Mike Kevil
"I’ve learned something from every person and every horse I’ve ever met, and in every place I’ve traveled."
That single statement sums up the way Mike Kevil thinks. Often referred to as the thinking person’s cowboy, and the
horseman’s horseman, Mike has made a remarkable career observing, identifying and reasoning things through, then
teaching what he’s learned to both horses and their humans.
Before the modern day term horse whisperer and the training practices that terminology denotes came into vogue, Mike
was a master practitioner of this art. His style of patient, steady training, with an emphasis on understanding the
horse, rather than forcing it to blindly yield, set him, not so long ago, in a class by himself. Today, in a world
where more and more horse trainers and amateur enthusiasts are using methods similar to Mike’s, this horseman remains
at the head of the class, beside the very best in his field.
Born in Arizona in 1953, Mike was a rodeo competitor during high school. He earned a college scholarship, but only
stayed in school for a semester and a half because, "I was having more fun out of school than in . . . so I quit and
headed for Colorado." Although he regrets not staying in college for a formal education, Mike’s travels and the
acquaintances he’s made along the way have provided him with invaluable learning experiences.
In the early 1970’s, following stints as a guide and outfitter in the Colorado Rockies and a colt starter and exercise
rider for an Idaho based racehorse trainer, Mike returned to Arizona to look for a job--". . . doing anything. I was
flat broke. One day a friend told me about a guy who needed a horse started. I guess he thought I did an all right job
because he recommended me to his neighbor. Pretty soon I was riding three horses at $5.00 a head, every day. It was the
first time in a couple of months I’d been able to feed myself. I thought it was a pretty good way to make a living so
I put an ad in the paper to get more horses." Before long, Mike had to cancel the ad. He had more horses than he could
ride. "I kept my saddle in my pickup all the time. I didn’t have a place of my own, so I made house calls. I started
horses in back yards, barbed-wire arenas, open desert, plowed fields . . . whatever was available."
In the winter of 1976, Mike went to work starting colts for Gene LaCroix (for many years THE leading trainer of Arabian
horses in the world and an AHSA Horseman of the Year). From there, he moved on to starting colts for two legendary
cutting horse trainers, first, Shorty Freeman, then Matlock Rose.
Following those experiences, Mike went into business for himself, primarily starting colts for top trainers including
his former employers and adding the likes of Don Dodge and Al Dunning. After two years, Mike was able to buy his own
facility near Cave Creek, Arizona. Since then the only thing that has kept his business from growing too big to handle
is his self-control and the same good sense about business that he has about horses.
Today, although Mike rides a lot of horses for individual owners, seventy-five percent of his business still comes from
other trainers who send him colts to break and problem horses to fix. The types of horses that Mike rides cover a broad
spectrum. It’s not unusual for him to step off of a promising jumper, onto an Arabian park horse, then work with a rope
horse to heel a few steers, then to a young cutter or reiner that a top trainer thinks has great enough potential to
warrant being started by Mike.
Over the years Mike has given a good number of clinics around the world, from elegant farms in Italy, Ireland, and all
over the U. S. A., to Colorado and New Mexico prisons where he’s taught detainees the art of gentling BLM mustangs. For
the past three years, Mike has enjoyed judging the popular and well-respected Road To The Horse as well as numerous other
contests.
Mike is the author of the bestselling Western Horseman book, Starting Colts and the producer of the popular Starting Colts
videos. At this juncture, he’s recording what he knows in print and on film. And he’s thrown his hat into the equine expo
arena to share his knowledge first hand with some of the people who are most serious about horses and horsemanship.
(Note: this bio includes excerpts from the profile in Mike’s book, "Starting Colts", published by and available through
Western Horseman Magazine.)