know her, and being able to call her a friend is pretty spectacular. First of all, she's hilarious and people love being around her. She's accomplished so much professionally, she's done it all. But what I really like about Pam is that she walks the walk, too. She was a world champion breakaway roper and is a familiar face in the short round of whatever roping she's at these days. I also really love being friends with Sadie Lynne from Cowgirl Chicks- talk about a cowgirl. I really look up to girls that ride. Really ride.

CV: What is your advice to girls who want to pursue a career in the equine industry?

LI: I would say to girls who aspire to having a career in the industry, the same thing Pam Minick told me in the first conversation I had with her: "To never lose your spark."  Keeping your spark is easy to do if you keep company with like-minded people. If horses and the industry are what make you happy, find a way to be around it. Lately I've been one of those "do what makes you happy," "Life's too short" people. But, really, it's true. When you're doing what makes you happy, then life is so much easier. When you're doing what makes you happy, you won't lose your spark!

Be A Zen Cowgirl

I think Facebook has really allowed people to take a look into the minds of others. Most people are strongly controlled by outside forces and their posts reflect that in "they did this to me", or "they irritate/make me mad/are horrible people".

We will always remain angry and frustrated if we feel people are always wronging us. Other people aren't the problem. Our reaction to people is the biggest problem of all.

I know I love living my life around animals because they are always so loving/excited to see me/happy. That is because they live so deeply in the present. But as a human, I must deal with people too. We must realize if someone is a jackass to you (which is going to happen time after time after time) the only problem you will have is a poor reaction.

To react peacefully with a calm, understanding manner will make you happier. So when that dirty rotten son of a gun says something offensive and you feel those pangs of anger and disappointment don't act. Release your expectation of others, smile, realize humans aren't perfect, and be loving toward that person.

You will win in the end because people like that don't usually don't get a reaction like this.

Cowgirls are known for their tough "ain't gonna take no crap off no one" attitude. But I think it takes a stronger person to react like this. People can be mean and crazy- but all we can do is be happy and toss all your expectations of people out them window!

Falling Head Over Heels

(photo courtesy of Charles Brooks Photography, 2011)

Every year that passes, I fall a little more in love with the horse.  The more I understand them, the more admiration I have.  I read something in Tom Dorrance's book True Unity today that caught my attention.  He said, "...the rider needs to recognize the horse's need for self-preservation in mind, body, and spirit...  He needs to realize how the person's approach can assure the horse that he can have his self-preservation and still respond to what the person is asking him to do."  Have you ever thought about how incredible it is that these animals will either trust us, or fear us enough to put themselves in situations all the time that they feel may sacrifice their well being?  

A lot of people think a horse is "being bad" when all he is doing is trying to stay out of harm's way in his mind.  It is easy to understand their preservation of mind and body, but what exactly is the preservation of their spirit?  Tom has a difficult time giving a textbook definition and I can relate as I ask myself the same question.  All I can come up with is that they have a need to hold onto their personality, heart, and those unique attributes that are THEM.  Their rider should embrace their strengths and give them a job that they enjoy where they can add it a little of their personality.  I have seen so many horses that look broken inside and it really makes my heart heavy.  I added this picture above because I think this horse looks happy and relaxed.  His ears are perked forward and his head is in a balanced position.  

I've been roping off of a horse that has his share of skeletons in the closet.  A human in his past failed him, or many humans did.  This includes but may not be limited to:  being beaten with a rope, running WAY too many cattle, being taught strictly based on fear, and never being given any praise.   By nature, he is exceptionally sensitive, therefore this sort of treatment has caused a number of things.  When he showed up to our place he pulled back, could not be caught (I had a number of 45+ minute sessions), he would run away when you stepped off, the list goes on and on.  As my boyfriend told me the first time I rode him, "The safest place to be is on him!"

I wrote this horse off for a long time.  I really wanted nothing to do with him.  But one day I needed an extra practice head horse and I cracked him out to ride.  That day I saw a glimmer of what the horse could be.  Our first steer he worked beautifully.  After that, he got really worked up and started ducking out but I had seen all I needed to see.  I decided after that to ride the horse for what I wanted him to be.  I knew the bit we were using on him was too severe because of how sensitive he is, but the problem was he was pretty much a runaway without it.  Some very knowledgeable trainers I know advised me to change him to a hackamore and I tried that and he slowly started to relax.  The pressure of the other bit was way too much.   I would rope off of him in the hackamore and then on days where I just worked on his foundation, I would put him in a snaffle bit and work on putting feel back into him.  From there, I progressed to a broken bit with a short shank and he is thriving in it.  I got choked up last week when we got second at our first jackpot together.  We get better with each practice.  I am so excited to see what the future holds for us as a team. I'm really falling for this horse;)

The point of this story is, this horse taught me a lot more compassion because he was so scared.  I didn't want him to be afraid.  I just wanted him to understand and relax.  I pet him and reward him a lot, kind of like a super sensitive child.  He is so eager to please that I can show him something once and he remembers and does it the next time when I ask.  I know a lot of horses used to irritate me when they wouldn't do something.  But I see it differently now.  I know that it means their self preservation is strong.  You should be able to say- Hey! Trust me!! Follow me!  I am your leader and I will not let you get hurt! You will understand what I ask because I will teach you patiently and consistently!  We are going to do amazing things together!"  And if you have built a relationship upon trust and respect, your horse will say yes.  

As our understanding of this concept grows, so will our love for such a kind, beautiful, sensitive, and intelligent animal that God has blessed us with. We will be able to have a fulfilling, personal relationship with our horses and they will enjoy what they do.  I hope to bring more of this attitude to team roping.  

Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

After a brief three month blog hiatus I'm back in the saddle again. One of the most integral components of a successful blog is consistency, but Roping and riding down south caused me to fall off the blogwagon for a few. However, I am an optimist. So I feel time away can sometimes refuel the fire and definitely give you more new material. Did you know most of us live in a prison we have built ourselves? It's a routine "not terrible, but not outstanding" place called our comfort zone. It looks appealing, but it's far from invigorating. Comfort to me is not exercising, eating whatever I want, working for someone else in a dead end job, not roping the dummy, not getting my horses on a program, not making business calls, not reading inspirational and motivational books, and not asking people I admire for help. It's safe. It's easy. And it's not how you get famous. It's not how you find fulfillment. It's not how you get successful either. I think most people never step out of their comfort zone because of two reasons 1.) laziness and 2.) fear of failure, self limiting beliefs, and fear of what others think. I've come to this place where I do not care what other people think and it feels amazing. This is MY life. And in a few years we will all be dead! Morbid, but true! Do what you want! Don't live other people's dreams. A lot of people lose limiting beliefs by the time they are older. By then they wish they had had the belief when they were younger when they could do more about it. And it's super cliche, but the most successful people are always the ones who have failed the most. They have heard the most no's, felt the most rejection, and messed up the most. But they learned from it, grew, and moved on. When you feel the HUNGER deep within to look your best you will go work out every day. When you feel the HUNGER to win the barrel race or roping you will work your horse and practice. No matter whether it is 20 below, or a beautiful sunny day when everyone's drinking margaritas. People who want to achieve their goals NO MATTER WHAT don't have to pry themselves off the couch. They are so excited they are jumping up with a smile on their face to go practice. Any time I have had the HUNGER, it didn't feel like work. If you want to be successful, get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Have a WHY that is more important to you than any discomfort. The more you can just be a rockstar and do things that make you uncomfortable all the time, the more invigorate you will feel. And isn't LIFE about feeling ALIVE??!?!?

Habit Changing in Horsemanship

I've been riding a lot lately and it's given me plenty of time to reflect. I think about horsemanship frequently because I believe a lot of training is done with a philosophy in mind. By this I mean that to get into a horse's head you can't just run the air out of them. Well you can... And then they get in shape.... Or they get turned out for awhile and the problem is still there when you crack them out again. I like to stick to the mentality of "make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult". You must be a problem solver willing to think outside the box and think like a horse. There is no overnight remedy to a lot of horse problems. All you can ask for is a little bit of improvement every day. And most horse problems are created by people anyways. A lot of horse issues aren't really issues at all. They are just habits that need to be changed. Let's say you have a horse that's really bad about walking away when you go to get on them. There's a few drills that can fix that but if you dig deeper into why a horse does it, you can find the solution. Horses walk away when you get on them because most people get on and away they go. If you change that habit by getting on, sitting for a minute or two and relaxing of flexing your horse and do this every single time, they will usually stop walking off. They do that in anticipation and you have just taken away that anticipation with no hassle.

I have a colt in who has a strong flight response. He started bolting when I'd ask for the first few steps and would stiffen up and not respond to a one rein stop. I was at a loss and talking to a trainer staying with us and he said to change the habit. Start by ponying him off another horse for the first few steps and then unhook, or put him in a smaller pen and get his feet moving. I could have kept doing the same thing over and over again (insanity right?), or change the habit. Today when I rode the colt, he didn't bolt. I changed the routine and set myself up for success. It's not giving in or giving up. You have to let go of human thought and create a new routine for the horse.

All horse behavior is habitual. Use your brain, not violence or force, to come to an answer that best benefits the partnership of you and your horse.

My Life is a String of Memories Horseback....

My life is a string of  memories horseback.  8 years old running around bareback in the mountains playing indian princesses....... 12, a pack trip with my dad getting rained on for 6 days straight.....16, a bag of franzia, four horses, four gals, and a campfire on top of a mountain...... 22, Riding into the arena carrying flags with a bunch of other queens as Miss Rodeo Montana........ 23, a wagon train ride with some ranchy chicks, warm beer, and more rain....... 24, spinning steers for my man............. 25, riding colts in the desert with my best friend......

When I was living in the city I could have had an insane partying social life, eaten at any fancy restaurant, gone to sporting events, pool parties, and pub crawls.  But in my four months there, I was like a fish out of water.  All I could think about was how I wanted to come back home and go rope with my boyfriend, or grab some girls and go ride.  I came to realize that all I needed to make me happy was good horses and good friends surrounding me. 

True happiness doesn't always have to be complicated.  It can be as simple as riding beside the person you love on a good horse.    It's starting a colt and seeing a fine horse evolve.  It's working cows and yelling at eachother. It's you and a special horse working as a team to get a job done.  This is it for me. Simple. Refreshing.  Cowgirl life.  Thanking God every day for it.

Good Vibrations!!!

Five years ago a friend and I were cruising the shelves of WalMart looking for a movie to watch and I randomly grabbed The Secret.  I had heard someone say a few kids on the rodeo team had watched it and I casually picked it up and decided to try it out. In the next few hours, my life was forever changed. The friend I was with fell asleep out of boredom, but I was captivated.  I always think how different my life would have been if I would have fallen asleep too!  Sure there were some corny parts, but I was intrigued by the concept of the law of attraction and I started to put it to work in my life.  I realized how the law of attraction had worked for me already and how much more I could do with it. 

As a young girl I always had a vision  of myself riding a paint horse into the mountains alone with a dog by my side.  I didn't have a horse but I wanted to be free and independent.  In seventh grade I started working for a colt starter and he paid me by giving me a three year old paint gelding.  I had him until I was 23 and he and I covered a lot of country together- out alone in the mountains just like my vision.

Visualization is a valuable tool in everyday life, and I have seen proof of it working in others life as well as my own.  It's simple and effective.  See things as you would like them to be.  Place yourself inside the picture and see things through your eyes.  Feel the feeling you want to feel when you have created what you want.  Visualization helps you to practice for the future because when you get there, you will already feel comfortable and confident.  A lot of professional athletes will visualize a perfect performance. 

Every time I visualize something and think about it a lot and it comes true, my faith in the process grows.  I just moved to Arizona for the winter to ride horses and help  my boyfriend put on team roping jackpots.  Lots of exciting things have been happening.  I got offered an awesome apprenticeship with an NFR barrel racer, I walked into a restaurant today and picked up a waitressing job a few nights a week, and everything is just effortless and flowing. 

Matt, my boyfriend, followed the principles of The Secret and it helped him clinch the Collegiate National Championship in team roping with his partner Cody a few years back.  He just believed that they were going to win and he imagined it and visualized it.  It didn't look like they were going to get it, then in a crazy series of events, they had the title.

When I was getting ready for Miss Rodeo Montana, I would visualize when I was doing my cardio workout.  I would just run and feel the feelings of winning.  I was super nervous about answering the impromptu question at the fashion show.  I felt like extemporaneous speaking was my weakness and so I visualized a question I wanted to get and my perfect answer for it.  I answered this one question perfectly over and over again.

The day of the fashion show came and I was standing up on the stage waiting for my turn to draw a question out of the bowl.  I felt confident and felt like it was my time to win.  I reached into the bowl and touched a piece of paper, but something in my head said to throw that one back and pick another one.  I even laughed to myself because of how ridiculous it was that I had not liked the piece of paper and didn't even know what was on it.  So I grab a new one, pull it out, and read it.  I was blown away when it was THE QUESTION I HAD BEEN PRACTICING FOR MONTHS.  Needless to say,  I nailed the question without a bobble.  As I was crowned Miss Rodeo Montana a few days later, I felt so excited and knew my visualization and preparation had worked. 

Imagine the life you want to lead.  Put out the good vibrations.  Know that great things are coming your way.  Believe that people are out there that you will magnetize into your life who will influence, inspire, and assist you.  Know that you are a powerful part in creating your life the way you want it.