Alexa King: Time Stands Still in Sculpture

By Shya Beth Alexa King knows how to bring out the spirit of the horse through her sculptures. Carving out not only the shape of her subject but intimately detailing her sculpture with the personal nuances that make her subjects instantly recognizable, it’s no wonder that Alexa has been commissioned to portray some of America’s
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Alexa Lee: Saving An Angel and Learning To Fly

By Britney Grover Photos by Winslow Photography When talking about angels, they’re usually the ones doing the saving. But Satins Angel had to be saved first. After bleeding ended her racing career, Satin bounced from owner to owner within months, narrowly escaped slaughter, and endured abuse before she met Alexa Lee. “I rode her literally
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Hailey Johns: Taking the Future by the Reins

By Lenore Rees Phillips The beginning of Hailey Johns’ story sounds familiar. The precocious redhead was just another little girl who was crazy-in-love with horses. As a young girl, Hailey took to the saddle on a Quarter Horse in her local lesson barn. With her first ride, she knew that there was no place that
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Samia Staehle: Big Dreams and Stories Worth Telling

By Tafra Donberger Portraits by Kristin Lee There’s no shortage of story lines in Samia Staehle’s book of life. From her childhood riding ponies on foreign soil to chasing leads as an Associated Press television producer and now rising through the ranks as an amateur on the West Coast show jumping circuit, Samia’s is a
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Taylor Hall: Life, Fashion and The Tried Equestrian

By Susan Friedland-Smith Portraits by Kristin Lee Taylor Hall experienced an unorthodox introduction to horseback riding, which left her confused at the end of her first lesson. Nevertheless, the young horse lover from Santa Clarita, California, persevered, showing successfully on the A circuit and later earning an NCAA equestrian scholarship. While navigating her early career
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Boots For Troops: How a Family of Equestrians Is Giving Back to America’s Veterans

By Ruby Tevis The horse is a universal symbol of freedom. Like many equestrians, Shane George of Magnolia, Texas, fell in love with the feeling of freedom from the back of a horse. As a USEF “R” judge, Shane has traveled from sea to shining sea to judge competitions. While each horse show was held
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Kendel Neidermyer: From Front Flips to FWORDS

By Doris Degner-Foster Portraits by Michael Paniccia Kendel Neidermyer has successfully fused couture fashion design with active sports clothing, including riding apparel. Although she doesn’t ride, she considers herself a part of the horse community. “I had this moment in the first recognized show that I attended — it was the Longines Masters in New
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Laura and Dan Keen: A Marriage Made in Horse Heaven

By Doris Degner-Foster Portraits by Kristie Nichols A serious relationship between an amateur English hunter-jumper rider and a true professional cowboy may seem unlikely, but for Laura and Dan Keen, it works. Together they run L & D Sport Horses near Austin, Texas. They married last October — but have been together for the last

Juri Ito: Finding Shangri-La

By Britney Grover Photos by Shawna Simmons Juri Ito discovered horses by accident while visiting a nuclear power plant in her home country of Japan. She didn’t know then that horses would not only become her life, but that they would lead her to Shangri-La: a little slice of heaven on earth where animals and
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CANTER Pennsylvania: The Bridge Between Track and Homes for OTTBs

By Britney Grover Many Thoroughbreds are born and bred to race. Some of them love to run and would finish a race riderless; others never quite hit their stride on the track. But they all deserve caring homes when they retire from an injury, lack of competitiveness or after a long and successful racing career.
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