Unbridled and Legendary: Equine Stories

Chad Hewlett
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  • Self-Improvement

Unbridled and Legendary is a podcast for people whose lives revolve around the equine world and the pursuit of mastery within it. It goes beyond training, competition, and care to explore the mindset and values that define true connection between people and horses. Through in-depth conversations, listeners gain a rare look into the habits, struggles, and philosophies that shape those who have devoted their lives to horses. Yes, you'll hear about training breakthroughs and competition strategy. But more importantly, you'll discover how the discipline required to connect with a 1,200-pound athlete translates directly into leadership, resilience, and purpose that reach far beyond the barn. These conversations explore what it really takes to forge genuine partnerships with horses, and why those same principles apply whether you're building a business, raising a family, or pursuing any form of excellence. Hosted by Dr. Chad Hewlett, the show brings together voices from every corner of the equine world: riders pushing limits, veterinarians solving impossible puzzles, farriers who understand biomechanics like artists, coaches shaping champions, competitors who've tasted both victory and defeat, and other industry professionals. You'll discover insights that sharpen your craft with horses while transforming how you approach challenges in every corner of your life. Unbridled and Legendary isn't just about success in the equine world, it's about people who've made excellence non-negotiable, period.

Episodes

  1. May 28

    How CVS Controls Founder Lyle Kurtz Changed Canadian Rodeo Forever

    What does it actually take to build something that lasts nearly 50 years and then hand it off to the next generation without losing a single step?  Lyle Kurtz didn't set out to become one of the most quietly influential figures in Canadian rodeo history.  He was a Saskatchewan ranch kid who came to Alberta for the oil and gas industry, spotted an opportunity, and launched CVS Controls with his wife Marie on August 13, 1978, with no money, one handshake deal struck on a Mediterranean honeymoon, and an absolute refusal to quit.  In this episode, Dr. Chad Hewlett sits down with his friend and client Lyle Kurtz, founder of CVS Controls, to trace the remarkable arc of a man who built a multi-million-dollar industrial controls company and then turned that business success into something that transformed Canadian professional rodeo, fighting for nearly a decade to bring team roping into the CPRA at the professional level.  What Lyle built in the arena goes far beyond prize money: a legacy of loyalty, mentorship, and giving back to the cowboys who built this industry, one entry fee at a time.   Listen For: :08 How do you build a company for 48 years and hand it off without losing what made it great? 3:13 What does a honeymoon cruise to Sicily have to do with founding a multi-million dollar company? 9:21 Why did the CPRA fight so hard to keep team roping out of Canadian professional rodeo? 14:32 What pushes someone to spend years lobbying for a sport they weren't being paid to fight for? 17:17 What does it really mean to sponsor a cowboy — and why does Lyle Kurtz still carry his CPRA card?   CONNECT WITH GUESTS: LYLE KURTZ FOUNDER, CVS CONTROLS LTD. LinkedIn | CVS Controls CONNECT WITH CHAD HEWLETT, VETERINARIAN | OWNER OF ENERGY EQUINE Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

    23 min

  2. May 14

    Everything Happens for a Reason with Two-Time Champion Taylor Manning

    Everything happens for a reason, especially when horses are involved.  In this episode, Chad Hewlett sits down with Taylor Manning to trace her journey from growing up in Edson, Alberta, surrounded by barrel racing, to becoming a young CFR competitor with a deep respect for training, pressure, and perseverance.  Taylor reflects on the horses that shaped her, including Silver, Tivio, Matlock, and Bling, while giving credit to the strong women who guided her, especially her mom, Shelly, and Rael Little.  From making the Canadian Finals Rodeo at just 13 to learning how to reinvest winnings, move through hard seasons, and surround herself with elite horse people in Texas and Ponoka,   Taylor’s story is a powerful reminder that success is built through grit, humility, great horses, and the courage to keep learning.   Listen For: 00:00 What does it feel like to compete at the Canadian Finals Rodeo at 13 years old? 13:35 How did Taylor's mom keep the pressure off at the biggest rodeo of her young career? 25:19 What was it about Bling that made Taylor know she was different from the first day? 34:42 What happened when Taylor showed up to a futurity with only $19 to her name? 33:02 What does being around world-champion barrel racers in Texas actually do for you?   CONNECT WITH GUESTS: TAYLOR MANNING Instagram | Facebook   CONNECT WITH CHAD HEWLETT, VETERINARIAN | OWNER OF ENERGY EQUINE Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

    42 min

  3. Apr 30

    The True Cost of Building Something Legendary

    Most people think an overnight success is built overnight.  Dustin and Marla Gonnet know better…they built theirs on blizzard-blocked mountain passes, two blown transmissions, a baby born while Dad was at the cutting pen, and a barn raised from an empty quarter section with borrowed money and family hands.  Dr. Chad Hewlett sits down with his closest friends in the industry, Canada's most accomplished cutting horse trainer and the woman who has been the quiet engine behind every milestone, to tell the unvarnished story of what it actually costs to build something legendary.  From Dustin's Saskatchewan cowboy roots to Marla's instinct about a mare she'd never seen ("I just wrote the name on a piece of paper…this is the one we're buying"), to a $75,000 win at the Will Rogers Coliseum against the best cutting horses of all time, this episode is all about what endure, adapt, and advance looks like when it's not a slogan but a survival strategy.   The most powerful insight in the room? It wasn't the 229 that changed everything …it was the decision not to quit before they ever found the horse.   Listen For: :21 What does it actually take to start over with two paying customers and a baby on the way? 7:01 When someone believes in you before you believe in yourself, what does that change? 16:02 What does it really mean to be broke, alone, and 20-something years old on the road? 20:18 How did Marla know which horse Dustin was coming home with before she'd ever laid eyes on her? 34:05 What does it feel like when a win finally proves to the world what you already knew?   CONNECT WITH GUESTS: MARLA AND DUSTIN GONNET Gonnet Performance Instagram | Marla's Instagram | Dustin's Instagram | Facebook | CHTO Trainer Profile CONNECT WITH CHAD HEWLETT, VETERINARIAN | OWNER OF ENERGY EQUINE Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

    40 min

  4. Apr 16

    The Quiet Discipline That Nobody Sees and Every Champion Practices

    What separates the average from the legendary when talent is the same?  Dr. Chad Hewlett shares a powerful early career story about how humility, mentorship, and relentless repetition shaped his journey as a young veterinarian.  Working in Oklahoma under the guidance of farrier legend Mark Milster, Chad witnessed firsthand the discipline that true mastery requires.  Night after night, Milster forged horseshoes, often discarding hours of work in pursuit of improvement. Through these experiences, Chad learned that excellence is built quietly through practice, observation, and the willingness to admit what you do not know.  The lessons extended beyond horseshoeing, revealing a universal truth about growth.  Whether in veterinary medicine, sports, or life, greatness is rarely born in the spotlight. It is forged through repetition, mentorship, and the humility to remain the student in the room. Listen For: :00 What actually separates average performers from legendary ones? 2:02 Why is admitting what you do not know the first step to mastery? 6:39 What did a giant pile of handmade horseshoes teach about discipline and repetition? 9:05 Why is perfection an illusion but excellence still achievable? 12:51 How were farriers discussing advanced hoof science decades before it became mainstream?   CONNECT WITH CHAD HEWLETT, VETERINARIAN | OWNER OF ENERGY EQUINE Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

    20 min

  5. Apr 2

    Endure, Adapt, Advance: The Mindset That Built Energy Equine

    The moment the ground disappears beneath you is the moment you find out what you're actually made of.  Dr. Chad Hewlett strips away the polished version of success and tells the story that built him: the February morning in 2004 when he was fired, left without a visa, without a practice, without a phone number, and with a pregnant wife and $15,000 borrowed from friends.  What followed was not a rescue,  it was a reckoning. Dr. Hewlett walks through the raw decisions of that winter: the border crossing to restart his immigration, the new phone number that declared he was open for business, the mentor who showed up with belief and a $10,000 loan, and the eight months of working every single day that turned a reputation question mark into the foundation of Energy Equine.  This is the episode about what pressure actually does, not to your circumstances, but to the person you are forced to become.   Listen For: 1:08 What happens when your visa, your reputation, and your income disappear on the same morning? 5:08 Does pressure break you or does it expose something you didn't know was fragile? 8:00 Who showed up with a $10,000 check and a piece of advice that changed everything? 10:01 What does it actually feel like to decide there are no more days off? 14:03 What does becoming a Canadian citizen during the Calgary Stampede teach you about what stability is really worth?   CONNECT WITH CHAD HEWLETT, VETERINARIAN | OWNER OF ENERGY EQUINE Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

    18 min

  6. Mar 26

    Hunger Over Everything: Brian Coleman's Road Back to the World Championship

    Before the accident, Brian Coleman was already a legend.  Nine world titles.  Forty years behind the lines.  A client roster that reads like a Forbes list.  But on an ordinary spring morning in 2022, a runaway pair of draft horses put him in a ditch with a broken neck, three shattered vertebrae, a collapsed lung, and eight weeks until the Calgary Stampede.  What happened next is the part nobody outside the draft horse world knows and it's the part that defines everything.  In this episode, nine-time World Champion Six-Horse Hitch driver Brian Coleman sits down with host Dr. Chad Hewlett to walk through the accident, the recovery, and the championship win that followed, unpacking along the way what four decades at the highest level of horsemanship actually teaches a person about foundation, engagement, and the kind of hunger that a body cast can't touch.   Listen For: :00 What does it sound like when a nine-time World Champion admits he took his horses for granted? 6:20 Why does foundational skill create clients even when those clients can't explain why they trust you? 8:19 What is engagement, and why does every high-performing team horse or human rise or fall on it? 14:32 Why can't you use fatigue to teach anything, and what happens when you try? 27:23 When your mind finally knows your body can do it, what actually changes?   CONNECT WITH BRIAN COLEMAN, HORSE EXPERT | OWNER OF EAGLESFIELD LinkedIn   CONNECT WITH CHAD HEWLETT, VETERINARIAN | OWNER OF ENERGY EQUINE Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

    40 min

  7. Trailer

    Unbridled and Legendary Podcast Trailer

    In the equine world, there's no faking it. A horse knows. They know if you've put in the work. They know if your mind is somewhere else. They know if you're operating at the level you said you were. I'm Dr. Chad Hewlett, founder of Energy Equine Veterinary Services. I've spent my career at the edge of equine performance — and what I've learned is this: the discipline it takes to truly partner with a 1,200-pound animal doesn't stay in the barn. It shapes everything. This is Unbridled and Legendary — real conversations with the riders, veterinarians, trainers, and competitors who've made excellence non-negotiable. If horses are part of who you are... this show was built for you.

    3 min

  8. Mar 18

    What Do Horses See in You That You Can't See in Yourself?

    The barn has always been a classroom…and if you've spent enough time in it, you already know that.  Dr. Chad Hewlett, founder of Energy Equine Veterinary Services and one of Canada's foremost performance horse veterinarians, opens not with a mission statement, but with a provocation: the horse world doesn't just teach horsemanship…it forges people.  In this debut episode, Dr. Hewlett lays out the philosophical architecture of everything this podcast is built on, drawing from 30-plus years in the saddle of equine medicine, two defining mentors, and a single word that cuts through all the noise: capacity.  He introduces the framework of endure, adapt, advance, not as motivational language, but as a code carved out of real moments under pressure: a colt that bucks you off, a mentor who won't let you off easy, a career that demands more than you thought you had.  This is the episode that sets the standard for everything that follows. Listen For: :00 What does it actually mean to be forged by difficulty instead of hardened by it? 1:51 Why do horses expose you in ways that nothing else in your life will? 2:55 What did a single mentor say that Dr. Hewlett has repeated every week for 33 years? 7:20 What is the difference between "almost right" and right and why does it cost you everything? 10:35 What does it mean to be anti-fragile, and why does the horse world produce it better than anywhere else? CONNECT WITH CHAD HEWLETT, VETERINARIAN | OWNER OF ENERGY EQUINE Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

    14 min

Trailer

About

Unbridled and Legendary is a podcast for people whose lives revolve around the equine world and the pursuit of mastery within it. It goes beyond training, competition, and care to explore the mindset and values that define true connection between people and horses. Through in-depth conversations, listeners gain a rare look into the habits, struggles, and philosophies that shape those who have devoted their lives to horses. Yes, you'll hear about training breakthroughs and competition strategy. But more importantly, you'll discover how the discipline required to connect with a 1,200-pound athlete translates directly into leadership, resilience, and purpose that reach far beyond the barn. These conversations explore what it really takes to forge genuine partnerships with horses, and why those same principles apply whether you're building a business, raising a family, or pursuing any form of excellence. Hosted by Dr. Chad Hewlett, the show brings together voices from every corner of the equine world: riders pushing limits, veterinarians solving impossible puzzles, farriers who understand biomechanics like artists, coaches shaping champions, competitors who've tasted both victory and defeat, and other industry professionals. You'll discover insights that sharpen your craft with horses while transforming how you approach challenges in every corner of your life. Unbridled and Legendary isn't just about success in the equine world, it's about people who've made excellence non-negotiable, period.

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