Jill MedingerPHOTOS BY George Kamper
The age-old question is whether nurture or nature determines who we will become. Is it destiny? Or is it our hard work and commitment? For Carlee McCutcheon, they combined to lead her to an equestrian career brimming with potential.
Born to equestrian powerhouse couple Tom and Mandy McCutcheon, Carlee was surrounded by the highest levels of the horse world from the time she could walk. Her parents, both million-dollar earners in National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) competition, come from equestrian families. The NRHA’s first female Two Million Dollar Rider, Mandy was inducted into the hall of fame in 2011. Their 150- acre ranch in Aubrey, Texas,is home to Tom McCutcheon Reining Horses, a complete training, breeding, and rehab facility with a worldwide clientele. Her grandmother, Colleen McQuay, has been a driving force in the equestrian world for many years, both in reining and the hunter jumpers.
She owns and operates McQuay stables with her husband Tim, which runs three divisions: breeding, reining training and sales, and hunter-jumper training and sales.
“Carlee was always at the barn, playing with the horses,” says her grandmother. “She loved the horses but didn’t really want to ride Western too much when she was 4 or 5. Her brother, Cade, started out when he was about 3, wanting to be in Western tack. Carlee, she did it but didn’t crave it. And then I got this little, short-stirrup pony, and that’s what got Carlee started.”
Carlee with Coco Mercedes, her 2013 Westphalian mare, at Stonehenge Stable in Wellington, Florida.
Though her family never pushed her towards riding, she came to it naturally. “Having the opportunity to grow up and see all the different parts of the horse world: breeding, training, breaking them when they’re young, truly from the ground up. Seeing that, it’s something that just makes you love it,” Carlee explains.
“Carlee was so natural at everything,” says Colleen. “She had a lot of feel and understanding for the individual horses, even at quite a young age. It didn’t take me long to recognize that,” remembers Colleen. “But she was also quiet and a little bit picky in the beginning of what she wanted to ride, and I was very careful with what I got for her. I think that made a lot of difference.”
Colleen helped Carlee find two children’s ponies that helped her learn. “They didn’t measure; that’s why we had them,” explains Colleen. “But they both helped her learn to ride as if they were horses, learning to set up for a lead change, things like that. Around then, when she was about 6 or 7, she really wanted it badly.”
A turning point for Carlee came when she and her grandmother went to visit with their friends Danny Robertshaw and Ron Danta in Wellington, where they put her on several different horses, an experience she hadn’t had up to that point. “We spent three or four days there,” says Colleen. “It gave Carlee confidence to get on strange horses. She was about 13, and that was the first time that I recognized that she had the ability to just get on and ride like she does.”
The following year, the pair were in Fort Worth with Mike McCormick. “He gave her a lot to ride during those two weeks, and that’s where we ended up buying MTM Unexpected,” continued Colleen. “So those were the horses she got on and jumped her first really big
fences. And that was because Mike and Tracy were so brave and confident, and of course, you know, I’m more conservative.” She smiles. “And that was it. After that ‘Katy, bar the doors!’ She was on her way.”
Carlee then convinced her parents to let her homeschool and travel so that she could move with Colleen to pursue the hunter jumpers. It was then that Carlee’s successes began to mount. “She was circuit champion in the low jumpers on one of Mike’s horses, medium jumpers on one of ours, and reserve because we showed only half a circuit in the highs when she was 15,” continues Colleen. “Then she won her first grand prix at Pin Oak.”
In the summer of 2019, Carlee rode an equitation test for TJ O’Mara in Kentucky. “I had never really shown in the equitation at that point. He really just believed in me,” she beams. “And my grandmother set that up; I’m really grateful to her for that; it was such an incredible opportunity for me.”
“During all the time of my career and learning, up to and including this day, I always surround myself with good people, good horsemen, good riders, good trainers,” asserts Colleen.
“I did that for Mandy, which is how we ended up spending time with Laura Kraut and McLain Ward, and I liked TJ. He was young and successful as a rider, and I liked his style. He’s quiet and organized, and Carlee is that way, too.”
“I know how fortunate I am to know [the people we know in the industry] and I think that’s part of what makes me love it so much,” says Carlee. “The team around you makes such a difference, and it takes a village to do this, so I’m pretty grateful for the village that I have.”
Carlee proceeded to take the junior division by storm, winning both the 2023 USEF Medal and ASPCA Maclay finals. She was a gold medal winner in the NAJYC Jumper Championships and competed in the Youth Nations Cup Finals.
At the conclusion of her junior career, Carlee was on the lookout for her next opportunity. “And then, when the Road to the Top program came along, it was just such awesome timing,” Colleen remarks. “Because to finance everything that Carlee needs today is not easy. So, this is an unbelievable opportunity for kids like Carlee who are willing to work 24/7 to make the international stage.
The Road to the Top Foundation was set up to identify, train, and support talented young American riders with the ability and ambition to ascend to the highest levels of showjumping. Selected and then mentored by Olympians Katie Prudent and Laura Kraut, participants are then provided lessons in riding, horse management, and business strategies, and horses are provided to compete with at major venues. Carlee, selected by the organization in its inaugural year, took off for Europe to join Laura Kraut and Nick Skelton, where she has been learning and showing for the past few months.
Spending the summer in Kronenberg, Netherlands, Carlee has been working, riding, learning, showing, caring for the horses, and… that’s about it. Her life there revolves around horses and their welfare, and she takes full advantage of what she sees as a huge opportunity to be there, learning from the best.
Left: Carlee rides Lucifer JDV at the Chantilly Classic. Right: Coco Mercedes and Carlee in a victory lap.
Though Carlee points to her experiences showing in Rotterdam, Chantilly, and St. Tropez as some highlights from the summer, her enthusiasm for simply witnessing the horsemanship of the pros around her seems to have had the greatest impact on her.
“I think that what I appreciate most about being over here is that it’s about all the parts of the sport. It’s not just the riding. You know, at the end of the day, sometimes the riding is the easiest part of it,” Carlee acknowledges. “The horsemanship, the care for yourself, mentally, and learning about all the parts of it, and being on top of the welfare of the horse is the most important thing. That’s something I really appreciate because without the horses, you can’t do it.
“Seeing Nick and Laura, who I idolize as riders, seeing how they are on the daily and what they do to prepare the horses and to prepare themselves, how they are mentally, and how they train, it’s just been an incredible opportunity to learn all the parts of the sport and not just the riding,” she says.
Though she won’t miss a chance to mention that she feels grateful for her spot with Road to the Top, it’s no doubt a big transition for the 19-year-old Texan. “For me, the most difficult thing is being away from my family,” she admits. “I have always done the horses with my family right by my side.”
Carlee continues to look forward to the next steps in her career, but for now she relishes her time in Europe and being part of the Road to the Top. “It’s just horses 24/7. I get home from the barn and snuggle my dog, Toby, then I’m back out again first thing,” she says. “I love to be able to spend every day not only with the horses but just being surrounded by the best, the highest level of the sport.”
Perhaps it flows in her veins, born as she was into a dynastic equestrian family, or maybe it’s been deeply instilled in her, surrounded by horses and leaders of the industry from before she could walk. Regardless, Carlee McCutcheon’s natural feeling for horses and passion for horsemanship has already brought her to an exciting precipice as she leaves the junior division to begin her career. Driven not by a desire to simply ride well or dominate the competition, her whole-hearted adoration for the animals, the sport, and for her support system will surely keep her on the road to the top.
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