About Kaitlyn

I was a horse crazy kid and pretending I was a horse before I could even walk. Only after begging my parents for years to let me ride did I start lessons when I was in  middle school. 

I started off riding western for a few months before realizing I wanted to learn how to jump, but my parents insisted it was too dangerous.

Around high school, I self taught myself how to jump (among many other things my current bad habits reflect) on a horse my parents bought me as a surprise. My parents meant well, but being new to horses and having them on your own property without supervision was a recipe for getting into trouble. Luckily, I never got into too much trouble with Junior despite jumping him over anything I could find. Turned out he had Tennessee Walker in him and could gait (though I never got him too - at least not on purpose). 

I ended up selling him because caring for a horse and school and work all got to be too hard to juggle on top of other sports and schoolwork. I took a bit of a break and rode intermittently on whatever I could find through friends. 

During my early college years I was lucky to have a family take me under their wing and they let me ride their horses. I was introduced to trail riding and fox hunting and many things you don't get to experience in a lesson ring. I went more days than not and got the bug all over again. That was until Senior year of college which meant studying hard and cramming to create a portfolio to graduate and get a real person job. 


So in 2011 I got engaged, got a real job just before graduation, graduated magna cum laude and got married all in the same year. In serious need of some stress reliever, I found myself teaching beginner lessons at a local barn on weekends and riding the misfit horses they had. I learned a lot while there but felt it wasn't enough.
The following year was full of me experimenting with the first horse shows of my life, both in the hunter ring and in eventing. I attempted two events on my first horse I owned on my own without completing either, but still somehow became hooked on eventing. 

Since then, I retired that horse and now have my current mare, Tillie. We both are learning the rules and how all this works together. It can be awfully frustrating trying to do this while I am still new to it on a horse that also is, but the journey has been overwhelmingly educational so far. I can't wait to see what the future brings.