Our Staff
Christen Khym
DIRECTOR, TRAINER
Christen Khym is the Director and Head Trainer of Scots Ridge Farm, and the Coach of the IHSA and IEA Teams.
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​Christen is an Illinois native who graduated from Maryville College in 1996 and went on to earn a JD from the University of Tennessee and launch a career in commercial real estate brokerage – all while riding and training horses professionally and building the College equestrian team. She is the winner of the Kin Takahashi Young Alumni Award for distinguished service to the College and community. In 2008, she chose to bring her business acumen and horsemanship talent to full-time management of her growing equestrian program. In 2018, she moved the program to its new home at Scots Ridge. She is also a Suzuki Violin instructor and performer. Christen lives in Maryville with her husband and daughter.
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Cate Biggs
OWNER
Cate is President of Equanimity, LLC and the owner of the farm.
Cate grew up riding in Knoxville, competing in events, shows, and Pony Club. She is a Yale graduate and has a Masters Degree from UC- Berkeley. In 2012 she brought her family back to Tennessee after almost 30 years away and connected with Christen and Maryville College. Before becoming a full-time farmer, Cate worked in education, journalism, and the non-profit sector. She enjoys riding, training her miniature horse Nibblet, and spending time at the farm with her husband, daughters, and dogs.
Erin Buckley
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, TRAINER
Erin is the Assistant Farm Director, Assistant Coach of the IHSA and IEA Teams, and Assistant Trainer at the farm.
Erin joined us full-time 2024 after working part-time with Christen teaching lessons, training horses, and organizing shows. She is a Maryville College graduate (2016, Biopharmaceutical Sciences) where she rode on the MC Equestrian Team, winning championship titles in the IHSA at the regional and zone level. In 2016, she was sixth in the nation in her division. Erin has ridden and shown horses her whole life and was active in the US Pony Club (C3/HB). She began teaching lessons in 2019 and has managed several barns. Erin holds a Doctorate in Pharmacy from UT Health Sciences Center and has worked as a pharmacist before realizing her dream of working full-time in horses.
Eliza Cheshire
BARN MANAGER
Eliza is from Nashville and is a Maryville College graduate (2023, Exercise Science, Captain of the Tennis Team). She had some experience with horses growing up but got serious when she joined the MC Equestrian Team in 2021 and began working part-time at the farm. After graduation, she came on full-time as the Barn Manager. Outside of work, she enjoys hanging out with friends, playing with her dog, being outdoors, traveling, and spending time with family.
Takoda Overholt
FARM LABORER
Takoda started at Scots Ridge in summer of 2021 and quickly became a valued member of the Operations team, often volunteering to come to the farm after-hours as needed for special projects or repairs.
He grew up in here in Rockford playing baseball and football, and went on to attend Heritage High School. He enjoys working on cars, fishing, and spending time with his fiancee and daughter.
Matthew Seehausen
FARM LABORER
We welcomed Matthew Seehausen to the Operations team in 2022.
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Matthew is from Knoxville and also lived in upstate New York during high school where he played football. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 2020 with a degree in Psychology. He loves being outdoors, fishing, sports of all kinds, hanging out with friends and family, and playing guitar.
Nate Kortz
FARM LABORER
We welcomed Nate to our Operations team in the fall of 2024.
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Born and raised in Boise Idaho, Nate served our country for 4 years as active duty Air Force and now currently serves in the Tennessee Air National Guard. Nate worked on his family's ranch in Texas where he discovered his passion for handling livestock. Nate enjoys watching rodeos, football, aviation, western culture and spending time with friends and family.
Lauren Guerrieri
TRAINER
Originally from Wellington FL, Lauren moved to Tennessee in the spring of 2024.
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As a junior rider, Lauren gained extensive experience competing in equitation, hunters, and jumper rings at rated horse shows across the country. With a specialization in high level jumpers, her training program is unique to each individual horse's strengths and skill set. **Clients are subject to a separate cost for training services