ShowBiz
Featured PROFESSIONAL
Cindy Brooks
L
by Alden Corrigan
ove oF horses
Not riding was never an option that made the horses more rideable for was a grass arena and another small
for Cindy Hough Brooks. Having her. Not one to overlook natural talent, barn. When they separated, some-
grown up in the midst of not one, Champ steered Cindy toward horses one bought the lease from them, and
but two horse show dynasties, Cin- with a decided different type of knee the Training Center grew from there.”
dy’s destiny was predetermined. As action……….hunters. Within a year, Cindy moved to Morgan Hill at
she made her way from that little girl horse show photos showed a fearless age 13, when Champ married Linda
to the horsewoman she is today, she Cindy Hough on Step Lightly, clearing Lorimer. Linda and her mother Lor-
has never wavered in one thing, her already stout fences by a country mile. raine were already working for Bar-
overwhelming love for the horses. Rae Deane and Champ went on to bara Davies, training horses out of
Cindy grew up in Woodside, Cali- the facility Mrs. Davies had built for
fornia learning to ride on her par- them as Davies' summer home, 250
ent’s Saddlebred horses. Her Mom, acres of the family’s Lakeside Ranch.
Rae Deane Robinson (now Stone), Champ and Linda would eventually
and birth Dad Bob Robinson, were lease this facility, continuing to live on
both highly respected Saddlebred the property with Cindy and several
trainers. Early photographs of their years later, a second daughter, Lau-
young protégé depict a self-assured, ren, would join the Hough family fold.
perfectly turned out little girl, whose Lakeside Ranch became the second
legs were barely longer than the skirt and final home to the legendary Sutton
of the saddle on what appeared to be Place, named after Champ Hough’s fa-
enormous horses for such a tiny tot. mous Conformation Hunter. The name
When Cindy was 8, Rae Deane married Sutton Place still evokes images of Lin-
Champ Hough, a member of the 1952 da Hough, Laura Davies, and Barbara
Olympic Bronze Medal Three-Day Davies on some of the greatest show
Eventing team; it was then that Champ hunters of all time; Showdown, Mod-
adopted Cindy. From this moment on, est Man, Emmett Kelly, Noteworthy,
Cindy would refer to Champ as “Dad”, On Deck and Barn Owl, just to name a
and the lifelong mutual devotion, few. More importantly for Cindy, it was
on both a personal and professional build Sutton Place on the grounds of where she met and began her lifelong
level, began for father and daughter. what is now Portola Valley Training friendship with Laura Davies Mateo.
Although he was a prominent hunter- Center. “My Mom and Champ built Cindy and Laura were the same
jumper trainer, Champ could cross over that original barn (now Charlebois age when Cindy moved to Morgan
to yet another discipline, and take over Farm); it was the only thing there when Hill, and they grew up riding togeth-
the ground work for Rae Deane’s Sad- they got the lease on the land. The lin- er. Cindy’s dad and stepmother were
dlebred’s. He worked on getting them ear accelerator wasn’t even in yet. They technically Laura’s trainers, but Cindy
lighter in the bridle, and doing exercises built the first barn, and behind that
“My Dad, Champ Hough (winner of the 2008 USEF Pegasus
Medal of Honor) taught me everything. He is the most
exceptional horseman that I have met in my lifetime, and that
doesn’t just include just riding, it’s the care….it’s everything."
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