Hometown: Cambridge, Iowa Birthday: 5/29/1984 Sport/Disciplines: Combined Driving

Raymond Helmuth grew up in an Amish family in Iowa, and horses were a way of life. His family’s livelihood for several generations was training horses for clients, and Helmuth followed in the family business. He eventually went out and started working in the horse industry with jobs ranging from driving and training Percherons to being a farrier. Helmuth decided he wanted to be a horse trainer and moved back to Iowa to start his own business. Competing in carriage driving and combined driving piqued Helmuth’s interest while he was working with a client’s horse in 2014. He began to compete and has found much success in the show ring.

Helmuth and Kendro have partnered for top results as they moved up the levels. The pair won the 2020 USEF Preliminary Single Horse Combined Driving National Championship at the Florida Spring Fling CDE before climbing to the intermediate and advanced level in 2021. In 2022, Helmuth and Kendro were USEF Reserve National Champions for Advanced Single Horses. They won the national championship again in 2024 at Katydid CDE. The pair were also selected to repesent the U.S. team internationally at the FEI Driving World Championship for Single Horses in 2022 and 2024.