Cody Horse Trainer Rebuilds After Barn Fire Devastates Business and Belongings

The original story by Dale Killingbeck for Cowboy State Daily.

Meredith Zajac was just hitting her stride with the Wyoming Horsemanship Academy when disaster struck. Less than two weeks before Christmas, a barn fire wiped out not only her training space, but all her saddles, tack, lesson materials, and even personal belongings she’d accumulated over a lifetime.

“It was the classic nightmare,” Zajac said. “Someone knocking on my door at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning to tell me my barn was on fire. Luckily, it was during the day.”

The blaze destroyed about 10 client saddles, eight lesson saddles, and at least a dozen of her own — some of them show saddles she’d been using for years. Her RV, parked next to the barn and used for storage during outdoor guiding trips, was reduced to bare metal and ashes. Even two sows and their seven piglets were lost.

Investigators traced the fire to an electrical issue. Photos after the blaze showed melted saddle stirrups and singed pages from books. Fortunately, the wind wasn’t blowing, or nearby trees and structures might have gone up as well. And her horses, safely in paddocks on her 5-acre property, were unharmed.

A personal and professional blow

Beyond the barn itself, Zajac lost thousands of dollars in lesson materials, classroom supplies, and personal treasures — including high school journals, adoption records, camping gear, and awards she had hoped to display in her tack room.

“I probably lost about $100,000 in personal stuff,” she said.

The pain didn’t end there. When she called her insurer, Zajac was told none of the losses — not the barn, not the RV, not the saddles or tack — were covered.

“I absolutely thought I had the right coverage,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d be risking my entire livelihood without it.”

That hard lesson has made her more cautious and aware, and she’s been fielding calls from others hoping to avoid the same mistake.

Community rallies around

Despite the devastation, Zajac hasn’t skipped a beat with lessons and horse training. Local riders and trainers pitched in, lending her saddles and tack so her students could keep learning. Friends raised $5,000 through a fundraiser, a brewery hosted a trivia night with proceeds going to her, and her sister Karen started a GoFundMe campaign that continues to bring in support.

“Meredith has poured her heart and soul into creating a welcoming business for clients, livestock, and horses,” Karen Zajac wrote. “She’s been horse crazy as long as I can remember and has truly made her dreams into a reality.”

Construction is already underway on a small tack shed, and Zajac says she’s touched by the Cody community’s support.

“I think what makes me feel good is that enough people rallied to help us stay afloat,” she said. “It’s hard not to throw in the towel, but I started this from nothing. I’m already a little ahead of where I started, so I might as well keep going.”

Wyoming Horsemanship Academy teaches horse tune-ups, colt starting, cattle work, roping, packing game, and basic horsemanship skills like grooming, saddling, and handling.

“I just love what I do.” Zajac said. “I love teaching more people and helping more clients. This fire doesn’t change that.”

Even after losing so much, Zajac’s focus remains on her passion — horses, teaching, and keeping her academy running for the community she’s built in Cody.