Kenda Lenseigne Takes a Tour of Circle Y

After winning the Overall World Championship title in Amarillo, Texas on Saturday, Circle Y Team of Champions member Kenda Lenseigne took a detour to Circle Y in Yoakum before heading home to Arizona. We hadn’t met Kenda in person, so her being in Texas was a great opportunity to take a tour of our facilities and meet. Traveling with Kenda was her photographer Brian, 4 horses including Justin, her champion mount, and her two dogs. Before the tour, she volunteered to give a private clinic to some Circle Y employees and their spouses. Besides being one of the nicest people you could meet, she was a great instructor and entertaining to visit with.

Kenda arrived at Circle Y Tuesday morning. After meeting the office personnel, we started the tour in the Cutting room, where our digitizing and cutting machines demonstrated the technological advances Circle Y has made in the past 5 years. Being able to digitally trace paper patterns and import them into the cutting machine means that we are not constrained by “cookie cutter” clicker dies, or strenuous hand cutting. So we can make a design in any shape we want, tweak them to fit perfectly together on a saddle tree, change or improve designs instantly, and make a safer working environment for our employees. The cutting machine uses laser imaging to lay out and mark the patterns on the hide, then a pneumatic knife cuts the parts, which are popped out of the leather skeleton and put in a box to go the assembly area.
Next we toured the Saddle factory where Kenda watched each operation from the leather coloring process to hand finishing edges, stitching, putting in the groundseat, seat, skirts, and final assembly. Even though technology has advanced saddle making in some areas, saddles are still built by hand, one-by-one, and Kenda was able to witness the craftsmanship that goes into each and every saddle at Circle Y. Kenda even got to see her Quick Shot Mounted shooting saddle in process. Kenda finally got to meet the Design & Engineering team of Mike and Bull. These are the guys that take the first prototypes from start to finish. Bull even talked Kenda in to trying her hand at hand tooling a leather design!
The last stop of the tour was the finished goods warehouse where Kenda got to check out the finished product. Throughout the day Kenda took time to pose for pictures and visit with the employees. Later, she returned to factory to hand out pictures and sign autographs for her fans at Circle Y.

Aspiring Shooters get a Private Clinic

While in town for a tour of the Circle Y facility, Kenda gave some aspiring shooters a private clinic this past Monday evening. My husband Robert and I, Amy, and Tina with her husband, John, met with Kenda for some instruction with the top competitor in the sport. For me, it was a little intimidating at first to be riding with such an incredible horse woman, but in no time at all you felt at ease. She began the clinic with an overview of the sport, gun handling, and discussion of gear. Then we progressed to working our horses through a clover leaf pattern to get them bending and approaching the targets correctly. While doing this, we progressed to dry firing the pistols and getting used to reholstering and pulling the other gun, holding it correctly, and proper firing technique. Then Kenda had us get in a herd and while walking circles around her, she fired the .45 pistol on the ground to get the horses used to the sound. Most of our horses had been exposed to gun fire so it wasn't brand new. Robert, myself, Amy, and John shot off our horses. In addition to providing valuable information, her teaching style was fantastic. She teaches in a way that is easy to understand and it was a lot of fun. Tremendous progress was made with each of the horses and individual attention was paid to each rider with homework assigned. On a personal note, I was so pleased with the progress I made with my gelding, Copper. I began the clinic thinking there is no way Copper is ready to be shot off of, but to my amazement he did superbly. Under Kenda's direction, I shot 4 rounds off of him. He took to the ear plugs too; it didn't take Copper long to appreciate them and not try to shake them out. It was an amazing opportunity to ride with such an awesome competitor that is so nice and down to earth. I really can't say enough nice things about her. If you ever get a chance to attend one of her clinics, don't pass it up! kendalenseigne.com