When she’s not strategizing a global marketing campaign or event in the equestrian world, Entrigue Inc founder and CEO Kelly Artz is often found hacking the quiet country lanes in the Cotswolds, England. That’s the famously scenic and quaint region in South Central England, 30 minutes from Blenheim Palace. The former Californian (and Coloradan) relocated there in 2021, bringing her heart horse and Small Tour dressage partner Kailaani with her.
The beautiful region is home to several international dressage stars and Kelly highly values living and working close to her horses. No matter how busy and intense things get at Entrigue Inc, (formerly Entrigue Consulting), she starts most everyday in the saddle.
The Cotswolds location enables her modus operandi: “It’s all horses all the time,” she says. “I’m just a super horse nerd.”
“I wouldn’t do Entrigue as well without being a rider with high-level ambitions, and I don’t think I could do the riding as well without everything the company gives me – access to incredible people, products, nutrition, supplements, the perspectives of top riders and an understanding of so much that’s going on behind the scenes that most people don’t even realize.”
Kelly and her Entrigue team are marketing and creative strategists for brands, associations and high-performance equestrians. Entrigue-represented riders include Olympians Laura Graves and Will Simpson and several other international competitors. Clients include the Spanish government and its approved breeding association, the Royal Purebred Spanish Horse Breeders’ Association (ANCCE), and the State of Virginia’s Horse Industry Board.
A Personal Passion
This fall’s Masterclass with Isabell Werth – Autumn In The Arena, Nov. 7-8, 2026 — marks the third dressage Masterclass weekend Kelly and her Entrigue crew have staged at Galway Downs. They all feature multiple Olympic medalists as presenters, elegant VIP options and a bustling shopping village.
It started with German eventing and dressage legend, Ingrid Klimke, in 2024, followed by Great Britain’s Carl Hester in 2025. Those Masterclasses sold out and earned high praise for their learning, social and shopping opportunities. With 14 Olympic medals, Germany’s Isabell Werth is the undisputed queen of dressage and she’s known as an enlightening — and tough — instructor.
Bringing highest-level dressage education to the West Coast is a business endeavor and a personal passion for Kelly. “I’m still really involved with the California dressage community. This is the one special thing I get to do once a year for my community – it will always be my little dressage community. It’s where everything started for me.”
Originally an event rider, Kelly started dressage in her mid-20s, in Colorado. “Education opportunities were scarce there,” she recalls. “When I came to California, all of the sudden I was riding with 2021 Olympic team silver medalist Sabine Schut Kery and being judged by the best judges.
“Also, California doesn’t get enough credit in the United States for the riders it produces – not just dressage, but jumping and, especially, eventing,” she continues of her Masterclass motivation. “And the passion among Southern California adult amateur dressage riders – these women are so devoted to the sport and the horses – it’s extraordinary.
“It’s really cool that I get to continue to be part of that community, even though I live in the UK now.”
Galway Girl
Kelly’s connections to Galway Downs go deep. She’s lived on site, in an RV for a summer, and was a working student for Hawley Bennett-Awad when the Canadian Olympic eventer was based across the street. Kelly helped with sponsorships and live streaming for the CDI series held at Galway in 2018 and 2019.
Kelly and Kailaani, aka “Kai,” competed Training and First level at Galway before moving to England. ‘I have videos of us in the Grand Prix Ring not quite half-passing yet,” she remembers with a fond laugh.
“I’ve been watching everything they did there for years and it’s all been done so well.” Robert Kellerhouse’s efficient management, the central location and amenities for horses and their people all contribute to Galway’s selection as a Masterclass venue.
Plus, this year the Masterclass falls one week before a U.S. Open of Dressage qualifier at the Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, 90 minutes east of Galway’s Temecula location. “People can come to California and make it a full week of incredible dressage.”
Isabell will work with eight horse/rider pairs during the November event. Attracting demo riders is easy and selecting them is hard, Kelly shares. Carl Hester’s session last year drew 60 applications, and she expects similar submissions to ride with Isabell.
“The presenters rely on us to ensure the riders are capable of handling a large crowd, in a high-pressure environment,” she explains. “Especially important, the riders need to be malleable. You need riders who will always try to do what they’re being told, instead of riders who are very fixed in how they do things.”
Riders may also need a thick skin because Isabell is no Mr. Rogers when it comes to imparting her considerable horsemanship wisdom. And even if she were as gentle as that television host, riding in front of a big audience is intimidating, especially when trying something new. Appreciation and support from the audience will be a big help, Kelly notes.
A Dressage Student Herself
Kelly starts most days in her happy place – the stable of British Olympian Spencer Wilton, where she boards and trains two of her four horses.
She’s had the American-bred, now 14-year-old Kai since the mare was 6. At press time, they were prepping for a Small Tour outing at the Hartpury CDI in mid-July.
At 18.2 hands and a very tricky ride, Kai may never be Kelly’s ticket to success representing the U.S. in the Grand Prix competition, but the mare’s conformation setbacks have helped her horsemanship immensely, Kelly explains. “She’s the coolest teacher. I have no margin for error. She has to be completely with me the whole test because she’s so big. If you get her even slightly off balance or a little too strong in one rein, you’re screwed.
“I love her to bits, but she doesn’t have the body for it,” she continues. “Everything she’s done for me is 100% from heart.”
Kelly bought the 7-year-old Zemmantha, aka “Emma,” for the well-bred mare’s dressage potential and to have another horse coming up the high-performance pipeline. The 16-hand Emma is uber talented, but her path has been slowed by minor injuries and a Lyme disease diagnosis last summer. “I learned so much,” Kelly says of eventually getting the right diagnosis for what was initially thought to be inherent muscle weakness. She gained a new Entrigue client, too, when a soon-to-be released superbiotic treatment became a component of Emma’s return to full health.
Kelly also has a 3-year-old in Germany and bought her first foal last year.
Inspired by Kai’s breeder and American World Equestrian Games team bronze medalist, Leslie Morse, Kelly has delved into bloodlines for all her horses. She’s convinced that “you really get 90% of your horse from the mare.” Emma is Valverde x Dressage Royal, the 3-year-old Vincent is Vitalos x Dressage Royal, and the now-yearling is Miami Turfhorst x Weltissimo
The Juggling Act
The CEO aspires to represent the States in international competition, but her bigger goal is to keep progressing and having fun with her horses. If she gets to the top as a rider, it will be on a horse she brought along herself. “My whole thing is I just want to have a life with horses. I want to be a really good rider and a really good trainer, but I don’t want to just buy a horse and go win. I want to earn it.”
On juggling FEI level riding with equally high-level commercial endeavors, Kelly sticks to advice she heard early on. “If you can’t leave your business, you don’t have a business – you have a one-man s*”t show. I heard that when I first started Entrigue and I thought, ‘I cannot be that.’”
Over 10 years, Entrigue has assembled a great team, Kelly has learned to delegate, and consistency has become key to success for the company and its clients. It’s the same as with riding,” Kelly notes. “I show up, I have my lessons, I make a short-term goal and whether I get it or not, I keep working.”
VIP and General Admission tickets to the Isabell Werth Autumn In The Arena Dressage Masterclass, Presented by JAAW Equine, are available now. To purchase tickets or inquire about sponsorship and/or vendor opportunities, visit here.
