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40 SIDELINES FEBRUARY 2011 FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE H O R S E S H O W

A Few Minutes with Candace Allen

By Erin Gilmore

There’s fnding your calling, and then there’s fnding your calling and doing it well. Candace Allen found hers when she handed in her amateur card for professional status just over two years ago. But when the 26-year-old went to work as assistant to her longtime trainer Benson Carroll of Carmel Valley, California, it quickly became clear that training professionally was not only Candace’s calling, it was her greatest talent.

Benson’s Ventana Farm is home to some of the West Coast’s most well-known junior and amateur riders, and they credit Candace for playing a key role in helping them net some of the West’s most well-known Equitation and Medal Finals.

“I think of Candace as a good luck charm,” says student Clementine Yost. “When she is at the show with me, I win.”

Sidelines: Why did you make the leap from riding as an amateur to being a pro?

Candace Allen: I’ve been riding all my life, and I started riding for Benson in 2000. I was his working student as a junior and young amateur. It’s always been my dream to do this profession, to wake up and ride horses every day. When I fnished college at Chico State University, I decided that there was nothing else I wanted to do but ride.

Sidelines: Have you found coaching to be a challenge, or has it come easy to you?

CA: Teaching’s come really easy to me, which is a blessing. At the beginning, it was one of those things where Benson’s

been such a good teacher and mentor, and I’d been under his program for so long that it was an easy transition to start teaching his system.

Benson and I teach the same program, and it’s extremely valuable. We teach all of the same principles and tailor it to each one of our riders. We put our horses frst, and the soundness and safety of our horses is our number one priority.

Sidelines: Can you tell us some of your students’ top accomplishments?

CA: Adrienne Dixon won the 2009 Sacramento International Equitation Championship, and placed in the top ten of the 2009 NorCal Medal Final with Clementine Yost. Sophie Verges won the 2009 California Professional Horseman’s Association Foundation Equitation Final and Adrienne was 3 rd , and this year Adrienne won the Sonoma Equitation championship and Julia Nagler was 3 rd . Adrienne also won the 2010 CPHA Amateur Finals and Julia was reserve in the 2010 CPHA Junior Finals.

Sidelines: What’s the most important part of your day?

CA: The most important thing is the well being of our horses, every day. We make sure that every horse we have in training is happy and healthy and comfortable as can be. So every day the most important thing I do is walk through the barn, check on everything and keep up the standard of care in the barn that we promise.

Sidelines: What does the future hold for you?

CA: I hope to be able to keep doing what I’m doing for as long as I can. I’ve been with Ventana Farm and Benson for ten years now and I want to be part of a strong program for as long as I can.