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SIDELINESDIGITAL | May 2026
Katrina Coldren is the owner/president of The Clothes
Horse, which has been making fully custom horse
clothes, trunk covers and tackroom drapes for over
50 years. “However, I got here totally by accident!”
she said. “I had no pre-planned ideas about
becoming an equine seamstress. A friend of mine
knew Edith Friedman—this company’s founder—and
she introduced us when I needed a job.”
What began as answering phones part time evolved
into full time and then shop manager for Katrina,
who lives in Delran, New Jersey, minutes from the
business office in Cinnaminson. “I just really clicked
with the combination of business, customer service,
and the creative components of this company,”
Katrina said. “Many years later, when Edith decided
to retire, she made it possible for me to buy the
company. That was in 2001 and I’ve been behind this
desk ever since!”
How did you first get involved with horses?
My parents are not horse people, so my mother
was baffled when I started asking for a pony
as soon as I could talk. She jokingly called it a
“genetic flaw” and thought I’d outgrow the phase.
What were your early years with horses like?
I grew up riding and showing in South Central
Pennsylvania and Northern Maryland. We had
some local associations/circuits and I was a very
typical barn rat. I did anything I could to pay for
my horse habit. I was at the barn any available
time outside of school. I braided, groomed, fed,
rode anything I was offered, and loved every
second of it. I would groom for my trainer so that
I could borrow her horse for the one equitation
flat class. It was a lot of work, and I never
achieved fame as a competitor but it taught me
an abundance of lessons that I still use today.
What do you like most about the job you do?
Growing up, my bedroom walls were covered
with posters of all the prominent horses and
riders of the time. To me, they were movie
stars, and I was a total fan-girl. When I came
to work here, it was absolutely amazing to
me that those same folks were our customers.
They, or their employees, would call and I’d
get butterflies on the phone. I love riding—
always did—and I’m good at it. But I was
never someone who was going to win national
championships or Grand Prix, or make an
Olympic team. But to be contributing in
this little way—making the blankets, the
tackrooms, the trunk covers that those horses
and riders touch—is still something that gives
me butterflies. However, as someone who
grew up the way I did in horses, I get the same
joy from knowing I’m dressing someone’s one
beloved horse who lives in their backyard and
may or may not even compete. All horses bring
their people such great joy, and to know that
I provide something that plays a part in their
lives is very satisfying to me.
What do you consider to be your
greatest accomplishments so far?
There’s not just one event or moment. I’m
proudest of the body of work that my company
has put out there over the decades, and continues
to every day.
What’s one interesting or
unusual thing about you?
One fun fact is that I hold a degree in fine
art, but I also have an Ivy League degree in
anthropology—because “a full understanding
of the course of human evolution is key to the
business of making horse clothes!”
What do you like to do when
you’re not riding/working?
I have two amazing young-adult daughters
who I love to spend time with when I can.
They are amazing, successful, happy young
women and are my greatest pride and joy. I’m
also an avid reader, concert-goer and a big
Broadway fan as well.
What impact would you most like to make
on the world, or what message do you try to
share by your example?
I try to be kind. I don’t judge and I try not to
divide. I embrace a wide array of perspectives
and ideas and I try very hard to understand and
learn from and about those who feel differently.
I strive to learn and improve myself and keep
my mind always open.
KATRINA
COLDREN
Clothing the Horse World
Katrina Coldren
Photo by Erin Gilmore
WOMEN IN BUSINESS