Dr. Fabian Roa is a doctor of veterinary medicine currently working for the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine in Blacksburg, VA. Originally from Costa Rica, Dr. Roa developed his passion for animals while working on his family's cattle ranch and learning to ride the Costa Rican Pasos his family bred. Once graduating vet school, he spent time in Weatherford, Texas and Dubai before coming to Virginia for his residency. Dr. Roa joins Ben and Joe to share his international experience in veterinary medicine. Topics discussed include life on a Central American ranch, dancing horses, and the people side of veterinary medicine.

In this episode of On The Move, Ben and Joe welcome a very special guest Kayleigh Burke, a horse trainer from Blacksburg, Virginia, and Joe’s wife and business partner.

Kayleigh shares her journey from growing up in a Northern Virginia lesson program to riding on a collegiate team and later coaching college riders herself. The trio dives into the realities of running a horse training business with your spouse, and Kayleigh offers her honest perspective on teaching in lesson programs, the importance of foundational horsemanship, and how those early experiences shape her approach to training and showing today.

Together, Joe, Ben, and Kayleigh explore the balance of life, horses, and horses and running Joe & Kayleigh's business, McDonald Equine.

Tune in for an open, down-to-earth conversation about building a life—and a program—around a shared passion for horses.

Vernon Purdy is a saddle maker and farrier from Greenville, Texas. Vernon owns and operates Vernon Purdy Saddles which specializes in making a wide range of western saddles with Vernon’s specialty designed saddle tree. This saddle tree came from Vernon’s career as a farrier which had lead him on a deeper journey to understand soundness in a horse. It became evident to Vernon that one of the biggest impacts on a horse’s soundness was saddle fit, which led him to design his own tree and start his own saddle shop. Vernon joins Ben and Joe to share his story of pursuing soundness in a horse and what he’s learned along the way.