Ten years later, the couple launched Callegari Equestrian Center on North Eldridge Parkway. In 2020, even as development has filled green spaces, Eduardo said horse riding is just as popular as ever.
“Horse riding has been here forever,” he said. “If there’s any place in Houston that houses the most horses per mile, it’s Cypress. This is it.”
The couple both maintain day jobs as software engineers, but boarding and breeding horses is a passion they share together, said Eduardo, who has won national awards for his work breeding Arabian horses. Launching the equestrian center came almost naturally to them given how much time they already spent caring for their own horses, he said.
“When we bought this land, it was just going to be for our house and private barn,” he said. “Then we went crazy, and one thing led to another, and we built the boarding facility. Next thing you know we had people coming in.”
The center is located on 25 acres and features enough stables to board 100 horses, said manager Jessica Kile, who recently joined the staff after years of boarding her own horse, Tequila, at the facility.
The business offers full-service horse boarding along with horse riding lesson program that Kile said can cater to any skill level and discipline. Lessons include tips on how to groom horses, and well-trained school horses are available to students who do not have their own, Kile said.
The center features two covered arenas and two covered round pens where riders can ride and train horses, as well as a connection to Harris County hiking trails that can take riders along a number of paths between Hwy. 249 and Little Cypress Creek.
“We tend to say it’s more like a horse equestrian club,” Eduardo said. “It’s a place you can come to relax and ride after a stressful day.”
Over the years, Eduardo said maintaining the sense of community among riders has been paramount to his mission. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the business last year, he had pendants crafted with the center’s mission etched into the fabric.
That epithet is what Eduardo said is on his mind every time he comes to work: “A beautiful place where we socialize and build community through a love of horses.”
Lesson levels
Beginner: focuses on fundamentals and safety emphasizes camaraderie with horse and other riders
Novice: individualized instruction on school horses focus on maintaining form while learning new techniques
Advanced: intense focus on how rider affects horse’s movements requires high degree of balance and body control
Callegari Equestrian Center
12751 North Eldridge Parkway, Cypress
281-304-7332
www.callegarihorses.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (boarding available 24/7)
