Reay Campbell – Founder

Reay has spent a lifetime with horses and has been a breeder since she was twenty, when she was breeding successful thoroughbred racehorses in New Zealand.

She has a finely honed instinct and a critical eye, educated to look in the closest detail at a horse, it’s performance and it’s breeding potential. With Reay’s contacts and friends all over the world, she exchanges knowledge of breeding and performance. The commitment to breeding only the best means that she travels to Stallion Licensing’s, Mare Shows, World Young Horse Championships and visits studs all over Europe. Unusually, Reay also attend almost all the World and European Championships, which have been held in Europe. She makes it her business to travel and to see what is happening in the world of dressage and where the sport is going.

Outstanding foals are not a matter of chance but a result of knowledge, research, judgement and experience combined to create the top combinations from the best stallions and mares. It also needs a little bit of magic and we think we have it at Caledonia.

Pete Campbell – Co-owner

Pete bravely took on this random travelling New Zealander and we got married in 1979 after a few short months of meeting. When I tried to explain to Pete that I was interested in horses, his response was “Yes, yes, we’ll get you a pony.” Little did he know!

After a number of years of resistance and the gradual realisation of its futility, he has come around to be a massive part of Caledonia Dressage Horses and a huge supporter, enthusiast and cheer leader. Without his endless hard work, support, energy, inventiveness and optimism, none of this would exist. He makes me brave when I am not, makes me believe in myself, tolerates my mystifying demands and decisions with the horses, often when he has no idea what I am talking about. He entertains the many, many visitors who come to Caledonia with great food, wine and whisky, much laughter and highland charm, As the highlanders would say great craic. I doubt many will forget him once they have been here. The name Peter means The Rock and he is mine.

Rachel Murray – Stud Manager

We were extremely fortunate when Rachel joined our team in 2014. She quickly became an invaluable member of Caledonia. Rachel has her own small farm where she raises pedigree Aberdeen Angus cattle and has a flock of sheep. She also trains gun dogs to great success. She is a natural and instinctive stockman and immediately understood the Caledonia way of raising horses.

She has increasingly taken on more and more of a management role, as well as taking a lead in the practical side of running the stud. We work happily as a team. She is versatile and talented with an ability to charm all who meet her.

Rachel Sloan – Night Watchman

Auntie Rachel is our secret and surprising foaling alarm and an invaluable part of our team! She lives in New Zealand and, as we all know, New Zealand is 12 hours ahead of the UK. So when we want to be asleep, Rachel is awake and monitors the cameras watching the foaling mares for us. She is a godsend.

Not only does she tell us about a mare starting to foal but will also tell us if the horses look unsettled. She has even been known to send a message from NZ to let us know a horse has a loose strap on a rug!Rachel is the sister of Pete’s father and grew up at our family farm in Scotland.

She emigrated to New Zealand and has never lost her love for her Highland home. She has a life long love of horses and rode dressage competitively. I love her messages which say “Auntie has got it. Go to sleep!” Or “Why are you awake? I am on it”. My hero.

Keith Hedley –  Farrier B.H.S.I.I, DIPW.C.F

Integral to our success at Caledonia is our wonderful farrier Keith, who is also our neighbour and friend for over 40 years. Unusually, he is also a BHS intermediate instructor so understands deeply the requirements of the competition horse. He has trained many many farriers over many years and brings a depth of knowledge gained over 40 years as a farrier.

He visits us once a week, routinely, and will always be with us within hours if we need him. He checks every newborn foal, usually on the day it is born, and his expertise in balancing the feet of our precious youngsters is second to none. We are so grateful to have such an expert looking after the feet of our wonderful horses.