February 6, 2026
By R. Michael Brown | Heartland Living Magazine
Caylee Howerton’s quiet superpower isn’t her championship spins or sliding stops. It’s the rare mix of grit and grace she carries into every barn stall, every show arena, and every quiet moment when she leans into her horse and whispers thanks.
In recent years, reining has surged in popularity thanks in part to TV series Yellowstone, where real reining horses—many of them champions—slide and spin across television screens. Series creator Taylor Sheridan competes in the sport himself with horses he owns, bringing reining into living rooms far from the show pen.
But Caylee didn’t need television to make reining feel big. For her, it has always been everything.
It was her mother Laurie’s love of the sport, the dust and discipline of the barn, the nerves before a run, and the quiet, unspoken bond between horse and rider that can’t be manufactured. It was family tradition, hard work, and mentors who helped shape not just a competitor—but a young woman grounded in humility.
On most mornings, Caylee doesn’t look like a nationally ranked rider with championship buckles. She looks like someone on a mission—boots on, ponytail up, moving from stall to feed room like the sun is chasing her.
“I feel like I get straight to it,” she says with a laugh. “I get to the barn, and I have to feed, then clean the stall, and I do everything like bam, bam, bam. Get ’er done.”
That phrase—get ’er done—is more than a saying. It’s a mindset of extreme focus. One that carried Caylee through nine-hour training days on horseback, long drives, and pressure-filled runs under arena lights during a five minute show. It’s also what helped make her one of the most decorated youth reining competitors in the Southeast—and a rising force at the national level.
But if you ask her grandmother, Donna Howerton, what truly sets Caylee apart, trophies aren’t the first thing she mentions.
“She’s always had a love of animals,” Donna says. “She’s strong and good, but gentle. Like a horse whisperer.”
You understand it the moment you see Caylee with her horses—quiet, respectful, fully present. That partnership is where reining truly begins.
What Is Reining?
Often called “Western dressage,” reining demands precision and partnership. Horse and rider perform a set pattern that includes fast and slow circles, spins, rollbacks, lead changes, and the sport’s signature maneuver—the sliding stop—where a horse runs hard and then drops into a long, controlled glide, dirt flying.
The best runs look effortless. The horse appears willing, calm, and responsive. Creating that illusion is one of the hardest skills in the sport.
“It’s tougher than people think,” Caylee says. “And I always want to grow—no matter how good a run feels.”
Like elite athletes in any sport, she studies video immediately after each run, dissecting details with her trainers. She’s learned to stay steady through highs and lows.
“They taught me humility when you do good and humility when you do bad,” she says. “You keep it in the middle.”
Her father, Carey Howerton, has watched that discipline translate into results.
“Caylee moved from Green to Rookie to Non-Pro in just three years—a path that typically takes five,” Carey said. “Her lifetime non-pro earnings already top $26,000, and she now competes in events like the one in Oklahoma this year that is drawing more than 600 non-pro riders, and 1,200 all together.”
Top pro reiner Andrea Fappani just topped $10 million in lifetime earnings after two-decades. Caylee is just getting started.
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