Page 15 - KC Cunningham Issue

KC Cunningham

I asked KC what it was she liked about her job and without on the circuit for the past two years.” KC’s mom couldn’t be
missing a beat she admitted, “I love the freedom and flexibil- happier and when we caught up with KC during her competi-
ity of working for myself. I enjoy entitlement processing a lot. tion at the Del Mar Horse Park, proud mom, Rosemary, was
Maybe I have a sick sense of humor, but I enjoy the fact that there to cheer her on. Being ignorant to “Horse terminology”
even though the entitlement process is lineal you still have a I asked KC to explain the Hunter and Jumper competitions.
ton of different things going on at the same time. There are “To sum it up, in Hunter competition you are called upon to
so many different critical paths, that you have many balls in demonstrate that which would be encountered in the field
the air at the same time. There will be days when you work on a hunt, while exhibiting style and technique. The Jumper
15 hours straight and other days when there is nothing to do competitions consist of an obstacle track of sorts, where you
because you are waiting for everyone else to do their job. encounter brightly colored fences and the object is to jump
Often it is boredom interspersed with chaos.” these fences in the fastest possible time while leaving the
The fact that fences
there is often standing.”
down time, gives This is a
KC the opportu- somewhat
nity to pursue her danger-
love of horses. ous sport,
Although KC but luckily
started her riding KC has
career early, she managed
didn’t compete to escape
much as a junior. any major
She rode every injury
day and did a other than
lot of schooling having a San Diego
of horses for horse fall Woman
different trainers. and land
When she went on her
away to college leg once, 15
she quit riding putting her
for a few years. in a cast
This was partially for awhile.
an experiment to Aside
see if she could from a
live without her myriad of
horses. During jammed
all of high school, fingers,
KC would spend every available minute of her time riding, sore body parts, and a spine that looks like she has been in
often late into the night. In college, she took a break from a car crash she has escaped the broken bones that are often
the sport that she loves, due primarily to the fact that she tell tale for athletes in this arena.
was extremely busy. She was living with her best friend, car- For KC, getting out on course with her horses is her way to
rying a course load of 21 credits, part of a business frater- relax and put the pressures of her job on hold for a short
nity and an avid USC football fan. After graduating college, time. KC is in a business that is not an easy one. As she
moving back to San Diego, and working with her father, KC shared with me, “I only know about a week in advance what
felt as if there was still a giant hole in her life. “There was my schedule will be like and you can never tell when a crisis
no longer the college lifestyle. There were no longer the big is going to occur. The only consistent thing is that I am
USC parties, football games, or classes to keep me busy, consistently running behind schedule!” she says jokingly. As
and I didn’t entirely know what to do with my life anymore. many in the industry know, development projects rarely if
My mom essentially strong armed me into getting back into ever run on schedule. Unforeseen curveballs are thrown at
the sport because she didn’t see me happy then.” KC took the development team on a daily basis. Mitigating the delays
Mom’s advice and went back to her beloved horses. “About associated with these curveballs is one of a Project Man-
2 years ago I started working with Carleton Brooks, a promi- ager’s most challenging tasks.
nent hunter jumper trainer based in Southern California. He
kicked my butt into gear and I have been actively competing
March/April 2010