Debrief /

Horses are Kelly Kraegel’s full-time business—she owns, trains, and shows champion Morgans and Saddlebreds at Cottonwood Creek Ranch in Guthrie, Oklahoma. But she has a slew of other interests: a scuba certification; a commercial driver’s license so that she can drive her Peterbilt tractor and 15-horse-capacity trailer; and, most recently, a private pilot certificate. The former Miss Rodeo California, who also hosted a country music show for the Outdoor Channel, hopes to integrate flying into her daily routine by flying on business trips after she earns an instrument rating.

Who: Kelly Kraegel
Age: 36
Occupation: Owner, Cottonwood Creek Ranch
Hours: Approximately 110
Certificate: Private pilot, single-engine land
Aircraft: Piper Warrior II
Extra: Kraegel and one of her horses star in a television commercial for an Oklahoma bank.

STARTED IN AVIATION…My dad has a private pilot certificate. One of my friends wanted to go to Las Vegas, which was not far from where we lived in California. We were trying to talk my dad into flying us to Henderson. He wasn’t current at the time. My friend said, “Why don’t you get your pilot license?” I hadn’t thought about it before. “I don’t know—why don’t I?”

BREAK IN TRAINING…I started in 2001, and I really enjoyed it. I didn’t finish. I moved to Oklahoma. I’d go back [to California] to visit my parents and go up with my dad. I didn’t have the time or the money [to finish].

A NEW START…[In 2014] I decided, I need to finish that. Why haven’t I finished that? It took me about a month and a half. I had to retake the written test. I passed the private pilot test on Christmas Eve. It felt great.

NO MORE MOUNTAINS… Not having the mountains in California to use to navigate makes it a lot harder for me. Here in Oklahoma it’s so flat. I didn’t realize how much I used the mountain ranges for my bearings.

ADVICE FOR STUDENTS…Make sure you study. I made some flashcards and I kept adding to them, and I would go over them at night—and it really helped. Writing your own is the best—you read it, that’s good; you write it, that’s better. You go over them every day and it really sticks in your brain.

Photography by Scott Miller