COLTS UNLIMITED - TRAINING IS SERIOUS BUSINESS FOR SHERIDAN COUPLE

By Pat Blair, Senior staff reporter

Charlie Carrel has a degree in English and wrote for Western Horseman.
    Hilary Carrel holds an art degree and was a graphic artist for a while at the NBC affiliate in Denver.
    Both gave up those careers for the work they love - training horses.
   "I grew up on a ranch near Birney (Mont.)." Charlie Carrel said. "My dad, Jack, trained and showed horses his whole life.  I worked for Western Horseman for several years, but I grew up training horses, and I was always excited to get out of the office and go interview trainers."
    Finally, he said, he realized he would rather be training horses than writing about others, who train them.
    Castle Rock, Colo., native Hilary Carrel, meanwhile, had left the NBC affiliate to work for Plum Creek Hollow in Larkspur, Colo.  The facility, owned by Pepsi Denver, is one of the bigger importers of European Warmblood breeds of horses to Colorado, and for 15 years, Hilary Carrel traveled to Europe on buying trips.
    The couple's lives converged about four years ago at a horse show in Indio, Calif.  They were married in December 2000.
    Three years ago - after leasing facilities for their training operations - they purchased seven acres of land on County Road 91, about 500 feet from Big Goose Road.
    Colts Unlimited had a permanent home.  The facilities include a jumping chute and an 80- by- 200-foot indoor arena as well as ample accommodations.
    They usually have 25 horses at any one time; a few of their own plus horses they are training for other people.
    "Ninety percent of our business is horses in training." Charlie Carrel said.  The Carrels' own horses include some show horses of their own, as well as two stallions - Grand Star (acclaimed Dutch Warmblood stallion of the year and a Grand Prix jumper) and Huntingfield Proud Tim - whom they stand at stud.
    But training the horses - their own or other clients' - is their love, and they take it seriously.  They want horses that are in training for the long haul.  "We look for a minimum of 90 days in training." Carrel said.
    The Carrels show some of the horses they train, but they also train horses for individuals who want to show the horses themselves.
    "We always want quality here," Charlie Carrel said, and he believes they have it.  There's Brittnae, a promising quarter horse filly owned by Mikole Bede, daughter of Mark and Kathy Bede of Sheridan.
    There are Ima Soul Mate, a quarter horse stallion, and his son, No Accident, who finished champion and reserve champion, respectively, at a major show in Scottsdale, Ariz., earlier this year to qualify for the American Quarter Horse Association World show.
    There is Casino Express, the big paint horse gelding who finished first in open jumping at the Paint Horse Association World show last year and qualified for the World event this year.
    All are under training at Colts Unlimited.
    The Carrels train horses for a variety of events from Western pleasure and show roping to pleasure driving.  But their passion is hunter/jumper competition.
    "Two-thirds of our business is in the hunter/jumper industry."  Carrel said.  It's a category that includes not only quarter and paint horses but thoroughbreds and Warmbloods - a breed category that includes Dutch and German Warmbloods, Canadian Warmbloods, Irish Draught horses and Australian and American Warmbloods, among others.
    Many are big horses, 16 hands or better, although Grand Star, the Carrels' senior stud, is 15.3.
    "He's small.  He slipped through the cracks with the Europeans." Charlie Carrel said."  "He was a find."  The stallion's earnings fall just short of $162,000 - impressive money in the hunter/jumper world.
    Most of Colt Unlimited clients are out-of-state, Carrel said, although Sheridan County boasts "two very serious youth riders" - Bede and Hillary Smith.  "They go to shows a lot with us," he added.
    The Carrels have two major ground rules:  They don't board horses, except for their clients, and they will train only for people who are as serious about competing as the Carrels themselves.
    "We're very competitive," Charlie Carrel said.
    It's an approach that gets results.






Picture descriptions:

Above, Charlie and Hilary Carrel, owners of Colts Unlimited.  The couple bought the land for their facilities three years ago.  Below is Brittnae, one of the promising prospects in training.  Mikole Bede of Sheridan owns the filly.