It’s quickly apparent that Caitlin Carmody is a whirlwind of energy and enthusiasm.
She’s the sole owner, lead horse trainer, top riding instructor and all-around driving force behind the eponymous Caitlin Carmody Riding Stables, located just east of Lake Geneva on the north side of Hwy. 50.
The Pleasant Prairie native acquired the property – previously known as Bridlewood Equestrian Center, on land once owned by Hugh Hefner of Playboy fame – three years ago.
“We had to put in a lot of time, a lot of money, to get the place totally revamped,” Caitlin said, while showing us around the 34-acre site, which includes 17 separate pastures. “I wanted to turn this into a top-tier training facility, where we have elite show horses.”
Big ambitions, for the 32-year-old owner. Despite her youth, she has been in the horse business a long time.
“It’s all I’ve done my whole life,” she said. “I’ve trained horses, I’ve competed, I’ve shown at the Junior Olympics, the National Finals. I did online school so I could train horses, ride and compete. It’s always been my passion, my dream, to have my own farm.”
Though she did not grow up in a horse family, Caitlin decided on her path early, before she was 10. She dreamed of horses and, in her imagination, she laid out exactly how she wanted her barn. She found a mentor near her home and began the process of learning, training and preparing for the career she wanted.
“We bought our first horse when I was 16,” she told us. “I convinced my parents to let me do online school so I could train my own horse. My dad was on board, my mom was like, ‘No, you need to go to college.’ And I said, ‘No, I don’t. This is what I want to do’.”
Knowing her mind, she went to work. She got a job at a stables in Bristol, Wisconsin, at 16 years old. She continued her online schooling and learning, eventually landing another job, then another and another.
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At 18, she made the jump from amateur to professional. She took the leap to go into business for herself at 21 and has since operated training stables in Waukesha, Watertown and Mukwonago before settling into the Lake Geneva facility. At each stop, she kept outgrowing the site – too many horses, too many students. Now, she has room.
Caitlin is not in the boarding business (or the trail ride business) but as long as the rider is part of the lesson program the horse can be stabled. Most of the horses on the property, however, are owned by Caitlin.
“I train American saddle-bred horses. They’re the elite horse of the whole industry,” she explains. “They’re very elegant, exquisite, they are like the swan of the horse industry. Their confirmation is top notch, and they have a ton of animation.”
In competition, the animals are judged on confirmation, manners, with different divisions of horses and riders based on specific criteria. The business concentrates on training the horses and preparing the riders.
Caitlin’s riders have won national titles and competed in events such as Junior Olympics held in Springfield, Illinois. Her riders and horses regularly compete in scheduled activities in places like Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and elsewhere.
And, yes, Caitlin still rides and competes as well, and has walls of ribbons in the Welcome Center to prove it.
The horses are tall and can weigh around 1,000 pounds. Show horses commonly cost between $15,000 to $150,000.
Some of Caitlin’s horses, though, were acquired as rescues. She has a good eye – she calls it a gift – for finding horses, often online, that are in trouble but have significant potential.
“A lot of my horses that I have either in the lesson program, or show horses, are rescues,” she told us, pointing out a beautiful, majestic-looking animal. “She was a rescue, and is a 10-time national champion. I made her a national champion. She was Amish. She had so much damage to her legs from pounding on the roads.”
Caitlin recently opened a nonprofit operation committed to rescues.
“I want to be able to rescue horses and give them a purpose. There are so many horses out there that don’t have a purpose. I can give them a soft landing, get them back up,” she said.
It’s not easy.
“One had all these foot issues. She’s 300, 400, 500 pounds underweight, and sitting in quarantine for 30 days because she’s so sick,” she said. “It’s very sad.”
She’s also launching a breeding program and hopes to produce two “babies” next year.
“I’d love to sell nice horses to people because I think in the industry some people are so dishonest and you can get bamboozled very quickly. I think that’s wrong,” she told us. “I want to be able to sell nice horses to people that aren’t a million dollars, that can show and win and do well.”
Ambitious, for what’s already a seven-days-a-week job. Caitlin’s not complaining.
“This is my life. I love it here. It’s my passion. I don’t really like to leave here.”
We joke with her that it would be fun eventually to get our 4-year-old grandson on a horse. Don’t wait, she says. She teaches students that young.
“They sit still on a horse,” she said.
Hmmm. She hasn’t met Jack.
It’s all about learning and connecting with the horses, she explains.
“They have a soul. They’re animals and they have feelings. You can’t be mean to them. If you’re mean to them they’re not going to perform.”
For more information go to the website (caitlincarmodystables.com).
Bill Barth is the former Editor of the Beloit Daily News, and a member of the Wisconsin Newspaper Hall of Fame. His wife, Stephanie Klett, is the President and CEO of Visit Lake Geneva, and the former Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.
