Coach Kathryn Griffiths
Kathryn began riding at the age of 11 with DiAnn Langer at the Los Angeles Equestrian center. Her love and passion for horses began to take on a life of its own and her parents soon learned this was not a passing phase. With their support, she grew up showing at some of the best horse shows in Southern California such as The Oaks, Showpark and Del Mar. Although she achieved many successes in the hunter and equitation ring as a junior, her true passion was the jumpers. The precise detail and objective format allowed her talents to flourish. She took home many blue ribbons with her horses such as Thompson, Pre, Kimball, and Springtime in the Junior and later Amateur Owner jumper divisions. Her winning ways lead to numerous PCHA year-end championships. She was a member of the West Coast Active Riders team multiple times in Spruce Meadows and has won numerous classes at both the Canada One and North American tournaments.
As a young amateur, Kathryn traveled to the East Coast to train with Barney and McClain Ward while she maintained her home training with Santiago Rickard from Argentina. She also traveled to Germany and trained with Sabine Balzer and Christian Ahlman. She was exposed to many different riding styles and training methods that allowed her to begin to formulate an original program for her horses.
After studying at Pepperdine University, Kathryn knew that the horses would always be the major focus in life. With the help of her parents, she founded Sunset Equine Farms. Every detail of the facility was carefully thought out with the horse’s safety and comfort as the top priority. She envisioned a peaceful, tranquil environment that provided the kind of atmosphere to truly enjoy the horse/human relationship. Her patience and quiet determination set the foundation of the business. She found her niche with rehab horses due to the precise, careful, and individualized care they required. She began receiving recommendations from equine hospitals to care for horses upon their release.
In 2009, Kathryn decided to merge her patient, calm, and encouraging way of caring for horses with the coaching of their riders. Several owners were so impressed with the care given to their horses during the rehab process they decided to stay. Kathryn’s training program focuses on correct and traditional horsemanship and combines different aspects from all the Greats she has worked with. Now she divides her time between training a small group of clients, and implementing the care for the rehab and retirement horses. She is also a regular competitor with her two jumpers, Ledinos and Wow.
In 2012, Kathryn took on coaching the University of Southern California’s Equestrian Team. She easily relates to the challenges young college students face while trying to balance a successful riding carer as well as being a strong student. She has created a program that teaches the riders techniques to easily adapt to the many different horses they encounter while competing in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) shows and provides a peaceful and supportive environment for team members to explore their passions for horses. Kathryn is currently a member of the board of directors for the CPHA (California horseman’s association) and a USEF licensed “r” hunter, jumper, and equitation judge.