Carly Zaayer
Riding School Director & Breeding Manager
Though she has always been a life-long lover of horses, Carly officially began her equine adventure at age eleven and since then has trained in a wide array of disciplines including hunter/jumpers, western equitation, cutting, classical dressage, saddleseat equitation, liberty, trick training, and gaited disciplines. She is a 2019 graduate of Morehead State University where she double majored in Equine Science and Animal Science.
As a student, Carly has had the opportunity to train under and participate in clinics with many incredible trainers and instructors, including Yvonne Barteau, Jaton Lord, Carolyn Hunt, Annette Coker, and Kevin Meyer.
Carly found her true passion in teaching when she first began assisting with summer camps at her home barn in the summer. She spent a summer at Aldersgate Camp and Retreat Center as Animal Activities Director where she managed the barn and oversaw horse camps. She also assisted in teaching riding courses at Morehead State University. She has been managing Lettleiki’s Riding School program since May of 2019.
During her time at Morehead, Carly also discovered that she enjoyed working in equine breeding, and she was thrilled when the opportunity arose for her to manage the growing breeding program at Lettleiki. She has been the Breeding Manager since June of 2020.
Though Carly has extensive experience working with all breeds of horses and owns an Appendix Horse and a grade pony, the Icelandic Horse is her “heart breed”. She was introduced to the breed in 2014 working at Windstar Ranch, and has never looked back. She was thrilled to get the opportunity to own her first Icelandic horse, Sólon fra Sörlatungu, in 2020. Sólon and Carly have been very successful in their time together, competing in Icelandic Sport competitions, USDF Dressage, and most recently, Endurance with the AERC.
Carly has a passion for her students, the color pink, glitter, Disney World, and Taylor Swift. Her greatest pride is her personal zoo which currently contains three horses, three dogs, three cats, three guinea pigs, a rabbit, and a husband.