About

Karrigan began riding at a local stable at ten years old in Hickory, North Carolina. She tried everything from Paso Finos to Quarter Horses to Friesians-riding any horse available to her. Gaited horses, Western, Hunters and Eventing all were welcome, but it was dressage that fascinated her the most.

Her introduction to dressage was in 2009 with the purchase of her first real horse, Phantom, while in middle school. Phantom was a very spunky 15.2 piebald mutt who gave his heart over every fence but would quickly toss anyone who got ahead of him. On top of this, Phantom was a very hot horse with a tricky connection. This was pretty humbling for a thirteen year old girl, but it led to a lot of diligent flatwork to keep the harmony and to get the most out of her partner.

A few years later, Phantom was joined by a five year old rescued Paint/Saddlebred cross named Phoenix (Surprising Find). Phoenix was meant to be a family project for Karrigan, her sister and their parents, but he quickly became Karrigan’s ride. After a rocky first year to gain his health and trust, the very green Phoenix had his first year competing with Karrigan, winning nearly every class including CBLMs and Regionals at Training and First levels. The pair went on to win many more classes and place well at many more championships through the Prix St George level.

Phoenix accompanied Karrigan to ride under many great trainers. He was her ride while a working student for Stacey Hastings in high school, Rebecca Blikslager and Lauren Sprieser while in college, and Betsy Steiner after college. They traveled together for ten years throughout high school, college and the first couple of years of her career as a professional trainer.

After spending the winter season of 2019-2020 in Wellington, FL, Karrigan was recruited to be Assistant Trainer to Lauren Sprieser in Northern Virginia. She spent two years training students and horses from beginner to FEI. Here, she had success competing all types of horses and helping develop several exceptional young horses including starting her own Selene LHF. She also gained experience competing to the Grand Prix level on Midge (Victorious).

Today, she resides in Temecula, CA with her husband Jacob, their dog named Roland and her young mare, Selene. Karrigan is continuing to develop Selene while taking a select number of students and horses for training.

Our Philosophy

Our dressage training program centers around the belief that “it’s always everything.” By that, we mean that training is not just about what you do in the ring, but it is about how you care for and interact with your horse everyday. Our program seek to not only advance successful human and equine athletes through the levels, but to help create happy, confident riders and horses as well. In order to do this, we design an inclusive program with lessons, training rides, long lining, cross training and hacking out to keep our equine athletes happy long term. We also seek to provide the best nutrition, health and tack suggestions possible to ensure our horses stay happy and comfortable athletes for many years to come.

If our philosophy aligns with yours or you’re interested in learning more about us, please do not hesitate to reach out. We are always happy to make time for you.