Victoria Rose Equestrian Athletics

About our 10th rider select

CAITLIN O'ROARK

For Caitlin O’Roark, you could say that a love of horses
was a foregone conclusion even before she was born. Her mom, Shannon, is a sporthorse breeder who also evented through the Intermediate level of eventing. Caitlin grew up on their family farm in Virginia, sitting on her first horse before she could even walk.In her formative years she rode a variety of young horses
and homebreds, with her mom acting as her original coach. At age 12, Caitlin began spending every summer working for Lauren Nicholson, also spending some time training with David O’Connor. Although she was delighted to be working alongside her idols, she also quickly proved her worth as both a hard worker
and a talented young rider. At age 17 Caitlin seized the opportunity to graduate early from high school to take on a dream role as Head Rider for Lauren, a position that she still holds today.

In 2019 Caitlin competed at North American Young Rider
Championships at Rebecca with her family homebred Lucky Devil “Taz”, bringing home a Team Silver medal in the CCI2* division. Caitlin also has the ride on Lucky Devil’s full brother, What the Devil “Watson”, with whom she secured Team Gold and Individual Bronze in the CCI3* division at Championships in 2024. Caitlin has two other promising – but very different - horses in her string: Justicethebeast and Landmark’s Mochachino. Justicethebeast, known as “Justice”, is an OTTB owned by Shannon O’Roark and Mary Hunt that shows tremendous talent, having already won a 5 Year Old Young Event Horse class. Landmark’s Mochachino, owned by Jackie Mars, was produced through the CCI3* level with Lauren and will be helping provide Caitlin with more experience at the upper levels.

Caitlin backs and starts horses for the Landmark program
under Lauren’s guidance, something that she finds particularly fun and rewarding. Seeing young horses start to learn the game and build confidence is one of her favorite aspects of her job. Make no mistake though, while she spends a lot of time riding youngsters, Caitlin also has big plans and upper-level ambitions for her own competitive career. This fall Watson is headed to the CCI3*L at Maryland, with their sights set on an eventual move up to the Advanced level. After that? The sky is the limit for this talented and ambitious young rider who aspires to someday compete at the CCI5* level and represent the US in team competitions.

Caitlin’s rider collection embodies the perfect harmony
between excellence and performance, reflecting the passion and dedication of both Victoria Rose Equestrian Athletics and Caitlin O’Roark.