Kendra Pintar lands dream equine internship
Friday / December 19, 2014
Ellsworth Community College sophomore Kendra Pintar of Hoffman Estates, IL, definitely made a U-turn in her career plans 18 months ago … at age 22 she quit her job as a hairstylist, enrolled at ECC, and “moved to Iowa to play with horses.” Now she’s landed a dream internship with Royal Vista Southwest, one of the nation’s premier equine reproduction/breeding facilities.
“It’s been a crazy year and a half,” laughs Pintar, who still looks every inch the hairstylist. “I grew up as a city girl in the suburbs, but I’ve always had a passion for horses. When I decided to quit the beauty business I found Ellsworth Community College online and the instructor here responded to me quickly. I visited the campus on a weekend, and decided within 10 minutes that this was the place for me.”
Pintar says she did momentarily wonder what she’d gotten herself into when she moved to Iowa Falls and discovered that “no one in the Equestrian Center cared about hair and makeup.”
“I had taken riding lessons, but I’d never owned a horse and never cleaned a stall. This (equine degree) program helped me immensely and gave me everything I need to be successful in the industry. I’ll admit that it wasn’t easy, but anyone who works hard here can achieve success.”
For Pintar, success comes in the form of a six-month spring internship at Royal Vista Southwest in Purcell, OK. “I found out about Royal Vista Southwest when I was researching internship opportunities online. It’s a 250-acre breeding facility, and they work mostly with mares for breeding, embryo transfers, artificial insemination, foal care and more. It’s one of the biggest breeding facilities in the U.S., and they’re also recognized internationally.”
Pintar will be ECC’s first intern with Royal Vista Southwest. She’ll work there from Dec. 29 through June 30, and then hopes to land a job at that facility or one similar.
“Training horses isn’t quite my thing, but I really took to the breeding studies,” Pintar says. “This internship wouldn’t have been possible for me without the great instructors I’ve had here at Ellsworth … they’re my heroes! Megan Gogerty is an amazing teacher and she and the other instructors work very hard to give all the students exactly what they need. They know what the industry is looking for, and that’s what they teach.”
Gogerty says Pintar has been a model student who is intent on making her own dreams come true. “After working with Kendra for the last two years, I’m thrilled to see her going out into the horse industry and being able to utilize the skills she’s learned as she works toward building her new career. I was always so impressed by Kendra in the classroom. I know she’ll go far and I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
PHOTO CAPTION: Ellsworth Community College student Kendra Pintar is pictured with the College’s standing stallion, A Real Rock, prior to leaving the ECC campus in Iowa Falls for her spring internship in Oklahoma.