Unbridled and Legendary: Equine Stories

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 GONNETGonnet Performance Instagram | Marla's Instagram | Dustin's Instagram | Facebook | CHTO Trainer ProfileCONNECT WITH CHAD HEWLETT, VETERINARIAN | OWNER OF ENERGY EQUINEWebsite | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

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 EQUINEWebsite | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

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 EQUINEWebsite | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

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 EAGLESFIELDLinkedIn CONNECT WITH CHAD HEWLETT, VETERINARIAN | OWNER OF ENERGY EQUINEWebsite | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

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.

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 EQUINEWebsite | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube