She finds purpose in the saddle and pursues a passion for horses – at home and work

Carli Progin’s first love was a horse named Hollywood, born on her family's farm when she was nine years old.

"Hollywood was the horse I grew up with," she recalls, a dreamy, nostalgic note entering her voice. "He taught me how to be responsible, how to ride and be a horseman. We had a really close bond. I trusted that horse to take me anywhere and take care of me."

A passion for horses defined Carli’s childhood, an idyllic time of day-long horseback adventures, equestrian competitions and family vacations out West.

"Anything that had to do with horses, we were in it—trail riding, showing, 4H, even a little bit of rodeo,” she says.

Carli grew up to follow her passion and find her purpose in a career with Boehringer Ingelheim. She crisscrosses parts of Pennsylvania and surrounding states as a senior equine territory manager. In her spare time, she rides and shows her striking American Paint horse. It has the registered name Company Appointment and the barn name Dennis.

Her experience is typical of the men and women who work with the U.S. equine team at Boehringer Ingelheim. Members of the team spend their work days focused on equine health, and most nurture a passion for horses on the weekends, too.

They feed and groom, relax in the saddle and compete in the show ring – among the lucky few who find passion and purpose on and off the job.

"We took care of the horses, and the horses took care of us"

Carli's passion for horses started on farms in rural Kansas.

She laughs remembering her mother trying to sneak out to the barn early for quiet time without the kids—only to find young Carli had tagged along.

"She couldn't keep me away," she says.

She loved competitive equestrian events, but most of all she loved the connection with the animals.

"Some of my fondest memories as a kid and teenager were getting up in the morning, saddling up Hollywood, and meeting my friends to just go,” she says.

“We'd be gone all day riding and exploring. We took care of the horses, and the horses took care of us."

Transforming a Passion into a Career

Looking back, a horse-centric career seemed inevitable for Carli.

She studied animal science and reproduction in college and grad school, then qualified as a veterinary technician. She loved her five years in clinical vet practices, working with horses and small animals.

In 2005, she joined Boehringer Ingelheim's Technical Service group in St. Joseph, Missouri, providing phone support across all the company's animal health products.

The role suited Carli's go-getter style, she recalls, and she especially valued the mentoring and support she received.

"I had a phenomenal supervisor, Dr. John Cary. He really encouraged us to think outside the box, pick up any opportunity we wanted to explore, to grow professionally,” she says.

Those opportunities included cross-department contact, and Carli naturally connected with the equine team. When that team offered her a territory sales position in central Pennsylvania, though, it took some convincing.

"I had an idea in my head of what a salesperson was—pushy, like a used car salesman," she jokes. "I didn't want to be that person."

The allure of working exclusively on equine products in a community she loved won Carli over. So did understanding what "sales" means at Boehringer Ingelheim.

"The expectation is to go in and educate customers, to become a partner with a strong professional relationship rather than just push, push, push,” she says.

That emphasis on an authentic connection around the shared passion of horses "makes it easy to stay in what I'm doing," she says.

A Juggling Act with Many Rewards

Carli loves the job, but it's demanding.

"What sets my schedule is my customers," she explains. That means adapting to the seasonality of the equine industry, getting clients signed on in late fall and winter, before their busiest spring season. Accommodating vets with 6 a.m. breakfast meetings. Long days behind the wheel.

She bought her first horse shortly after moving to Pennsylvania and tried keeping it at home at first.

"It became pretty obvious that I could not do both well," she says of the job and trying to train her horse herself. There were not enough hours in the day, and cutting corners is not in her nature.

Finding the right boarding stable has meant compromising proximity in favor of quality and trust in trainers. Her horse, Dennis, boards two-and-a-half hours from her home, so Carli plots out her riding and training calendar months in advance.

"I'm a big pre-planning, scheduling kind of person," she says.

Her Boehringer Ingelheim equine-sales colleagues – a close-knit group of about 30 people -- offer a lot of support.

"I think an important part of being a successful division is being a supportive one," she says. "We all talk a lot, to share our successes—and even talk through our failures. It's really cool to be in a group where we're confident enough to communicate openly and without judgment."

A love for the wider horse world connects them, too.

"It's also really fun to talk to my other colleagues who are doing totally different things from me—like show jumping, dressage, barrel-racing, to name just a few,” she says. “It's fun to watch them, and learn, and share that sense of accomplishment."  

From Love at First Sight, a Partnership Emerges

Carli bought Dennis in 2016 when he was two and ready to start training, but she has actually known him since the moment he was born. Working "foal watch" over pregnant mares at a friend's barn one night, she helped deliver Dennis.

"I don't know what it was about that little guy, I just always really liked him as I watched him grow up," she remembers. "He had a phenomenal, super-kind attitude, really willing. I always had a little bit of a soft spot for him."

When Dennis was ready to sell, the owner gave Carli first right of refusal. She hesitated. She already had a horse and wasn't looking for another. But she saw Dennis's sale video go public and her heart moved her. She bought him the next day.

Dennis is an American Paint Horse, a working breed derived from the American Quarter Horses Carli grew up with. Their patchwork coloring distinguishes them.

"He looks like a Holstein cow,” she says, laughing.

Both breeds are known for their muscular agility and agreeable dispositions. "We want them to be very quiet and willing," Carli says, "so that you go into the show ring and move through your classes without the cuing being overly obvious or big changes in the horse's cadence."

That subtlety and ease requires a true partnership between human and horse, one Carli and Dennis have mastered through years of work. They compete in sanctioned breed association shows across a variety of events, from conformation based on the horse's appearance to performance classes both on and off the saddle.

Carli's favorite event is showmanship, an "on-the-ground" event where the person hand-leads the horse through a pre-defined pattern. Rather than athleticism or natural talent, showmanship is "solely judged on the quality of the execution of that pattern and the communication between horse and handler," Carli explains.

"It doesn't matter if you've got a $5 horse or a $50,000 horse, if you put in the effort, spend the time, really learn to speak the horse's language, you can excel in that class."

For this lifelong equestrienne, that work ethic has paid off in and out of the ring.