Geography played a large role in determining Ella O'Brien's career path. The 20-year-old native of Winchester, Ky., did not have a family stake in the industry. She did, however, have a grandmother who was happy to indulge her granddaughter's passion for horseback riding by taking her to lessons and later, when she was 13, buying her a horse who happened to be an off-the-track Thoroughbred.
That was the beginning of O'Brien's love affair with Thoroughbreds and the catalyst that eventually led to her position as the horse healthcare coordinator at legendary Taylor Made Farm near Nicholasville, Ky.
O'Brien's answers have been edited for clarity and space.
BloodHorse: When did you know you wanted to work with horses?
Ella O'Brien: Honestly, I have always known that. I've just always had such a strong passion for horses. But I would say that working for Tim and Nancy (Hamlin) at Wynnstay Farm in Winchester really gave me a love for the Thoroughbred industry. Just being out there every day and getting to be a part of it all.
Working the sales and really seeing everything that goes into it was so eye-opening to me. One of my first couple years at Wynnstay, I prepped a yearling, and I just absolutely loved her. She was my favorite, and then the following year (Spankerboom) ran her first race at Churchill Downs, and I got to go watch her, and she ended up winning. It was a full-circle moment, and it really just made me specifically love Thoroughbreds. So now I've been trying to do everything Thoroughbred-related.
BH: Was Wynnstay your first job in the industry?
EO: Yes. I was 16 when I got the job at Wynnstay. I've worked for Tim and Nancy for the past four years now. I kind of have done everything with them: mares, yearling prep, foaling. I have learned so much from them. I haven't been able to do full-time with them, obviously, now with school and my (Taylor Made) job.
BH: Where are you going to school?
EO: I'm at the University of Kentucky, studying equine science and management, and I'm getting a minor in agriculture economics. I graduate in December.
In my last two years of high school, I did all dual-credit classes through BCTC (Bluegrass Community & Technical College), so I got my associate's degree before my high school diploma. So that kind of really pushed me ahead. I've been able to really fully immerse myself in work while I'm still in school.
BH: Wow. You're an overachiever.
EO: I'm a little busy, but you know ...
BH: You took part in Amplify's mentorship program in your second year of college. What was that experience like?
EO: My mentor was Leah Alessandroni. She was a bloodstock agent with Bonne Chance Farm at the time. I met with her every week, and Leah showed me what she did. It was during the spring, so she had me shortlist 2-year-olds from the OBS sale, and that was really awesome. To do that and then see how well they sold—and they actually sold pretty good—was really fun.
BH: How important is it to have mentors in this industry?
EO: I think that is everything … because it's really hard to learn things unless there's someone that is already out there doing it and experiencing it. It's just so great to be able to learn from those people. At the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, I got to do my first set of appraisals with Frank Taylor (Taylor Made's director of new business development), and by learning from him and seeing what he thinks about the horse and why he thinks that ... it was such a great learning experience because now I have that (knowledge). This is why I think mentors are really important.
BH: What led you to Taylor Made?
EO: That same year that I did the Amplify program, I actually got an internship over at Spendthrift. It was a marketing internship and an incredible experience. I did a lot of tours and met a ton of people through that. One of my first solo tours was actually for Frank Taylor and, obviously, I was so nervous. But it went really well.
The really big thing from that was the connections I made. Once that internship ended, I emailed a bunch of farms, saying, "I'm looking for another internship. Do you have anything available?" And Taylor Made emailed me back, and said they had already filled their internship position.
But I emailed back, seeing if there was a full-time position since (my class schedule accommodated that). They wrote back, "No, we don't right now." But literally two days later, they emailed me back and wrote, "Hey, something actually just opened up." I interviewed and a couple days later got the job offer, and here I am. I started June 1.
BH: Sometimes you think a door is shut, but you never know, right? Sometimes you have to keep knocking.
EO: I've told a lot of my friends that are currently looking for jobs to follow up with people, reach out because you never know. Because I keep thinking what if I had never emailed Taylor Made again, then where would I be?
BH: What's a small snapshot of your job description?
EO: I help oversee a lot of the day-to-day care of horses. I keep track of all the health records, like the daily vet work. The veterinarians send me all their vet tickets from the morning or afternoon of whatever they do, and I'll enter all that into (a software program), so that we have an accurate record of all the horses' care, and then that way I can bill out for it. I process a lot of our invoices, like the feed and supplies, and then some of the larger monthly bills, like Rood & Riddle. I also coordinate all the vaccinations.
BH: What do you see for your future in this industry?
EO: I have always really enjoyed the bloodstock work, but I don't really have a lot of experience in that. I know I just want to be fully immersed in the Thoroughbred industry; there are just so many different things that you can do. I'm loving what I'm doing right now because it's taught me so much new stuff, and it was a position that I didn't even know existed.
