Producing Event Horses
with Andrea Baxter

Is there anything more rewarding than competing on a horse that you bred and trained from the ground up? Sponsored rider Andrea Baxter has had some of her biggest accomplishments on home-bred horses, including completing at the five-star level on a mare named Indy 500, while simultaneously competing with Indy's son, Laguna Seca, at the four-star level. These feats are a true testament to Andrea's breeding and training program. Watch the video below to find out a little about Andrea's philosophy when it comes to breeding and producing event horses!

Andrea Baxter's Event Horse Breeding

Q: How did you get into breeding event horses?

A: I got into breeding and eventing from my mom when I was very young. My mom did a lot of breeding when I was a kid. We always had mares and babies around, so I got into looking through the magazines with my mom and picking out stallions.

The first good horse I rode was one that my mom bred. She rode it through Advanced, and I took him on to Young Riders. We went on to breed another good mare that I rode again at Young Riders, and I took her through the five-star at Kentucky. It's gone on from there!

Q: What went into your decision to breed Indy 500?

A: All the mares we started off breeding were off-track thoroughbreds. When I got Indy 500, she was a four-year-old. She was not off the track, but she was a thoroughbred and had a bit of a "wingnut" history. I got her and decided to breed her to help try to calm her down.

When I did that, she was easy to get in foal and had "Junior," or Laguna Seca, my four-star horse. She was a horrible mother, but he turned out to be quite a superstar. It was pretty cool to see the two of them grow up together and both be Advanced horses at the same time.

Q: What kind of training timeline did you aim for when producing Laguna Seca?

A: Laguna Seca was a very big baby, so I started him a little bit earlier than some. He was about two years old and I put about 60 days of training on him, then turned him out to mature and develop. When he was four, I started training him a bit more to jump and do proper flatwork. He came out strong as a five-year-old and did very well in the Young Event Horse program.

Q: What is the importance of the USEA Future Event Horse and Young Event Horse programs?

A: I think it's really important to start the babies with a lot of handling and groundwork. Unfortunately, when Junior was a baby, they didn't have the Future Event Horse classes so he missed those (but he did start in the Young Event Horse classes). With all of my other babies, I have done a lot of the Future Event Horse classes; I think that's really educational for them to learn manners and in-hand groundwork.

Sometimes the Future and Young Event Horse classes can be a little subjective, and we're not sure what they're looking for, but I personally have always found huge value in the classes as a training tool for my horses. I like to take it on as something to educate the horses more than I worry about how they place in the class.

Q: Any final considerations or tips for someone looking to breed and produce young horses?

A: Picking a stallion for your mare seems like a big task. I think it's important to start with a really nice mare to begin with, then pick a stallion that complements the mare you have. We obviously want to make things better, but if you go too extreme on opposites, I do worry that the baby will have too much variety in its look. I usually try to breed complements to complements.

We hope you enjoyed coming on this journey with us to learn about Andrea's background in breeding horses for eventing. Breeding is not for the faint of heart, and raising a foal up to be a winning event horse takes hard work and dedication. Should you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at 1-800-620-9145 or info@ridingwarehouse.com. Happy eventing!