Kate Gillespie Runs A Tight Ship For Team Peters At Arroyo Del Mar

Kate Gillespie is invaluable to Steffen and Shannon Peters as the barn manager at Arroyo Del Mar, and she's also Ravel's No. 1 fan. (Photo by Sara Lieser.)

The main workday is usually over around 3 p.m., and then Gillespie helps do night check for all the horses at 7 p.m.

Though she admits living on the property and being on call 24 hours a day can be taxing, Gillespie wouldn’t trade her job with the Peterses for any other.

“I would never want a 9-to-5 job,” Gillespie said. “They’re going to have to drag me out of here kicking and screaming. Steffen and Shannon rock. They really do. They’re really cool people to work for, and they’re always doing nice things for people. Whenever I’m in dire straights about something, they help me out. They paid the vet bill for my dog when he was really sick because they knew I couldn’t afford it. We really are a team around here. Steffen’s competing in Germany [with Ravel at the Aachen CDI] soon, and you can bet that at 3 in the morning, we’ll all be gathered around watching together.”

This is the second article in a weekly series about barn managers and grooms. Every Wednesday in July we'll publish a story about one of these invaluable behind-the-scenes employees. Learn more about what it takes to get top professionals into the show ring while everything runs smoothly at home.

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Backstage With Barn Managers And Grooms

Comments

PonyGal08
1 year 43 weeks ago

'“I just like the way they

'“I just like the way they look after their horses,” she said. “Eventers have a bad name on how they look after their horses, and for the most part it’s sort of true. I have a higher standard for horse care. That’s the best part about working for Steffen and Shannon—just the way they treat the horses. They don’t take shortcuts on anything.”'

For someone who is so highly thought of as a "horseperson" the above is truly an ignorant and false statement.