28 SIDELINES JULY 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
By Carrie Wirth
M
rs. Elizabeth Johnson’s life with horses
started in the hunt feld in Indiana. But
once she experienced the appeal of the
show ring, she never looked back. Showing and
hunting are her life-long passion. Mrs. Johnson
competed and owned some of the most important
show hunters of the day.
She fondly remembers when she acquired her
frst show hunter. “I was a sophomore in high
school,” Mrs. Johnson remembers. “My brother
had a very nice Thoroughbred mare that he
was hunting with the Traders Point Hunt. She
didn’t like men, so he eventually gave her to
me. She was a beautiful Barred Umber mare
called Jeanette Umber. I rode her in the hunt
when I was 17 years old and I showed her at
the Devon Horse Show that year.”
In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s at Devon,
the hunter course was a big outside course
with a bank and a water jump. It was basically
a cross-country course. “It was my very frst
horse show. Gordon Wright, the famous
instructor and author, told me, ‘You’ve gone to
college before you’ve gone to kindergarten’,” laughs
Mrs. Johnson. “I got a fourth in the Working Hunter
Stake out of 68 horses. It was really exciting. I’ll
never forget it.”
The allure of the show ring launched her down the
path of her life-long passion of show hunters. She
continued to feld hunt and was named Master of
the Traders Point Hunt. Then she found a Canadian
Thoroughbred named Marvy.
“I showed him in the Regular Working Hunter Division
at the old Madison Square Garden,” she remembers.
“I got a frst, second and third in 1951 or so. So I got
really excited about showing. Marvy was absolutely
wonderful.”
Mrs. Johnson purchased a horse named Eastern Shore
from Kenny Wheeler, and under the guidance of Charlie
Weaver, Eastern Shore won the national championship
in the Conformation Hunter Division for multiple years.
Early Light was her next Conformation Hunter with
Charlie Weaver, followed by Super Flash and Fun and
Games, also from Kenny Wheeler and shown by Charlie
Weaver with Mrs. Johnson in the irons for the amateur divisions.
Two others near and dear to her heart were Saint Anton and In
Between. “I could go on and on because I have had so many
wonderful horses,” Mrs. Johnson shares.
“The people I used to show with aren’t around anymore,” sighs
Mrs. Johnson, now 84. “It is sad. I miss those lovely people. I feel
very lucky to still be here.” She remains quite active and involved
in the events held at her Wild Air Farm in Zionsville, Indiana.
Among the events at her farm is an outdoor concert performed
by The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra every summer. She
also works very closely with the Traders Point Hunt Charity Horse
Show and Country Fair staff and keeps informed of all the details
of the much loved, summer destination event. Attended by
many national and world-class riders, it’s known for its wonderful
ambience, great hospitality and 250 acres of gorgeous grounds.
The Masters of Fox Hounds Dinner and Hunt Ball in New York
also remains a highlight of Mrs. Johnson’s calendar. “Once you
are a master you are a master for life,” she explains. “You know,
I can’t ride anymore. But every year I go to New York for the
Masters of Fox Hounds Dinner that only masters can attend. Even
if you’re married your spouse is not allowed, only the masters.
Then Friday night is the Hunt Ball. My granddaughter and her
husband love to go. I’m still able to go to that.”
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First Lady of Hunters for Six Decades