Proud to Host Outstanding Dressage Clinician Carrie Harnden!

At a very early age, Carrie Harnden began her journey into the equestrian world as a stunt rider for her family’s recreational dude ranch, even taking this impressive skill on the road to perform trick horses all over the state of California. At the time, she never imagined that this invaluable experience would lay the groundwork for a long and widely successful career in the art of teaching, training and riding Dressage.

But all that changed when Carrie started working with and training horses for Lilo Fore, acclaimed USEF “S” Judge, FEI “I” Judge, Sporthorse Breed Judge and major influencer in raising the quality of dressage on the West Coast. Remarkably, at just 19 years of age, Carrie started her first Grand Prix champion appendix quarter horse, Major, and together they won numerous state championships in California, beating out many warmbloods along the way.

In addition to riding with Lilo Fore for more than 25 years, Carrie has had the privilege of learning under Conrad Schumacher for over two decades. And that’s not to mention the many other esteemed Dressage clinicians and trainers who have profoundly influenced her life, training and teaching, such as Jan Ebling, Willy Arts, Edgar Hotz and Gerald Politz.

Carrie is well-known for her light-hearted, yet unique and expert teaching technique that enhances the horse’s natural ability, while instilling confidence in both horse and rider. She believes that “the horse is only as big as he bounces and every horse should be treated as an individual…and never stamped by a cookie cutter. Same goes for the student.”

Throughout her career, Carrie has trained many horses to Grand Prix and is now working on taking her latest equine partner to the same level. Her young Hanoverian mare, Cabria JW, has already won many titles, including placing 4th as a four-year-old at CDS Horse of the Year for training level and 6th at USDF.

When she isn’t riding and training at her residence in Elk Grove, California, Carrie is often on the road, traveling across the country to clinic in places from Nashville, Tennessee and Boise, Idaho to Portland, Oregon. Her husband, Mark, shares her love of horses and has trained highly competitive reining horses for decades.

It says a lot that Carrie’s students have many titles of their own, ranging all the way from training level to Grand Prix. She strongly believes that “the best Dressage horse is the one you have!” And she lives by the motto: Have a GREAT LOVE and a GREAT TIME. For all horses!

Templeton Equestrian’s own head trainer, Megan Pugh, has been Carrie’s long-time student for more than 24 years. We’re delighted to announce that Carrie plans to hold clinics every two months at Templeton Equestrian.

For more information, please contact Shanna Templeton at 503-632-2433.