We are so grateful and proud to have Caeli as part of the barn team and family. What an asset to the team and to the horses! Caeli’s skill set was large when she arrived and larger now. Thank you Caeli – for your hard work and enthusiasm. We also love your choices of inspiring energetic music!
Ruth Hogan-Poulsen
Arriving in Vermont from Colorado in 2019 with her husband, horse and dogs, Caeli White quickly found herself at home at East Hill Farm.
Hired on staff at the farm since last year, Caeli has been a core part of the farm’s essential COVID workers, helping care for horses and the farm when owners could not travel to the farm during Vermont’s pandemic restrictions.
From the age of 8, Caeli was riding dressage, but transitioned to the thrill of eventing in her teen years. Her focus returned to dressage when rehabbing a ligament tear for her eventing partner, 16 year old Connemara pony mare “Emmy”. When not working, you may find Caeli and Emmy making the most of the farm’s paths, arenas and fields.
“Being at the farm gives me such a feeling of peace and relaxation,”she said. “I love being able to hack through the farms fields, just taking in the overall splendor that this farm has to offer.”
It’s not just fun hacks for Caeli and Emmy, though. She now has her sights set on the pair working toward USDF Bronze Medal scores. Caeli credits her time at East Hill Farm for leaps forward in her riding and confidence in pursuing this new goal.
“I learn so much every day in and out of the tack. Listening to Ruth explain things while teaching in the indoor even as I clean stalls is enlightening. I hear her talk about the body and what you should be feeling and what to do to achieve the desired results … [Then I] try to feel what she means once I am back in the tack.”
Helping East Hill Farm Barn Manager Sarah Cleland with horses in training this year as well as taking lessons have broadened both Caeli’s skill set and foundation as an equestrian.
“The knowledge that Ruth and Sarah have and share with all of their students is awe inspiring,” Caeli said. “Both explain things in a way that help their students not just understand how to execute something but why you are doing it.”
