As a top amateur rider throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Marc Grock plotted his courses carefully and rode his hunters and jumpers precisely. The results were several years of national Horse of the Year honors.
When he decided to turn professional in 2001, Marc applied the same methodical approach to his business, carefully considering how big he wanted the enterprise to be and whom he wanted it to include. Here, too, the effectiveness of his strategy is reflected in the results. Marc’s Highland Farms isn’t the biggest sales outfit or show barn, but it’s one that is reliably finding good horses, producing good ribbons and, most importantly, providing a gratifying experience for sales customers and training clients alike.



Enchanted, Brooklyn, City Boy Blue and Savannah are a few of the top hunters Marc has imported for sales customers, and his main training clients, the Primm family, have their own Horse of the Year awards to mark their progress in five years of riding with Marc.
Amateur jumper contender Aimee Primm has no shortage of praise for Marc, but “He makes it fun!” may be her highest compliment. That applies to the big picture of progressing from newbie in an expensive and demanding sport to the backgate advice as she enters the ring in a challenging jumper class.
“Marc has educated us on how this business works,” explains Aimee, who began riding shortly after her daughters Alexandra and Brooke took up the sport six years ago. “His honesty and straightforwardness have made me trust him that much more. I always know that he has the best interests of my family and our horses in mind.”
Maintaining successful sales and training endeavors is tricky. It wouldn’t be possible, Marc reports, without the work of his assistant, Argentinian rider Juan Brooks-Alconada. Polite, professional and hard working, Juan is that ideal assistant who treats every rider, horse and challenge as carefully as Marc would. “When you own your own business, you might fix a sprinkler, take a temperature and ride a horse all in the same hour,” Marc notes. “Juan is amazing.”
Juan’s work is especially important as Marc juggles the different requirements of sales and training. Frequently traveling on the show circuit, Marc counts on Juan to present sales horses at home when he’s away. Juan also campaigns some of Marc’s developing horses during the early days of a show.
Measured Growth
The most recent growth spurt for Highland Farms came a year ago when he had the opportunity to buy the property he’s been leasing for five years. Situated near a stream in the quiet equestrian community of San Diego County’s Olivenhain, Highland Farms features irrigated grass pastures, spacious stalls and schooling rings, derby obstacles and a lovely, breezy, shady setting.
Like many turns in Marc’s life, a longtime friendship played its part. In this case, the property was owned by Gerry Kilgallon, an owner of some of Hap Hansen’s Grand Prix horses in the past. Gerry had been out of the horse business for some time, and when he was ready to part with the beautiful property, he made it possible for Marc to acquire it. Marc required only part of the space for his business and he thought carefully about how to best use the rest.
“I didn’t want to expand my own business so much that clients might feel they were not getting enough attention,” he says. “I like a very small, close, family feel.” Instead he decided to build another training barn on the unused portion of the property and bring in another trainer. Another friend, Philip Cillis, enters the picture here. Philip is well known as Hap Hansen’s longtime assistant, then as proprietor with Marcy Gehrke of Westwood Riding Club at the Rancho Riding Club in Rancho Santa Fe.
“He is an amazing individual,” says Marc of Philip. Although he had been at the Rancho Riding Club for 25 years, Philip decided to make the move to running his own small business at Highland Farms. “I wanted to focus on fewer clients with bigger show ambitions,” Philip explains.
His Westwood Show Jumping Stables can accommodate approximately 12 horses, with the flexibility of borrowing stalls at Marc’s barn as needed. Though it was difficult to leave the Rancho Riding Club, Philip is thrilled with his new base and focus. And, he’s on track with catering to the national goals of a smaller clientele. As September wound down, Caroline Ingalls had just finished third in the Maclay Regionals and was bound for the big classes back East at the Capital Challenge and Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg.
Marc describes Philip and his clients as a perfect fit at Highland Farms. “We are similar in that we prefer small, specialized training barns,” Marc notes. Having first met when Marc rode with Hap as a junior, he and Philip have been friends “forever.” Both trainers are grateful to Julie Hancock, a longtime student of Philip’s who was instrumental in bringing the new arrangement together.

Las Vegas Start
Marc’s mother was an equestrian and his grandfather a racehorse owner, so Marc figures he had horses in his blood. Growing up in Las Vegas, he began riding at an early age. When his abilities and interests outgrew the training then available locally, he began commuting to Southern California to ride with Hap. Marc moved to California as a young amateur and enjoyed several years of success on both coasts. In addition to Hap, Mousie Williams, Bob McDonald, Sharon Blake, Peter Wylde and Ronnie Beard were among the top trainers Marc rode with.
His importing endeavors began during his prime amateur years, thanks to a connection with yet another friend: Julie Hicks, then a top California amateur. Marc introduced Julie to her future husband, Egbart deCraecken, a European horse dealer. Now based with her dressage-horse oriented husband in Holland, Julie has been Marc’s primary European horse source for many years. “She understand the American hunter/jumper market very well,” Marc comments. He also relies on top Mexican Grand Prix rider Ariana Azcarraga, who is based in Germany, to scout top import prospects.
Rule changes regarding what defines amateur status, combined with a bit of soul searching, prompted Marc to go professional as a sales agent and a trainer in 2001. He amped up his importing business and took on a few clients. Today he strives to split his time equally between both sides of his business.
“A fairly priced horse will sell itself,” Marc asserts. Because it is less expensive to keep and campaign a horse in Europe, many of Marc’s young prospects gain mileage there before being imported. When they arrive at Marc’s barn, it’s typically a matter of acclimating the horse, assessing where it will best fit in the hunter/jumper market and getting the word out. Most of his sale horses stay home rather than show so as not to add competition costs to their price tag.
In several years of selling, Marc has seen the sales aspect of the horse business evolve considerably and for the better. “The Internet has changed the whole business. People want more information before they buy a horse, and that’s a good trend.” Return customers are a big part of his business.
The only drawback to running a successful sales business is the toll it takes on Marc’s personal riding ambitions. Every time a really great horse comes down the pike, not surprisingly, it gets sold. It happens even when he has the owner’s permission to keep the horse, as was the case recently with a jumper he owned with Ariana. “She said, ‘I meant for you to keep that horse for yourself!,” Marc relays with a sheepish laugh. “Whether I own the horse myself or it’s owned by a customer, I try not to be self-serving in that way.” Nonetheless, Marc says he’d love to campaign top open horses and he hopes those opportunities will arise in the future.
His years of success as an amateur satisfied his personal competitive instincts, and his biggest sense of gratification now comes from seeing horses succeed with their owners and enabling his training clients to meet their own goals. The journey of taking the Primm ladies from their first cross rail to big accomplishments in their respective hunter and jumper divisions is ample reward, Marc says.
As a trainer, Marc is primarily focused on Aimee and Alexandra Primm (Brooke took a break from competition when she entered high school) and the family’s eight horses. The Primms live in Las Vegas and spend much of their time traveling the California circuit with Marc. Aimee describes their relationship with Las Vegas trainer, Amy Self, who works closely with Marc, as terrific, but explains that it makes the best sense to keep their horses at Highland Farms.
Marc does work with a few other riders, and welcomes a few more providing that it is the right match for all involved. When approached by a prospective client, Marc takes the unusual step of suggesting that they consider several trainers, including himself. “If they look at everybody I refer them to and come back to me, often it’s the right fit,” he says.
As a coach, Marc distills the teaching he received from so many top professionals during his junior and amateur days. Above all, he has earned the trust of his riders. Having taken up the sport as an adult and as a mother, Aimee Primm battles nerves on occasion. “I joke that Marc is my security blanket,” she says. “I know that he would never put me in a situation that I couldn’t do. His confidence in me enables me to relax. ‘Have fun!’ is always the last thing he says as we go into the ring.”
Although he comes from a very different background as a rider, Marc understands Aimee and admires her. “What she lacks in riding years, she more than makes up for with tenaciousness!” Alexandra, “Allie,” is a remarkable rider and individual, too, notes Marc. The now 14-year-old’s respect for her horses, dedication to her sport and appreciation for the opportunities she has are some of several realities that explain why the entire family has become friends as much as clients, he says.
With his business plan coming to life so nicely, Marc seems poised for more of our industry’s ultimate rewards: happiness and success for himself, his clients and their horses.
Marc can be reached at 619-813-8223.