iJump Feature E
rin Duffy is one of those unique in-
dividuals that can appear to be a bit of a quiet one to figure out. But all you have to do it talk to her and you realize she is an open book. Not one to flaunt her own accomplishments or opinions, she has an interesting perspective on our sport. Born and raised in the Los Angeles area, her parents Patrick and
Linda are also natives as are her sisters Megan and Heather. Being a horse crazy child, Erin bugged and begged her father for a horse till he finally gave in when she was seven years old. Being a practi- cal man, his horse search was the LA Times classified section where there were several available, mostly race horses. The search finally took them to a little stable in Compton where a cowboy had a short, fat, slow one that dad was eager to pay $500 for and the family was on their way. As the horse got fatter, Erin continued learning to ride until one
day there were TWO. Her father considered this a great “two-fer” package and the foal sold for $1,000, they were now in the horse business. Her dad’s next project was horse property in Palos Verdes. Having the horses at home meant she learned how to do everything at a very young age, groom, clean stalls, tack up on her own and ride when she could. A new horse, Show Me the Way, was added to the family as Erin’s Children’s Hunter. With horse property it was only natural to add horses; the next
one was a foal out of this mare by one of Tommy Blackiston’s great stallions. “I had been reading books on foaling,” says Erin, “and I
happened to be there by myself when the time came, lucky I read those books!! I delivered the foal and broke the sack myself, I was 16. It was really nerve wracking for me. The foal was named Touchstone and it ended up being a good Pre-green and 1st Year horse. Cindy Merritt and Judy Martin were helping me at that time.” She spent some time as a working student for Bernie and Christine
Traurig before turning professional right out of the Junior ranks. At eighteen she went to work at LAEC for Mary Tyne and the Quail Run business. Eventually with a barn of her own in Malibu, she met Alan Waldman who brought his horses with him when he went to Pepperdine University. “We were an item for awhile during that time and I have to tell you he taught me a lot about riding and breaking young horses, he loves doing that and I fell in love with it too. He also taught me a lot about selecting and finding young horses. He was insatiable in his research on bloodlines, characteristics of the breeds, how important the mare is to breeding selection, he read all the time and talked about it almost nonstop, he was fascinated.” “Soon I decided I wanted to go to Europe and see what Alan had
talked about so much. I worked for Jan Tops in Holland and then Stephan Contair in Belgium. When you go over there you do it all, it’s not an easy job. I groomed, did all the barn duties, got up in the
Opposite Page, Top to Bottom: Erin and Prince, Photo © Rick Osteen Photography; Erin and her beloved dogs Jack and Lily relaxing in Malibu. This Page, Top to Bottom: Erin with her mom, Linda Duffy, sister Megan Ebenhack and niece Caroline Ebenhack playing with her first pony, Harold (Mandolin Rain); Erin riding in the hills of Palos Verdes with her mom, Linda Duffy and two sisters, Heather and Megan, 1980.
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