COMBINING HORSES AND HOSPITALITY Wellington Is A Perfect Fit For Businesswomen And Equestrian Michelle Durpetti BY EMILY RANDOLPH
It is a rare occurrence to catch Michelle Durpetti without her hands full. One moment, Durpetti’s fingers are curled around her horses’ reins; the next, they are gripping a clipboard as she juggles her duties as an event planner. On another day, her hands could be balancing a plate of food as she works as the managing partner of her family’s Gene & Georgetti restaurant in Chicago, or they could be gripping a broom as she sweeps the aisle at her own Andiamo Farm here in Wellington. For as occupied as Durpetti’s hands may be in her many roles, she has found life in Wellington to be equally as full: full of dreams, opportunities and, of course, horses. While Durpetti hails from Chicago, she made her first visit to Wellington more than 20 years ago and immediately fell in love with the community and what it represented to her as a young equestrian.
(Above) Michelle Durpetti and her mount Cassius competing at the Winter Equestrian Festival. PHOTO BY NICOLE SCHULTZ PHOTOGRAPHY (Top inset) Michelle Durpetti with her husband, Collin Pierson. PHOTO BY AULLMYN PHOTOGRAPHY
“I began competing down here when I was 19, and my very first handy class in the amateur owner hunters happened here! It was on the grass, too, which is such a great memory,” said Durpetti, who continues to compete as an amateur in both the hunters and the jumpers. “It was so special to come down to Florida to compete back then as, up until a short while before that, many of us in the Midwest would compete at indoor
facilities throughout the winter. So, the idea of coming down to a place like this and then being able to see some of the biggest names in the community right in front of you riding was so special.” Throughout the decades that followed, Durpetti made frequent trips to Wellington and South Florida to compete and to enjoy many life moments — including getting married at the Breakers Palm Beach in 2018. wellington the magazine | february 2024 41