JN Exclusive: Christopher Ferralez Leaves Corporate Life to Reach New Heights With Horses

Finding your ‘place’ in the world isn’t the easiest of tasks and many people spend years searching for their perfect fit. Chris Ferralez is a natural born horseman whose life took him elsewhere for a moment or two, only to later find his true passion driving him back to the equestrian industry. JN met up with Chris to talk about his recent Circuit Championship at the World Equestrian Center and his business endeavors in the equestrian community.

Back to his Roots

Christopher Ferralez was destined to be a horseman. His grandfather, a Paso Fino trainer, raised him around horses as a child and he has always known he wanted to have a life with horses in it. As life often does, however, he was led another direction for a period of time. After graduating from college with his Master’s Degree, Chris opted to take a gap year before pursuing his PHD.

He found himself a corporate job with excellent benefits and pay, however he knew deep down that there was much more to be done to find happiness. “You couldn’t have asked for anything better. For a normal person who wasn’t into horses, they could be totally content with that,” Chris told JN.


Christopher Ferralez. PC: Emily Finger of Fingerprints Photography

Four years ago he had a sudden realization that he needed to follow his true passion so he opted to step away from that corporate job and took a part-time job at Barrington Saddlery.  While there, he worked himself up the ranks, finding himself managing their mobile horse show unit while riding full time.

Not long thereafter, an opportunity arose for Chris to partner with good friend and trainer Ryan Sassmannshausen to form Arkham Investments. Together, they travel yearly to Argentina to select top sport horse prospects to import to the United States and further their resume. Ryan leads the saddle-starting and training process, while Chris, who maintains his Amateur status, gets to enjoy showing them until they are sold to competitive homes.

Arkham has blossomed into much more than a training facility, as they have recently dipped their toes into the breeding industry with one foal dropped and two additional foals due by end of May. “It’s been pretty fun watching the business grow,” Chris tells JN. “It’s also an exciting time for me as I will now be representing my country of Puerto Rico, rather than the USA. My Grandfather lives in Puerto Rico and is who started me with horses when I was a baby and instilled this passion of mine.”

Continuing to Grow

Even though he had success with his first investment, he wanted to push himself even further. He made the decision to leave his position with Barrington Saddlery and pursue other endeavors, which led him to Equo, a US-based equestrian apparel company founded by Anna Dulin and her husband, Andrew.

Anna and Chris had bonded while Chris worked at Barrington and the opportunity was right for Chris to step in with part ownership of the company and design a men’s line of riding apparel for the expanding business. The new line is expected to release in the next three to four weeks and Chris is rich with anticipation to see the fruits of his labor.


Christopher Ferralez with HJ Adelle, photo by 3rd Shutter Photography

Chris admits that he is busier than ever before, but also acknowledges his life has changed for the better. Making what many might view as risky decisions has given him the freedom in his life to revolve his business around his passion- a decision that has been full of reward, but hasn’t lacked in responsibility either.

“My life is a lot busier, which I didn’t expect it to be. But, I am way happier. I get to wake up every day and I get to make my own schedule. I go to the barn and see my horses and I get to ride them daily. I feel very blessed to be able to merge my lifestyle and what I love to do with business.”

Risk Vs. Reward

The extra time he gets to allocate towards his own personal training at his homebase, Kinvarra Farm, has paid off for Chris, as he recently took home the Circuit Grand Champion for the Intermediate Child/Adult Jumpers at the World Equestrian Center. Chris was able to lease the six-year-old mare HJ Adelle, owned by Stephen Stitt, for the winter show season. The pair had their first debut at an indoor show at Ledges where they won their first Classic together, despite a small hiccup in the plan. “I had never ridden her at home. I had never jumped her,” said Chris. “My trainer just told me, ‘you can jump with her!’”


Christopher Ferralez and HJ Adelle after winning their first classic with trainer Ryan Sassmannshausen and owner Stephen Stitt. Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography

The pair continued to share success together during their time at the WEC, ultimately leading to their Circuit Championship. With that victory driving him forward, Chris has ambitions of moving up to the High Amateur Owners and the 1.30m Prix’s. “My main goal is to go full throttle. I definitely want to do bigger classes with my young horses. And I really want to pursue breeding because it is so fascinating to me. After this first baby dropped, it’s been the coolest experience!”

Through it all, Chris has remained more than positive about his endeavors and is excited to see where life, horses, and his business investments will take him. For now, he is just thankful for the many blessings that have come his way while he prepares for wherever life might take him next.