2018 October Issue PASO Magazine

From Paso to Burghley: An Eventer’s Dream
For Paso Robles based Eventing trainer
Andrea Baxter, the upcoming trip to the
prestigious Land Rover Burghley Horse
Trials is one of redemption. She’s tackling her
‘second chance’ at one of the world’s toughest
Three Day Events with a little more pressure
than her 2017 attempt. “I’ve had all year with
this goal in the back of my mind, that really can
eat away at you” says Baxter, 35. Once again, she
is preparing to load up her 13yo locally bred
Thoroughbred ‘Indy 500’ and fly across the
pond to rub shoulders with the best the world
has to offer in the sport of Eventing.
“Last year I decided to tackle Burghley at the
latest moment possible, I decided on a whim
that I would enter”. As luck would have it, everything
fell into place and not even a month
later Baxter was hacking her horse around the
pristine gardens of Burghley House. Baxter had
finished 31st at America’s largest 4* event, The
Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event in Lexington.
She then headed to The Event at Rebecca
Farm, placing 3rd and pocketing a nice amount
of prize money that fuelled her plans for the
trip to the UK. “I’m not going to lie, last year
I went into it a little naive, what it would cost,
how the travel would unfold.... how the course
would look” Upon initial inspection of the
cross country course, Baxter was wondering if
she’d made the right choice “honestly, I didn’t
know if my horse could even jump that big, I’d
never seen anything like it”. Her 2017 attempt
didn’t end as planned and she re routed to the
By Bec Braitling
Ssang Yong Blenheim Palace Horse Trials the
following month. “I had an unimpressive dressage
test which left me near the bottom of the
pack, but I climbed over 60 places by the end
of the weekend” They finished in 25th out of
almost 100 starters. Baxter and Indy returned
to her family’s Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles
quietly plotting her return.
During all of 2018 it’s been on Baxter’s
mind that she wanted to have another crack at
Burghley. But the question lingered, how could
she afford to do it all over again? Ironically, she
and Indy 500 placed 31st again this year at the
Land Rover Kentucky Three Day Event, and
3rd again at Rebecca Farm. “I mean it’s a sign
right?! But I’m going into Burghley this time
with a lot more a stake. I know what to expect,
what the whole thing is about”
Andrea grew up on ten acres in Templeton,
encouraged into horses by her mom Connie.
“We had our horses at home, I went to pony
club and competed all over California with my
mom” Baxter competed at the North American
Young Rider Championships multiple times,
and together they even dabbled in some breeding.
That has become an ongoing passion of
Baxter’s to this day. They bred her first 4* horse
‘Estrella’, whom Andrea rode at the Kentucky
Three Day Event in 2010. That line is carried
on by some of Estrella’s offspring, most notably
Coronado, a 4yo stallion Andrea bred by Chilli
Morning. The sire is somewhat of a legend
in Eventing circles, becoming the first stallion
ANDREA BAXTER
to win the prestigious Badminton Horse Trials
and earning a bronze medal at the World
Championships in 2014. 2018 is Coronado’s
first year at stud and he’s learning the ways of
becoming a lovely event horse himself. “ I’m
not sure how it’s all going to work” says Baxter
“I have a successful string of mares I compete
regularly, so standing at stud and competing a
stallion really adds some excitement to things!”
Photos by Nico Morgan
In addition to breeding future champions
and running her breaking and training business
‘Estrella Equestrian’, Baxter also assists
the family running Twin Rivers Ranch and
the frequent number of shows there. For information
on upcoming events check out
twinrivershorsepark.com. To follow Andrea’s
progress at Burghley August 30- Sept 2 go to
burghley-horse.co.uk.
32 | pasomagazine.com PASO Magazine, October 2018