By KIMBERLY LOUSHIN
In December 2024, Kelli Cruciotti-Vanderveen, Serenity Farm Show Stables and Windstar Cruises got together to celebrate not just the season, but a historic new collaboration between the international show jumper and the luxury cruise line. In the tradition of ship christening, a Bon Voyage speech was made, and champagne sipped, all that was missing was the ceremonial breaking of the bottle against the hull of the new ship. Because while they were celebrating a christening, the newest member of their “fleet” wasn’t a ship, but a horse.
As part of Windstar Cruises’ foray into the equestrian realm, they’d purchased a 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion (Carrera VDL x Celottie PF), for Cruciotti-Vanderveen to compete, and on that day he was officially named Windstar, signifying the launch of a historic collaboration.
“That was probably some of the most fun hours I’ve had at the barn,” says Cruciotti- Vanderveen. “They had champagne, and we were doing a photoshoot. Windstar the horse thought that he hit the jackpot. He thought it was so awesome.
“I think that Windstar Cruises was super smart, and they were trying to do something that really separated them from all the other luxury cruise lines out there. I think it’s a really cool idea that they had to merge the two: luxury sport and cruise line together and have this really fun and exciting journey with a horse,” she adds.
It’s a collaboration born out of an idea spearheaded by Cruciotti-Vanderveen’s brother Michael Cruciotti. Cruciotti started his business Mac Sports International about 10 years ago with the goal of creating an agency that represents equestrian athletes in a way that mirrors traditional sports agents. That means developing digital personas, utilizing name, image, and likeness deals, and diving deep into the world of sponsorship. While equestrian brands are an important piece of the sponsorship puzzle, Cruciotti wanted to look bigger and into an untapped market for equestrian athletes.
In what he describes as a team and family effort, Cruciotti put together a proposal for Windstar Cruises with a focus on the unique marketing opportunity of aligning with a horse over an event or venue sponsorship. It was a perfect match with Windstar Cruises’ dedication to their fleet and customers mirroring that of a rider to their horse and clientele.
“What was really special about it is that it made something different, and especially for them, it’s such a competitive industry; everybody’s trying to garner that customer that’s going to go on their cruise, and changing that perspective of you know what, we’re going to do something completely out of the ordinary and attach ourselves to an equestrian athlete and a horse,” says Cruciotti. “And it fully aligned us and them with their slogan of 180 degrees from ordinary, and that really resonated with what they’re doing with the horse and what they provide their guests.”
The Equine Face of Windstar
Before coming to Cruciotti-Vanderveen, Windstar the horse competed in the young horse classes with Brazilian show jumper Andre Freire. Freire sent her a video of the stallion, saying he thought the horse would suit her style well. The timing worked well with the search for a horse for Windstar Cruises, and when Cruciotti-Vanderveen tried him, she knew it was a good fit.
“He’s such a cool customer,” she says. “We call him the pony stallion because he’s the most well-behaved stallion you’ve ever seen. He’s such a gentleman. He loves to show; he loves his job. I can’t say enough positive things about his personality that way.
“He’s a lot of fun to ride too,” she continues. “I feel like our partnership has started to really transition and morph into something really really exciting. It took me a little bit to get to know him because he is quite sensitive, but I feel like now we’re on a really good path.”
She took some time at the beginning of the season getting to know him, competing at the 1.30 m level before moving him into the 1.40 m classes. In May they won their first class, a $6,000 FEI 1.45 m Speed Stake at Tryon Spring 4, and in June they followed it up with a win in the $32,000 C. Jarvis Insurance CSI2* 1.45 m Welcome at Split Rock Hunter Jumper Classic I. In July they were on the bronze medal winning team at the Markel/ USHJA Platinum Jumper Championships-South at the 1.30/1.35 m level.
After a busy season where he met the milestones she’d set, she’s giving him a break before ramping things up during the winter season at the Winter Equestrian Festival, where she’ll start aiming him towards three-star Grand Prix classes and then three-star Nations Cups later in the year.
“I think those are great for up-and-coming horses to learn that Nations Cup feel and the system,” she says. “Obviously we always listen to them, they tell us when they’re ready to do certain things. We have a rough plan, but if they don’t feel ready or they don’t feel good enough to do that, we just change the plan.”
Never Stop Learning
At no point did Cruciotti-Vanderveen ever consider a career path outside of horses. From the time she was 7 she knew she wanted to join her mom, Cindy Cruciotti, and her godmother, Kelli Clevenger, in running Serenity Farm.
“I was always not just in love with the horses, but also really loved every aspect of it,” she says. “I loved being in the barn; I loved the training, getting the horses on your side. I really got to see that from a young age with such amazing role models with my family. It was definitely something I knew I wanted to do from a very, very early age, which is great because I never had to wonder what else I had to do.”
Her success in the ring came young, and at 16 she was reserve champion in the 2013 ASPCA Maclay Finals with Monterrey. But 2015 proved to be a breakout year for her. With her junior jumper Chamonix H she won the $100,000 Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon and became the youngest to do so—a title she still holds. While an impressive feat, it was her victory in the Pessoa/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Finals at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show that stands out.
“Over my junior career, I was very, very fortunate to have some really special horses come into our lives, but they weren’t always that easy,” she says. “The one that comes to mind immediately is Monterrey. He was an extremely difficult horse just because he was his own guy, and you kind of had to do things his way or no way. My mom played a huge role in that. He definitely wouldn’t have been the horse he was, and we wouldn’t have been the partnership that we were without her.”
Monterrey always performed best in his first class of the show, so Cruciotti- Vanderveen skipped the warm-up class, and Cindy was the one to flat him in the morning. Cruciotti-Vanderveen still remembers her mom walking back into their camper, parked in the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and saying, “I hope you’re ready to win, because he is.” And win they did.
“It was a really special day to get to share together and with everybody that helped us get to that point,” she says. “It was one of those magical days that I’ll never forget. I can still remember the feelings I had, how nervous I was, but yet super calm at the same time. That’s definitely one that sticks out for me.”
At 18, Cruciotti-Vanderveen entered the professional ranks sharing the training duties with Cindy and Clevenger, and balancing her show schedule with client needs. While it was challenging going from a superstar in her age group to going head-to-head with those with decades more experience, it pushed her to be better.
“It makes you a little more hungry,” she says. “It definitely pushes your limits a little bit, and I think that’s what has kept me motivated is just continuing to get better. I don’t think you ever stop learning from other people, so my motivation has been and always will be I can never learn enough, and my goal is to continue to get better and produce the horses to the best of our ability.”
Strength From Faith
In 2019, Serenity Farm moved from Elizabeth, Colorado to base full time in Wellington in a move that proved transformative in more ways than one. While the Cruciotti family had always had faith, attending church was largely limited to holidays, but once in Florida, Cindy declared they were going to Life Church one Sunday.
“It really kind of changed the trajectory of our lives, and it opened so many new doors to us,” she says. “It’s hard to put into words, but that moment really changed how we were living and how we wanted to live.”
Her entire family got baptized and became part of a community of Christian equestrians, which led her to meeting her husband Josh Vanderveen, and Michael met his wife, Kelsey Cruciotti.
Having a deeper relationship with her faith helped Cruciotti-Vanderveen when they suffered a barn fire in March 2019. Though they saved 17 horses, they lost three and the entire barn structure was destroyed.
While it was an emotionally trying time, Cruciotti-Vanderveen also saw the equestrian community come together to support the family. It also deepened her faith as friends and strangers alike stepped in, bringing them water buckets, halters, blankets, and clothes for the grooms who’d lost everything.
“It really showed the depth and strength of our horse community, which was a really cool thing,” she says. “And with my faith, I didn’t see this coming; it definitely wasn’t in the plan two days before I was supposed to leave for the World Cup Finals, but it really makes you dig deep and think about what’s important, and there is a plan.”
Cruciotti-Vanderveen boarded the plane with a saddle borrowed from Kelley Farmer and faith that all would go OK. She finished 16th with her top horse at the time Hadja Van Orshof, and after spending a week competing against riders she’d only ever seen on a live stream she left with even more motivation. She could produce results at that level and had a horse that was good enough and she wanted more.
“My main goal is to continue to run our business and have it grow and keep it thriving, learning and continuing to try to get owners and horses that are really exciting and excited for the sport because the people you do it with—it matters so much how you end the day. I’m very blessed that I feel like I have fantastic owners, and clients and horses that really align with our viewpoints and how we want to treat the horses, how we want to project ourselves and how we want our business to look.”
She looks forward to doing so alongside Windstar Cruises as they dive into a new realm of collaboration and sponsorship.
“It’s been a lot of fun to introduce them to our world, but also see their world,” she says. “I think it’s just the beginning of some really, really fun things to come for them, and hopefully it’s an amazing journey. We have really high hopes for Windstar the horse, and I’m excited that they’re part of it, because they couldn’t be more supportive, and they’re an amazing team.”
