20 SIDELINES AUGUST 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
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By Holly Hugo-Vidal
Growing up in Wilton, Connecticut, Peter Lombardo didn’t start
riding until he was 10 years old. It was a little bit of a late start, but
it obviously didn’t get in the way of his success.
Today, Peter is a professional with an impressive track record,
including achievements such as winning the 2012 Emmett Kelly
Challenge Trophy for high performance hunters with Ante Up
and riding Mandarin to the Championship at The Pennsylvania
National Horse Show and to the Reserve Championship at the
Devon Horse Show in 2008.
Peter, an “R” USEF hunter and hunter seat equitation judge as
well as a clinician, is celebrating his four-year anniversary of his
own business – Frontier Farms in Moorpark, California.
Despite all these achievements, Peter came from a non-horsey
family. But, after a visit to see his aunt in Nashville, Tennessee
and a couple of rides on ponies he was hooked. He went home
and had to literally beg for lessons. Lessons escalated and soon
his family built a seven-stall barn on the property, which Peter
presided over.
For the first couple of years of his riding career, Peter rode with
the late, great Ronnie Mutch, shipping over to Nimrod Farm for
lessons and meeting up with Ronnie at shows. Peter showed
hunters and equitation, finishing in the top ten of the 1982 ASPCA
Maclay Finals. Peter also rode with George Morris at Hunterdon in
New Jersey and attended every local clinic with George.
When asked about mentors, he immediately named Ronnie
Mutch and George Morris. He added, “I wish I could remember
everything they taught me!”
Not owning an equitation horse, Peter rode in the finals for four
years on different horses. When Peter was a junior rider, he was
often asked to show horses for other owners and trainers – giving
him an early start to becoming an experienced professional rider.
Peter also won six USETs, earning a bronze medal as a junior.
While Peter was studying at the University of Maryland, he rode
on the school team and was their coach for three years. While
attending college, Peter studied architecture and discovered
a great passion for it. However, horses eventually won out and
Peter turned professional upon graduation.
Nonetheless, he has pursued his interest in architecture and
designed several barns in the Bedford, New York area and still
has a great passion for it. He hopes to one day design his own
Peter Lombardo: Destined to Ride
house in Moorpark.
As a young professional, Peter worked with Carol Molony
in North Salem, New York, learning many facets of the horse
business. “I still do many things the same way I did while working
with Carol,” he said.
At the start of his professional career, Peter spent 18 months in
Europe. Athens, Greece was his first stop when he coached riders
throughout Europe. The show circuit also took him to Yverdon-les-
Bains, Switzerland and Florence, Italy. Some highlights of his time
in Europe include the 1990 Junior European Championships in
Mons, Belgium and the Balkan Games in Istanbul, Turkey.
Before his return to the United States, Peter rode at a sales
barn in Germany. “The whole European experience made me
aware of how much more there was than just the shows [in New
York] I had been attending,” he said.
In 2000, Peter moved to California to work for Karen Healey
and a few years later, when Archie Cox formed his own business,
Peter joined him for eight years.
Although today Peter is a top rider and competitor, he continues
to do most of the riding himself. As far as his own ring preparation,
Peter says he does it all himself – both when prepping horses for
his junior and amateur riders and when he is working the horses
he shows himself. Very often he rides them in low jumper divisions
just to work on patterns, giving the horses a good learning
experience.
Peter’s hard work has paid off, and since opening Frontier
Farms his horses and riders have held their own on the West
Coast as well as the East Coast. Peter may not have been born in
the saddle, but it is pretty obvious he was destined to ride.
About the writer: Holly Hugo-Vidal is Sidelines’ California correspondent and
writes the “West Side Story” column. Holly is located in Rancho Santa Fe, California
where she specializes in hunters and equitation as well as adults. She is an “R”
USEF judge, clinician and an author. Her most recent book is “Build Confidence
Over Fences.”
Peter shows off his winning style, honed by years of riding with
Ronnie Mutch and George Morris.
Photo by John Zambrano
Peter and Ante Up, owned by Janie Andrew.
Photo by John Zambrano
