At 25, Sara Marchant is young to be running her own training business, Manhattan Farms. But what this Northern California hunter/jumper professional lacks in years, she more than makes up for in wisdom, work ethic and the everyday conviction that horse sports should be wholesome and fun for everybody involved.
Much of Sara’s beyond-her-years horse sense comes from the fact that she’s been riding since she was 6. Raised within the hunter/jumper community as the daughter of active amateur competitor, Sandy Marchant, Sara got started under the tutelage of veteran trainer Sue Lightner. Contesting the USEF Pony Finals back East was the highlight of her early junior years. During five years riding with Dick and Ruth Widger’s Waterford Farms, Sara racked up consistent ribbons in all junior divisions.
She knew she wanted to be a horse trainer from a very early age. After dabbling in marketing oriented college classes for two years, Sara fulfilled her childhood ambition by turning professional at 19. She worked for three-and-a-half years as an assistant trainer at a busy Bay Area show barn, then stepped out on her own two years ago with Manhattan Farms.
Sara is now well on her way to the 20-horse head count she considers ideal. “I really enjoy staying at a barn size where I can spend time with my clients, both the horses and the people.” She is proud of the family friendly atmosphere her clients rave about. “We’re a small family now, and I’d like it to be a bit bigger of a family in the future.”
Sara welcomes students with a range of competitive ambitions. Manhattan Farms typically shows once a month, in both ends of the state, usually kicking off each year with an Indio stint. “Everybody has different goals and financial situations,” Sara notes. “I can always fit a program for them.”
An admirer of Hap Hansen’s soft-spoken ways, Sara says, “I always told myself I would not be the yelling and screaming trainer. I don’t want my students or their families feeling that they are walking on eggshells when I’m around. I think I can be effective while keeping things fun and friendly.”
Sara’s ability to practice what she preaches is one of the reasons the McCants family found it easy to cast their lot with the young trainer when she opened her own business at Diamond Hills Stables in Livermore. The McCants girls, Nicki, now 19, and Kristy, now 21, had been riding with Sara at the big show barn for nearly four years at the time.

Ready For Responsibilities
“We’ve known Sara for six years now and we knew then she was ready for the responsibility of running her own business,” says Nicki and Kristi’s mom, Pam McCants. “She is a kind, caring, good hearted person with a great personality. She never lets her ego get in the way. If she needs help with something, she’ll ask.”
Sara, Pam continues, is very well known and liked on the circuit. “If she needs help with a horse or anything else, she’ll ask a trainer she respects for help. Sara is the type of person that other good people are always willing to help.”
Sara’s horsemanship and teaching skills are responsible for “bringing me to a whole different level,” says 19 year old Brianna “Anna” Betancourt. In early October, Anna and her jumper, Dream, held the top spot in the USEF’s Zone 10 adult amateur jumper standings. “It’s been my greatest year yet,” says Anna of a training trajectory that has taken her and her formerly green mount to these exciting heights. “It’s really fun to make so much progress with the same instructor and the same horse you started with.”
Patience and rider-to-rider empathy are among Sara’s strengths as an instructor. “She really wants you to do well and gets into what you are doing,” reports Anna. “She’s not one to tell you what to do and then just hope you get it.”
Sara’s current priority is helping students ride their own horses better. “I love the riding and showing part, but if a client doesn’t need me to school or show their horse, I don’t do it.” In the long run, she aspires to have a few higher-level horses to campaign herself. She and the McCants’ Pryamiek did well in the bigger jumper classes this year and last, before the mare was put up for sale. Sara is confident that more of those opportunities will emerge over time.
Just as she herself seeks help from others, Sara encourages her students to attend and/or participate in clinics with other professionals whenever possible.

Home Sweet Home
Sara is grateful to have found a home for Manhattan Farms at Diamond Hill Stables. The training facility sits on 120 acres in the gently rolling hills of the East Bay’s Livermore. The trainer loves the tree-lined driveways and white-fenced pastures that evoke Kentucky horse country landscapes and hint at the stable’s peaceful ambiance.
Diamond Hill Stables features a 200’ by 90’ lighted indoor arena, large turn-outs, a galloping track and trail access. A picnic area comes in handy for the many family parties that Sara and her clients enjoy throughout the year.
Back when she first shared her ambition of becoming a trainer, Sara recalls being warned that it was a ton of hard work and a bad way to make a living. “I’ve learned that the workload pays off if you are happy at the end of the day,” says Sara. “I thought it might be less enjoyable, and that you wouldn’t get back very much in return. But it turns out that I am very happy and satisfied at the end of the day. If you are good to your clients, you treat their horses right, and are honest with people, I’ve found that my clients give back to me in many ways. All the hard work definitely pays off.”
To find out more about joining the Manhattan Farms family, contact Sara Marchant at www.manhattanfarms.net, by phone at 925-785-4074, or by e-mail at sarahmarchant@sbcglobal.net.