Proud owners, Carissa and Mike McCall with Kate Laurie at Spruce Meadows in 2022. Photo Supplied
A need for speed and excitement runs deep in the McCall family household but these days it is a different kind of horsepower that rules.
Carissa and Mike McCall are mad-keen motorsport enthusiasts but they are also one of showjumping Olympian Katie Laurie’s biggest owners. Their association began after Carissa had a fall and told Mike she wanted Katie to ride her horse. They are currently in Canada to watch their horses compete at one of the world’s best shows, the Spruce Summer Series.
“Eight years ago I fell off Cera Caruso at a show – before the start flags! He is famous for his spin,” she says. “I didn’t realise I was concussed and tried to ride Esteban MVNZ the next day but came off and was knocked out for a few hours.” The left side of her face dropped like she had had a stroke and her balance was gone.
“So Kate took over the ride on Esteban but actually didn’t want to ride Cera Caruso back then. We still laugh about that to this day.” In the end, Esteban, Cera Caruso and McCaw joined Kate in Australia. Carissa was still struggling with her health and while she didn’t want to ride, she got great pleasure travelling to watch Kate compete on her horses across the ditch. When Kate and Jackson moved to Canada the McCalls had no hesitation in sending their horses with them. It was the start of something that has become very special.
“We had never travelled to anywhere other than Australia as adults so we knew this would push us too,” says Carissa. The horses arrived at their new North American base in February 2020 followed quickly by New Zealand’s first COVID case meaning it would be two years before they could visit.
In the meantime, Carissa’s health wasn’t getting any better and it was discovered she had a genetic condition that had possibly sparked up after the head injury. Finding the ride balance with meds and regaining her riding was tricky. She worked a lot with a behavioural optometrist to help with the balance and still visits a neurologist every three months.
Carissa and Mike currently have three horses with Kate nine-year-old Tulara Zirensky, who went up with Esteban in 2021, and seven-year-old ZF Chacco Rio who landed in Canada in November 2024. Esteban and McCaw MVNZ have sold, but 16-year-old Cera Caruso is still there and about to make a comeback at Spruce.
During this time, Carissa and Mike have also been running a breeding operation at their 50-acre Henwood Park property. It started just before Carissa’s accident which led to a few years’ break. That was followed by devastatingly losing three foals. Jeff McVean leased them Django’s half-sister Dixie and with efforts for another mare they had previously bred, the programme got underway. This year they bred six.
“We have a good band of top mares and hope to breed some that are good enough for those pinnacle events. We sell some but only be because they don’t fit into our programme at the time – not because they aren’t good.”
They use a range of stallions, from Ermitage Kalone to Casall, Pegase Van’t Ruytershof, Cornet Obolensky and others. She’s hugely grateful for the input from Mount View Sport Horses’ Wendy Keddell and the late Mark Fraser from Tulara Warmbloods, who were very generous with their advice over the years.
“Long term our goal is to create a good business and brand while supporting Kate with top horses to compete at 5* championship level.”
Carissa is also back in the ring and last season jumped World Cup and in the Olympic Cup. She describes her team as “very amateur friendly horses”. “Thankfully mine and what I think is suitable to go to Kate are a bit different. Knowing I have my own team that I love makes it easier to hand the other ones over to Kate,” she says.
“I know what I can do with horses like ZF Chacco Rio and what Kate can do with him are completely different. He has a long way to go but it would be amazing to have a horse competing in the top 5* Grand Prix in the world and be competitive. I think he is a genuine 5* prospect.”
Jo Greenaway is a key part of proceedings at the stud while James Hazeldine breaks in their horses and Pipi Cornish helps with the riding. Laura Inkster is poised to join the team next season.
Carissa and Mike usually travel three or four times a year to watch Kate compete their horses. “Being owners is something we would have never considered but there is so much positive that has come out of it. It is so much fun and exciting watching our horses excel with Kate,” says Carissa.
She’s super proud of Cera Caruso who cost them “next to nothing” as a four-year-old but has taken them on a journey around the world and given the couple big goals for the future. “But I am also so proud of Kate. I have seen the struggles. She and Jackson are such hard workers and deserve every success.”
They adore being owners and say the hospitality at the top shows is quite the experience. Their favourite is the Spruce Masters with big prize money on offer for the very best in the world. Carissa says anyone considering owning horses for top riders should take the leap. “The experiences we have had with Kate are something we would never have otherwise. Many people have these lofty dreams but it isn’t a reality. This has become our reality thanks to Kate,” she says.
Mike and Carissa McCall with her superstar cousin Scott Dixon. Photo Supplied
“I get as much excitement – if not more – watching Kate on our horses than I do riding myself. I am very excited for the next chapter with the next wave of horses we have bred making it to Canada. I already have a couple picked out but we will give them more time before that decision is finalised.”
The McCalls own a sand quarry, clean fill and aggregate business which has been hugely supportive of Woodhill Sands including donating material for t
But back to their shared love of motorsport. Carissa’s cousin is Scott Dixon and it was thanks to her and her brother that the Kiwi superstar even got into motor racing. “We used to race go-karts,” says Carissa. “When Scott and his parents moved back to New Zealand they came out to watch us and that’s how Scott got started. “It’s incredible what he and his parents have achieved. Aunty Gleny and Uncle Ron threw everything into him and now the little boy from Manurewa is one of the best race car drivers in the world.”
Mike and Carissa met through motorsport as teens when he raced sprint cars at speedway along with Carissa’s dad and brother. Unsurprisingly, the couple are still avid supporters and love nothing more than to watch the Indy Cars – and other motor sport – religiously. “One day we would love to get to the Indy 500 before Scott retires.”
They’ve been to a couple of his other races but she says nothing compares to the 500.
When they are in New Zealand, Scott has brought his children out to the McCall farm where they’ve ridden Picasso MVNZ. “That was pretty cool and his son Kit even has one of our horses named for him.”
By Diana Dobson – HP Media Liaison
1st July 2025