People of Pantex: Andrea Caudill
People of Pantex is a series that highlights what makes Pantexans unique when they are not at our plant, and how those activities help them contribute to the mission.
Pantex technical editor Andrea Caudill was smitten the moment she was introduced to the very concept of horses.
“Horses make me happy down in my soul,” Caudill said. “Being able to interact with them, and to work with them, and learn with them, and teach them; it all just makes me very happy.”
Through her lifetime of passion for horse riding, Caudill (and her quarter horse, Matt) became 7-time world champions in western dressage, and are all-around horse ambassadors to the community.
“Being a horse person, the passion tends to consume you and tends to trickle out into the rest of your life,” she said. “My coworkers will occasionally hear me use horse terms that they might not be familiar with, but just seems like a standard thing for me. Everything that I do revolves around me having the horses.”
Caudill was born into what she calls a “city family” in Minnesota. Despite their unfamiliarity with horses, her parents fostered her interest by taking her to riding lessons starting at 7 years old. She entered her first competition at the age of 8. When she was 13, she got her first quarter horse and honed her riding and showing skills through 4-H.
After graduating from college, Caudill moved to Amarillo to turn her passion into a career. For 20 years, she worked at the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), which is the largest equine breed association in the world with approximately 250,000 members and more than 6 million registered horses.
During her time at AQHA, Caudill wrote and published the association’s magazines, helped put on major programs and events, and promoted the breed. On her own time, she competed at the highest level in horse riding in multiple events, but Caudill (and Matt’s) specialty was western dressage.
“Riding dressage is perfect for a type A personality – It is all about the organization, the structure, the development of yourself and your horse,” she said. “I love being able to just dive into that. When you go out to the barn, you get to leave all your work and concerns behind.”
Dressage is much like gymnastics for horses, requiring strength and agility. The rider and horse duo are expected to do specific steps and patterns and are judged on their execution and fluidity. Each step should look smooth and effortless.
Caudill finds joy in the organized and methodical training required in dressage, which is much like the detail-oriented work she does as a technical editor and writer at Pantex.
“There is a precision required both in the equine sports that I do and the work that we do,” she said. “The mission that we serve is a very important one and it’s a very exacting one. When I’m giving my horse signals and cues, they need to be clear, they need to be precise, and they need to be accurate. When I do my job and I am editing a technical document, I need to make sure it’s clear, precise, and gives the reader the accurate message that they need the first time. That way we can get the mission done.”
After Matt’s retirement from the champion scene, Caudill continues to compete in horse riding competitions with her new horse (a quarter horse, of course), Dennis. She says while Matt brought her to the heights of competition, Dennis is reteaching her the basics as they train together. Both Matt and Dennis help her at events and parades to introduce kids and families in the community to horses.
“I grew up with limited access to horses, and now I have horses in my backyard,” she said, “I have a deep passion for sharing my horses with the general public and being able to give them the opportunity to feel the joy that putting your hands on a horse can bring.”
Watch this video for more on Caudill’s horse-riding journey.