Andrea Pfeiffer Finds Fulfillment In Her Students Achievements She s chosen teaching and training over personal honor and glory, and along the way she s helped start some of eventing s rising stars. When U.S. Equestrian Federation officials released the high performance training lists last summer, two athletes who hail from Sonoma County, Calif., made the cut. Kelly Prather and Matt Brown were among those listed on the national squad, athletes who have the future potential to be competitive anywhere in the world. BY PATTI SCHOFLER But these talented riders have more than a home base in common. Both were mentored from a young age by the same coach. Prather was 8, and Brown was 9 when their respective parents started driving them to weekly lessons with Andrea Irvine Pfeiffer. Those sessions sparked a desire in each rider to reach the top of their sport, and Pfeiffer Andrea Pfeiffer has focused on coaching rather than competing, even giving up the ride on her own Ballinakill Glory (right) so her student, Kelly Prather, would have a talented mount on which to pursue her ambitions. Now Pippa is producing the next generation of event horses: Ballinakill Poppy or Corky was born in 2015. MARY JEAN MURPHY PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO continued providing a leg up until the two were well into their 20s. Brown, now 39, was an alternate for the 2015 Pan American Games (Canada) and was chosen again for the national list this year. Prather, 32, has ridden to the four-star level, contested the World Cup Final, and most recently finished ninth in the FEI World Breeding Eventing Championships CCI** at Le Lion d Angers (France) in October. Today, Pfeiffer, 49, is raising more promising riders at her Petaluma, Calif., farm. She took 15 horses to The Event At Rebecca Farm (Mont.) last summer. Student Amber Pearson competed at the Adequan/FEI North American Junior and Young Rider 82 The Chronicle of the Horse
Championships (Ky.) for Area VI. Assistant trainer Amber Levine won the Copper Meadows CIC** (Calif.) and placed fourth in two CCI**s last year. At the annual Area VI awards, Pfeiffer s Chocolate Horse Farm had the top three high score awards for intermediate horses. It s not that Pfeiffer never competed herself. She rode to the advanced level and earned her U.S. Dressage Federation silver medal aboard a horse called Hot Commodity. But even as a teenager growing up in Sonoma County, she had a suspicion her true calling might be along a different path in the horse world. Her successful testing in the British Horse Society certification program established the foundation. For four years, the day high school got out for summer vacation, Pfeiffer boarded a flight to spend two months in England as a working student under the purview of the BHS. The first summer, after 24 hours on English soil, the 14-year-old smacked into her life s first bout of homesickness and called her parents to say she wanted out. Her dad said no. He said I was not coming home until I tried it for 30 days, she recalled. I worked too hard to bail after 24 hours. Then, of course, after 30 days I never wanted to come home. After high school, Pfeiffer returned to England as a paid working student for nearly three years, and then she was hired to train young riding instructors. That teaching experience with BHS gave her the foundation upon which to build her training philosophy. We had instructions on how to stand, how to project, and on what words we were allowed to use when teaching, said Pfeiffer. But as an American, I brought my own style into it. One of my instructors thought it was a risk, but this is where I was comfortable. For the examination, students from the school were our guinea pigs. I was the last one to teach them, and by then they were pretty tired of being told what to do. My approach was fresh, fun, and about what we could do together. It turned out the examiners also enjoyed my lessons. I had an eye very early on for observation and to see true straightness and throughness. After Pfeiffer passed the exam, an instructor pulled her aside and told her she had a gift for teaching. She remembered the instructor s words clearly: No matter your competition career, I see you as a developer of riders. That is something you can t teach people to do. You have an eye for observation and a feel for how people learn. Lucky for me that she told me what she did, said Pfeiffer. Her words guided my career. I loved the riding and competing, but when my business was getting bigger, I had to make a choice between my riding career and my coaching career. A significant head injury and the birth of her daughter, Tayler, 20 years ago sent her solidly towards teaching. The Right Place At The Right Time Chocolate Horse Farm came to be based out of Jean Stokes Rancho Roble Lomas by pure happenstance. Twenty-three years ago, a newlywed James Pfeiffer was driving the hills of Petaluma when he came upon some Andrea Pfeiffer returned to eventing for a few years, but despite winning at the preliminary level with Ballinakill Glory, she decided not to continue. With two kids and a husband and a full business, it felt selfish to continue competing, she said. SAM DEAN PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO ranch construction. The bucolic location was nearly two miles up Sonoma Mountain and overlooked rolling hills and roaming cattle. A farrier by trade, James introduced himself to the owner, mentioned his wife was looking for a training barn, and two weeks later Andrea moved 27 horses onto the 100-acre ranch. She hasn t left since. However, Stokes was in for a bit of a shock when Andrea first arrived. A western rider, Stokes was planning a casual western-oriented boarding facility. She learned her new tenants had a different idea when she saw Andrea and James jumping her newly installed picnic tables. Stokes retired from a career as the chief estimator of a San Francisco painting contractor for such large projects as the San Francisco Giants AT&T Park. Although she hadn t intended her ranch to be an February 15, 2016 chronofhorse.com 83
eventing training center, the Pfeiffers soon became family. She attended the birth of both children, Jack and Tayler, and is proud to say that Tayler took her first steps in her barn office. Until the end of January, Stokes had been handling the facility while Andrea did the training. However, beginning Feb. 1, Andrea took over running the ranch as well, as Stokes, now 84, decided to retire. While Andrea was up for the additional challenge, she said it s a bit daunting after so many years of knowing [Stokes has] got my back. Confirming Her Life s Work If Andrea wasn t 100 percent sure where her equestrian destiny lay, a special horse helped confirm her calling as a teacher and mentor first and foremost. Andrea encouraged Prather to go to England and take her BHS exams, and after she d passed the first two stages, noted Irish horse dealer Carol Gee offered her a position. While there, Prather found an Irish Sport Horse she thought would be perfect for Pfeiffer: Ballinakill Glory. When Pippa came along I returned to competing, said Andrea. I rode Giving Back In And Out Of The Horse World Andrea Pfeiffer is quick to help a student who has the desire and drive but not the funds to make it in the horse world, and she s equally generous with her time outside the riding arena. When her children s elementary school needed a new playground, Pfeiffer roped in judges and staff to volunteer their time at schooling shows, which raised $20,000 toward the project. She s also an active board member for the Committee on the Shelterless, a homeless service agency in Petaluma, Calif. COTS provides a wide range of services to help prevent and break the cycle of homelessness. The organization boasts twice the national average for transitioning people into permanent housing. Pfeiffer cooks at the COTS kitchen on Sundays when she is home. It s the real world in contrast to the crazy world I m in, she said. When I grew up, you never missed Sunday dinner. You could invite whomever you wanted, but you never missed Sunday dinner. My goal at COTS is to give people that feeling. Everything is home cooked. It s friends and family and Sunday. I get to know the people, and they show me the keys to their new houses or their diplomas. Thirty-seven people died on the streets in our county last year, and that s 37 too many, she continued. We just have to work harder. I didn t know that I had this passion to solve a problem until COTS. This nightmare is solvable. They are in the business of saving lives, and I wanted to be part of this. My faith in the program is so deeply rooted. I have a crazy amount of energy, and I wanted to be a piece of the solution. I want to leave a mark on the world. She laughs when asked how she finds time to volunteer on top of running a full-time training business and taking care of her family. I ll sleep when I m dead, she joked. I take one of my days off to cook. Oh, well, the house doesn t get vacuumed. I used to vacuum twice a day, and my house looked like nobody lived in it. That was my goal. But for what? Now I see it wasn t as important as I thought it was. My kids are older and don t need me as much. Everyone knew at the barn if my kids had something going on, I wasn t there teaching. If they need something I d be there to give it, but I d be hard pressed to give up my Sunday cooking. The Chocolate Horse gang students, friends and family along with Andrea, her husband James and facility owner Jean Stokes have donated over $100,000 to COTS. preliminary at Rebecca Farm and won by a giant margin. It was kind of comical. Going into show jumping, I could have had every rail down and still won. Yet, she recalls, when she got off the cross-country course, I was thinking that was super fun, but I didn t feel like I had to get out there again. Instead, she wanted to see Prather advance her riding, and competing Pippa was the way. It wasn t a hard decision, Andrea said. Kelly wanted it so badly. By then, with two kids and a husband and a full business, it felt selfish to continue competing. Andrea and James backed Prather and Pippa all the way to the 2009 HSBC FEI World Cup Eventing Final in Poland and the 2011 Rolex Kentucky CCI****. It was her chance, and the only way she was going to get it was if we funded it, said Andrea. I couldn t say no to her. We had a great adventure. Both these kids [Prather and Brown] I still call them kids were so dedicated, worked so hard, and I wanted to help them because no one can do this without help, Andrea continued. They didn t come from money. I helped Kelly and had a client who helped Matt, so he wouldn t miss out. They both were willing to work hard for that. I feel a huge part of these kids success. They grew up riding in a program of support, which gave them a solid set of basic knowledge, how to do it, how to get there and stay there. For me, being able to turn out good people, solid citizens, not just good riders, is where my heart is. Like offspring related by birth, students have to move away from home too. Prather started at Chocolate Horse Farm jumping with James. When she was ready to compete at 10, she moved on to Andrea. After success with Pippa on the world stage and nine years as the top rider and assistant trainer at Chocolate Horse Farm, she crossed the ocean to work for Great Britain s William Fox-Pitt, before starting her own eventing business on the East Coast. She has great feel for a horse and what is the best thing to do 84 The Chronicle of the Horse
For more than 20 years, Andrea Pfeiffer (left) has run her Chocolate Horse Farm out of Jean Stokes Rancho Roble Lomas in Petaluma, Calif., and helped numerous students, such as Amber Levine, reach the upper levels of eventing. JESSICA RISING PHOTO Kelly Prather learned to ride at Andrea Pfeiffer s Chocolate Horse Farm beginning when she was 8, and with Pfeiffer s help she reached the four-star level and competed in an FEI World Cup Final before going off to work for William Fox-Pitt and starting her own business on the East Coast. KIMBERLY LOUSHIN PHOTO for a horse, said Prather. And she s a great businesswoman who was so good at making everyone feel like they are looked after. Brown established his own eventing training and teaching business in Sonoma County and relocated to the East Coast in 2015 to pursue his Olympic dream. Students move on. It s natural and a compliment, said Andrea. If you ve gotten a student to the point where someone like William Fox-Pitt hires them, well, I say I ve done a good job, and my job is done. You have to feel confident in your ability that when they go on; it s the right thing for them. You pat them on the back, and you pat yourself on the back and say, I ve done a heck of a job. You ve guided them, not just in their riding, Andrea continued. You are an integral part of their life. But if you can t let go, stay out of the business. And if your students are not successful on their own, it raises a red flag about your program. If they are, you are a part of why they were able to succeed on their own. While Andrea s goal with her elite riders is to make them independent, she said she s gone through the process enough to realize the split isn t always going to happen gracefully, especially when her younger pupils step out on their own. They just have to do it, and they don t know how to do it, she said. I think about my career at the start and how grateful I am to those who put their trust in me. But sometimes kids learn as they get older how to become more inclusive. Students Of Every Stripe Today Chocolate Horse Farm is home to students of all stripes: young and old, experienced and beginner. Over the years, CHF has looked after an estimated 1,000 horses and more than 3,000 riders, ranging in age from 5 to 75. It s super easy to teach people who are super talented, said Andrea. I love it when the real talent walks through the door fully funded. But I love the kids and adults who have passion for it and are willing to work hard and to do anything to make it work. 86 The Chronicle of the Horse
For me, it s no different standing at the finish line watching someone s first beginner novice course ride than it is watching a student at Rolex, she continued. They smile exactly the same, and they re talking a million miles an hour and telling you about each fence. I teach a huge number of adults who have jobs and can t afford to get hurt, but they are out there doing it, she added. These are serious ladies, and a few gentlemen doctors, business executives who didn t ride as kids or weren t particularly athletic as children. And they are going to their first event at 50. She will teach a rider on any horse, even on a horse that doesn t have the best potential in the world, said Prather. Some trainers may not think the horse is good enough and will have you sell the horse. Andrea will work with you on any horse and try to get the best out of that horse. She has a great feel as a rider. She didn t grow up with all the money in the world, so she had to make horses that weren t given to her as made horses. As a child, Dr. Vicki Martinez had ridden informally, and then she stopped to go to medical school. An emergency room doctor today, she returned to riding at 47. She hadn t sat on a horse for 15 years when she took up eventing with Pfeiffer and after a short time competed at beginner novice. At 50, she rode in her first intermediate division. With Andrea, there is always another way to help you out, she said. You go away from a lesson feeling good about what went on. And believe me, she doesn t coddle or sugar coat. It s always fair and often with humor. Last year, Martinez competed in fourth level dressage and training level eventing on her Selle Français Hoppi, who is still going strong at 24. He looks 10 and has never been lame, said Martinez. We re going to keep going until we can t. But I wouldn t even consider this without Andrea. She always has something positive to say at the end, and you come away with having learned. With Andrea, the focus is not on the negative. So people don t give up. Not that Andrea won t speak her mind if the occasion warrants. When a new kid comes in, the others are watching, she said. They know that kid is going to snap at his parents at one point, and they re waiting for me to be there and say, Let me tell you how this is going to go. Your parents, you worship them, because the moment they don t write the check, all this goes Photo by Jim Graham Call today for more information on Winterthur s spring racing event! Races sanctioned by the NSA include: Maiden Timber Race Open Timber Race Amateur Highweight Timber Race Open Flat Race away. And don t think I ll stand behind you and stop them. But then I ll do whatever I can for them, Andrea continued. I ll help with homework. I ll pick them up from school. I ll talk to the parents if things aren t going well. If they need a horse or sponsorship, I ll do what I can to make them successful as long as they are willing to work as hard as I am. SUNDAY, MAY 8 Also running: Large and Small Pony Races The trainer with the most points will receive the Greta Brown Layton Trophy. For more information, call 302.888.4992 or visit winterthur.org/ptp. Winterthur is located in Delaware s beautiful Brandywine Valley on Route 52, between I-95 and Route 1, less than one hour south of Philadelphia. February 15, 2016 chronofhorse.com 87