Popular Colorado meteorologist Kathy Sabine’s passion for ag and western cultures underpins her love of weather.

Well-known Colorado meteorologist Kathy Sabine grew up in Donner Summit, Calif., in a family with ties to ranching, but involved in the ski industry and without a horse in sight. Self-described as “horse crazy” at an early age, her first horse was a temperamental pony mix that taught her how to ride. She quickly advanced to training her own green-broke Quarter horse/Arabian mix that she named Laddie. That horse was her constant companion for decades through gymkhana competitions, a rodeo queen title, college (she earned a degree in animal science with a minor in ag business and journalism), early marriage, and a well-traveled career before passing at the age of 30. The partnership with horses gave Sabine a passion for the ag/western/cowgirl life and her successful meteorology career has reinforced that passion. Arriving on the Colorado media scene 31 years ago (along with Laddie), she volunteered to cover events like fairs and the National Western Stock Show, becoming a fixture over the years in raising awareness for the region’s ag and western culture. Lincoln Rogers caught up with Sabine before her high-profile involvement in 2025’s NWSS Junior Livestock Auction to talk about her love of horses, her passion for weather, and her thoughts on the values of agriculture and the American west. (Note: Questions and answers have been edited solely for length)

You described yourself as “horse crazy” from a young age. How did that start?

I think most young girls are born with it. I would love to give credit to my dad or my grandfather who had horses and who rode, but when I grew up (on Donner Summit), nobody had horses. By the time I was 6-7-8-9, I was collecting Bryers horses and all of the Chincoteague Pony books and all of the Black Stallion books. I was horse crazy. I mean, I was making tack for my Bryers horse models. I just decided I was going to have a horse. That was the only thing I wanted in the whole world.

Your parents didn’t discourage you?

They were like, she’ll outgrow it. They didn’t believe me, (but) I had a big beef jerky jar and I just started saving money and it was my horse fund jar. I think it was finally my dad who noticed I might be serious about it. I was 10 or 11 and he sat me down and was finally like okay, we will get you a horse and you will pay me back. It was a Quarter horse/Welsh pony mare and I named her Shiloh. I did not have a saddle (but) I had a bridle, so I tied bird feathers on her bridle and pretended I was an Indian and rode bareback everywhere. That horse taught me how to ride. She unloaded me a few times and ran me between some cars, I have scars on my knees to prove it. So finally, when I got a saddle I’m like, this is a lot easier (laugh).

No one taught you how to train a horse?

No, but I just read everything. I was going to the rodeos and talking to horse people and I was in 4-H and I was in the junior horseman program, and I was just soaking in the knowledge. My next horse was a green-broke Quarter horse/Arabian mix. I think it was 2 or 3 years old. He was actually really good at things like barrel racing, keyhole and pole bending. He was fast and I won rodeo queen on him in Truckee, Calif.

You initially hoped to become a veterinarian?

Yes. I got accepted to Cal Poly San Luis Obisbo. It was after the first four years I ran out of money and couldn’t afford to keep going to be a veterinarian. I earned a degree in animal science with a minor in ag business and journalism. I was interested in all of that. I like to write, I like journalism. I like to talk. (laugh) I went to my adviser and they said you could be an English teacher, you could be a journalist, you could be a television journalist, and I was like, hmmm. So, I went to work at a local television station to see what it was like and started behind the scenes. They ended up auditioning me to do weekend weather and then I was off and running. I fell into it by accident.

Do you compete now or do you just enjoy riding?

I just enjoy riding. For me, it is just no technology, no phone, no nothing. It is just me and God and the grass and horses breathing. It is interesting because none of my kids are horse crazy. They will ride with me occasionally, but no one got the bug like I did. So, any time I get the chance to do a state fair or the National Western Stock Show and just be around like-minded people, it is like I feel very at home here.

Like horses, weather seems to be a passion for you?

Yes. I try to think back of where my love and passion for weather come from. I grew up on Donner Summit, right next to the Central Sierra Snow Lab, so I was friends with those scientists. Plus, the weather was extreme and cold and snowy and fascinating. People’s livelihoods depended upon it and there would be like-threatening blizzards. The chief meteorologist at one of my first television jobs — it was rare to have a woman chief back in the day — she taught me everything about the weather. She was interested in horses, so I taught her about horses and how to ride and she taught me weather. And then she encouraged me to do weather on the weekends, just reading it. I think I just badgered the news director so much, he finally gave me a shot at it. And I was accidentally good at it.

You were doing the weather at every station you worked?

Yes, but along the way they would ask, do you want to anchor? And I would say, yes. Do you want to produce? Yes. Do you want to report? Yes, yes. Yes, yes, yes. So, when the opportunity came up to go to Colorado, having all those other skills served me well. When I came here 31 years ago, one day I was working the morning news and had said we are going to have severe weather today. I told my boss and they asked if I wanted to go and I said yes. So I went out storm chasing. And I got two tornadoes — two twister sisters touched down at the same time east of Denver. It was a 22-hour day. I followed that cell because I had never seen anything like it. I had never seen baseball-sized hail; I had never seen a tornado. I wanted to keep going and they were like no, stop and put together a package. We went to this guy’s house who had left to chase the twister and left his kid at home, and I just saw the damage that can happen. The kid survived; the dog was badly injured. The house was a mess, the truck was a mess, and just seeing the impact of weather on people and how important that is, I think that is when I realized that having a job in weather was really important and really providing information to people. Weather in Colorado will kill you — and we love animals and livestock — and it can come in from any direction, unlike CA where the storms will follow the jet stream. I saw that. I won an Emmy for my coverage, so I think my bosses started taking me serious at that point and they sent me back to school to get my meteorology degree.

At the 2025 stock show parade in downtown Denver, you mentioned you “were here for it” regarding trying to raise awareness of agriculture for the younger generation. How do you feel you can help pass your passion along to younger generations?

Well, I have been here long enough now that I have a big platform just from television viewership and familiarity and now a social media platform. I think now people who have gotten to know me understand, hopefully, that I am genuine and that I am an animal person and this isn’t just a hobby or a look for me. It is really a part of who I am. I worry about the history of farming and ranching and agriculture and just ag business going forward in the world. We want to continue that and continue to foster that interest and that spark in these kids to get them to continue with careers in ag in any form in farming and ranching. It is not getting easier. It would be easier for these kids to take a different path and go a different way. So, to be able to foster that and help them by doing things like the Junior Livestock Auction or working with the National Western Stock Show where they give money/scholarships to these kids to help them pursue their careers, that just feels so good. Then there are people who are curious or want to talk to me and I like being the face and voice of that. I like using my platform to help in any way that I can.

Doing the Junior Livestock Auction for so long, you obviously enjoy it. What do you like about it?

I love hearing the stories. What it took for them to get here, their families to get here, what they went through and then what their hopes and dreams are and what this money means to them. One year the money saved a family farm. The stories that come out from these hardworking families and these little kids and then the emotion of having to say goodbye to these creatures they are so attached to. I love everything about it.

Do you feel like you have been able to have an influence on a younger generation?

I hope so. I don’t really live in that space where I think just because you are on television you are a celebrity. I have never really understood that. For example, being out here today or being out in the public at the grocery store or wherever, the people that come up to me and will say you impacted me in this way or I met you in this way. Just different things. That is when I feel it, is when I meet people in public who come up to me. But I don’t really live in a space of oooh look what I am doing, I am a big deal. I call those encounters little gifts from the universe or gifts from God. There was a young lady out here and she saw me and she just started crying, saying I have grown up with you, I can’t believe I get to see you in person. It was a gift from the universe. There is a lot of negativity and meanness, and people are able to say whatever they want and criticize whatever they want on social media platforms and be mean just to be mean. All of that is hard if you are sensitive and you are trying to do a good job and someone doesn’t like your hair or doesn’t like something else. When you meet people like that (young lady) or you get little gifts from the universe like that, it is really nice.

You have been a part of the stock show for a while. How exciting is it for you to see it grow into the future?

I am excited. I love that it is growing and changing with the times and hopefully more people will become involved and there will be more kids they can give money to and help them further their education. It is just wonderful to be a part of something that has evolved all these decades.

Even though it has evolved, it still comes back to our roots in ag, our roots with the animals, and our roots with the land?

It does. It is good, honest, hardworking, real people. Real families. Good human beings out there raising crops we can eat, raising animals and teaching kids how to be good humans and raising them up right with the right principles. It is just… it is America at its best.