Mandy is just the best. That’s the unsolicited opinion of one of Mandy Porter’s sponsor reps the instant we met. Others in the Grand Prix rider’s circle share that succinct assessment at the drop of a hat. So much so, that, if Mandy’s there, she swears she’s paid them all off. But Mandy has been a much-admired professional for 20-plus years and it’s clear the volunteered comments are genuine and earned the hard way through horsemanship, consistency and good dealings.

The California native is a regular Grand Prix threat on the West Coast and pops onto the international radar periodically – like now. She and Plum Creek Hollow Farm’s Con Capilot started 2014 in second place among US riders in the World Cup West Coast League. A successful showing with the 11-year-old Con Capitol son in the remaining qualifiers at HITS Thermal will assure Mandy a fourth trip to the Finals, scheduled for Lyon, France this April.

In between those international forays, Mandy runs a training business very much of her own design. She decided some years ago to focus on jumpers and to maintain a clientele size that allows her adequate time for what she loves most: developing every horse she has to its fullest potential.

It’s a European business model she experienced first hand in the formative years of her career, working initially for Gerhard Etter’s sales barn in Switzerland, then riding and training privately for two Italian families.

Her seven years in Europe, which included three Nations Cup caps and work with several top coaches, layered success and experience onto the solid horsemanship foundation she received as a student of Lowrey Jones, Carol Dean Porter and Butch and Lu Thomas. Degrees in animal science and agricultural business management from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo have served her well, too.

ACP ENTERPRISES

Around 14 horses make up Mandy’s ACP Enterprises, based at a private barn in San Diego’s Rancho Santa Fe area. Con Capilot is the undisputed star of the string. At home, he’s lazy, which Mandy attributes to his smart use of energy. At shows, “Gorgeous George” lights up. A win in Sacramento and top places in the Del Mar and Las Vegas qualifiers secured their strong World Cup West league position.

The victories validate the wisdom of Mandy’s plan for the horse. “He’s very clever and he always knows what’s going on.” Although his body was willing and able to tackle the big classes, Mandy and owner Nancy Gooding were careful to wait until his mind caught up to the task. Their confidence-building game plan saw “Pilot” make his World Cup league debut in November of 2012, two years after Mandy first spotted him while giving a clinic in Colorado, near Plum Creek’s Larkspur base. A win of the $50,000 EMO Grand Prix at Thermal, a year ago January, signaled the start of the pair’s ascent.

If the Finals pan out, Mandy likes Pilot’s chances. “He’s a Championship horse, rather than a Sunday horse,” she explains. “The more he works, the better he gets.”

Like any good horseman, Mandy won’t count her chickens before they hatch, but a Finals bid would be nice, she smiles. There’s the satisfaction of going aboard a horse she’s brought up through the ranks, a return to her European stomping grounds and to a competition in which she’s well versed.

WILD TURKEY FARM DAYS

In 2007 and 2008, Mandy contested the Finals with her longtime partner, the Belgian-bred mare Summer. Retired in 2009 and now happy as a broodmare, Summer was the most famous of several stars Mandy campaigned during six years as the rider for Barb Ellison’s Wild Turkey Farm. When Barb consolidated her horses in Oregon, Mandy stayed with her California business and the two remain in close contact. Barb attributed Summer’s many successes to Mandy’s abilities and care; and Mandy is grateful to Barb for giving her a shot early in her return stateside.

Now if Mandy could just get a foal from Summer and Pilot, she winks playfully. “I think it could really be something. She’s got a long back and a ton of scope and he’s got a more compact frame with a ton of scope. I’d give it a whirl!”

POTENTIAL SUCCESSORS

Getting back onto the biggest tracks has been fun, she acknowledges. Things may go on from here with Con Capilot, or Mandy may be back in the familiar position of starting over with a big ring prospect. With breeding popularity paralleling his show ring success, Con Capilot is for sale. That’s consistent with Plum Creek Hollow’s purchase of him in 2006 as an investment horse. Mandy would miss him mightily, but there are potential successors in the barn.

She and Mexican rider Enrique Gonzales are partners in Detroit, a coming six-year-old Dutch stallion, by Numero Uno and out of a Nimmerdor mare. He won the Five-Year-Old Young Horse Finals at the Sacramento International last October and Mandy has high hopes for him. She also has some hot prospects from Simon Nizri, whose Wildflower Ranch abuts the private property where Mandy is based. Simon rides for top breeders, La Silla, and has sent a few Mandy’s way including the six-year-old mare Reforma LS and the seven-year-old gelding Quimbu LS.

BRINGING ON THE YOUNGSTERS

Bringing young horses up the ranks is a task near and dear to Mandy’s heart. As an active member of the USHJA’s Young Horse committee, she hopes to help make it easier – primarily, more affordable – to bring youngsters along in the States. “In Europe, gas is the main cost of taking horses to small shows,” she observes. “I know we can’t simulate that, but we are trying to develop programs that encourage American breeders.”

In Southern California, she applauds Blenhiem EquiSports’ entry fee-free policy for qualifiers for its Young Jumper Championships and Final in August. Nationally, she’s pleased about the USEF’s new US Young Horse Championships slated for this fall in Kentucky.

Loyal and longtime sponsors have helped Mandy’s business run efficiently. Most of the companies are behind her because she solicited them, not the other way around. “People sometimes say, “Oh, you’re so lucky you have such great sponsors.” “Yes, I am lucky, but I also went out and got them.” As products including Purina Mills feeds, EquiFit horse boots and Devoucoux saddles became staples of her program, Mandy approached each company with a, “Well, all they can say is “no”,” attitude.” Riding only for brands she can endorse from experience, Mandy hasn’t reached out to many companies and she hasn’t had many “no’s” either.

Her sponsors also include Ogilvy Equestrian, LubriSyn, Heritage Gloves, Footing Solutions and EquiFuse.

Fitness, good nutrition and fresh minds are the watchwords for Mandy’s relatively simple approach to horse management. She is well known for putting her horses’ well-being ahead of all else, be it points or prize money, and only working with owners who share that commitment. Several of the 14 horses currently in her care are over 15, causing Mandy to laughingly refer to “our geriatric barn.” Most are looking and performing better than ever, Mandy notes.

As fellow Grand Prix rider and neighbor Simon Nizri puts it, “You will not find a better horse person than Mandy.” He also considers her “one of the best riders in the world and a fantastic human being.”

In short: “the best.”