By Laura Scaletti
Portraits by Mellisa Fuller
One question changed Brooklyn Castellano’s life. When Brooklyn was 6 years old, her granddad, Peter Barba, asked her if she wanted a pony. Brooklyn enthusiastically replied, “Yes!” It didn’t matter she’d never ridden before; she was ready to become a horse girl.
“My granddad thought it was a great idea to get me a pony. He moved my mom and I from our condo in Boca to our own farm in Jupiter Farms. The neighbor across the street had horses, so I walked over and asked if I could ride,” Brooklyn said. “Shortly thereafter, I started taking lessons over there.”
Fast forward 14 years and Peter is still Brooklyn’s biggest supporter. Little did he know that one “small” question would springboard into Brooklyn totally immersing herself into the equestrian world. “He actually jokes all the time, ‘I regret asking if you wanted a pony,’” Brooklyn chuckled. “Seriously, though, he’s always been there supporting my horse dreams and recently imported two warmblood jumpers for me. He’s all in when it comes to helping me chase my dreams!”
Backyard Beginnings
A trip to the Publix supermarket helped Brooklyn and her mom find more than groceries—they found Brooklyn’s first horse. “After a few months living on the farm, we noticed a sign on the Publix bulletin board that was simply a white piece of paper and in black sharpie someone had written ‘free horse’ with a phone number. So, obviously, we called the number,” Brooklyn laughed. “We were pretty clueless about horses at the time. I’d just started to ride English and could do a basic walk, trot and canter.”
Prior to visiting the free horse, Sweet Pea, Brooklyn’s mom warned her they didn’t know exactly what they would encounter when they got to the barn. “She ended up just being a plain old horse in someone’s front lawn. But when my trainer went with us to visit Sweet Pea, she said, ‘You have to get this horse. She’s going to die, she’s so skinny,’” Brooklyn said. “She had been living in a yard with an open pool, dogs were biting at her and she had skin problems.”
Not only did Brooklyn have a new horse, but she also found herself trying out a new discipline. “It took six months to rehab Sweet Pea, then I started to ride her. We had learned that she was a barrel racing horse, so I did barrel racing with her for three years with a Western trainer,” Brooklyn said. Unfortunately, Sweet Pea passed away from cancer in 2015 and Brooklyn had to find another partner.
After watching Georgina Bloomberg and Jessica Springsteen on YouTube and other social media channels, Brooklyn was ready to start jumping. Luckily, Brooklyn found a Mustang, Tyson, who helped her get back to her English riding roots. “When I had Tyson, I really started riding on my own at our farm. I taught myself how to jump,” she said. “Having my horses in my backyard was amazing. It made me brave, fearless and maybe a bit reckless—eventually I was jumping 1.5m jumps on my own at home.”
Brooklyn credits her horses with being the most influential factors in her growth as an equestrian. “Growing up, all my horses were rescues, but they were all amazing in their own way. I got one from a racetrack, one from a kill pen in Texas, one from a kill auction in Tennessee and another one was just left on my property,” Brooklyn said. “I was a fearless kid; literally I held on and they took me for an amazing ride. I was able to do so much with each of them on the local show circuit and at home.”
Dreams Fulfilled
Brooklyn started competing with Tyson when she was 13 years old. “He was definitely a jumper, but the local show I went to didn’t offer jumpers, so I ran around the hunter ring,” Brooklyn said. “I didn’t care what ring we were in as long as we were jumping around together.”
When Brooklyn was 17 years old, she was scrolling on Instagram when she discovered Ashley Glica’s ATG Equestrian LLC account. “I reached out to her via private message and started taking lessons with her. Ashley introduced me to the whole Wellington/Winter Equestrian Festival world. I actually got to show some of her personal horses, she found me catch rides and I rode sales horses,” Brooklyn said. “Ashley gave me so many opportunities.”
Being able to ride and compete in Wellington was a dream come true for Brooklyn. As a child, she would attend the Grand Prix and soak in every bit of the Wellington mystique. “I always dreamed of someday showing there but didn’t think it was possible,” Brooklyn said.
The very first week Brooklyn went to Wellington with Ashley, her dream came true when she was able to participate in the Saturday Night Lights Charity Challenge jumper class. “One of my barn mates broke her arm, so they asked me if I’d like to do it. It was 1.20m and I’d only jumped 1.15m in the show ring, but I said I’d do it,” Brooklyn said. “It’s one of my favorite memories—wearing a tutu, jumping under the lights in front of a big crowd. It was the perfect way to get introduced to competing in Wellington.”
It was in Wellington that Brooklyn continued to dream about finding her next partner—specifically, she wanted to import a warmblood from Europe. “Since I was 13, I’d been begging my granddad for a warmblood, as that’s what all the other kids had. He told me he would get me a horse if I kept my room and barn clean. I spent so many hours watching videos of European sales and imports. I knew I was going to have to choose wisely, because I had a feeling I was only going to get the chance to import a horse once,” Brooklyn said.
Brooklyn finally got that chance in October 2023 when she imported Chillas Z, aka Cheech, a 5-year-old gelding. “The minute I watched the video of him, I knew he was the one for me. I told my grandpa that we could sell the horse after I developed him, but he told me I could keep him as my own. I think he appreciated that I had an idea in mind where we could make money on this first import deal,” Brooklyn said.
After Brooklyn imported Cheech and Peter saw how lovely he was, he gave Brooklyn the green light to import another one. “He’s a businessman who loves to invest money, so he started to get excited about this importing horses business. So, we went and imported another one—Kurano SP Z, or Chong, a 3-year-old stallion from the same barn in Europe,” Brooklyn said. “He arrived in the States in December. The two of them are like long-lost brothers.”
Brooklyn is currently working with Glenn and Stephanie Hartigan. Glenn focuses on show jumping while Stephanie mainly does dressage. “Having this team help me from the ground has been amazing. It’s funny, at the beginning my mom and I didn’t really understand the whole show world. We thought if we owned our own horses we didn’t need to go ride with others or take lessons. I used to set my phone up on a fence so I could video myself to see what I was doing wrong,” Brooklyn said. “It’s so great to have someone with me who can just tell me what adjustments I need to make in real time.”
Thanks to the help she gets from the Hartigans, Brooklyn is developing both horses in and out of the show ring. Cheech has been a star in both the hunter and jumper rings, competing in the 3’6” Amateur Owner hunters and 1.25m jumpers. “He’s very hunter and good in the equitation ring. I think he would make an amazing derby horse, so I’m planning on taking him down that path. I’d love to have a hunter and a jumper, rather than two jumpers,” she said. Her vision is beginning to come to life, as Chong recently qualified for the 4-year-old jumper finals and Brooklyn and Cheech won the USHJA National Hunter Derby at Wellington International in August.
Future Focus
A true horsewoman to the core, Brooklyn doesn’t just care for her own horses; she also does natural disaster response work with Rachel Ibarra’s Nature Speaks. Although Rachel is a fellow Jupiter Farms resident, Brooklyn and Rachel connected via social media.
“Back in 2022 when Hurricane Ian hit, we went over to the West Coast of Florida with a couple of trailers full of hay and grain for all the horses that were stuck on Pine Island. Rachel is just a great resource for our local community: She runs seminars on hurricane disaster relief and how to help horses safely weather the storm,” Brooklyn said. “It’s always very fulfilling to work with her.”
As Brooklyn looks towards the future, those hurricane disaster awareness plans will continue to be important as she plans to remain a Floridian. “My family and I are currently looking to buy a farm in Ocala, Florida. Eventually we want to breed Zangersheides, like Cheech and Chong, train sport horses and potentially import and sell more horses” Brooklyn said.
Regardless of what path Brooklyn pursues, she will always be thankful that her granddad asked if she wanted a pony. “I can’t imagine a life without horses,” Brooklyn said.
Photos by Melissa Fuller, melissafullerphotography33.mypixieset.com
