Dr. Cesar Parra

Dr. Cesar Parra was one of Colombia's top international riders for much of his career, but in 2009, it was the Star-Spangled Banner that played for Cesar in the winner's circle. After finally gaining his U.S. citizenship in 2008, Cesar started off the 2009 competition year riding for his new country and with the hope of one day representing the U.S. in international competition. One thing is for sure, whatever his future goals, Cesar has a strong support team behind him. Over the past few years, he has steadily built Performance Farms into a sales and training facility that not only has a stable full of good, young horses with international potential but also has a stable full of talented young riders. The collective talent of the Performance Farms team is perhaps unmatched anywhere in the U.S. and Cesar couldn't be more proud.

"I can tell you that if I don't stay fit, or watch my weight, they will run over me. They are good. They are really, really good," Cesar said of his team of young riders. At any one time, he has about half a dozen top young riders from the U.S. and abroad and the rings at Performance Farms buzz with activity. When not riding himself, Cesar is often in the center of it all, like a ringmaster directing his talented troupe of riders. "Performance Farms is not Cesar Parra. Performance Farms is a team and at the moment, I'm the director. Tomorrow, it will be someone else. This is like an institution and like any institution, someone leads it and when he dies, someone else takes over. Right now, I'm leading. Tomorrow, someone else takes over. That's how I see it," Cesar said. And while he says it "would be a dream come true to represent the U.S. internationally," Cesar's real focus in life is on developing the next generation of riders. "I really see myself with a nice hat and nice shirt coaching this good kid when I'm 80 years old."