Among the highlights
of the United States Equestrian Federation’s annual meeting is
the Pegasus Awards dinner, where some of the top competitors and
supporters of equestrian sports are recognized for their
contributions. This week, the USEF announced the winners of two of
the top honors.
Junior Equestrian of
the Year – Elizabeth Traband
her family’s sport horse breeding and training farm, Lizzy Traband
has been riding and working with horses for nearly all of her 18
years. Traband trains and competes hunters, jumpers and dressage
horses. Additionally, she is a successful competitor in the
para-dressage arena; Traband was born with only one hand.
In addition to her
competitive results, Traband has also been a clinician and bridleless
performer from a very young age, performing a bridleless jumping
routine every day at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games with
her horse Schoenrosa when she was just 12.
Traband is also an
entrepreneur, having started her own training and horsemanship
business called Taiji Horsemanship in 2009. More recently, she
created EPN Global which will release a stable management app and a
platform for marketing sport horses in 2017.
USEF Lifetime
Achievement Award – Lawrence Langer
Larry Langer has
been involved in the horse world for 66 years, starting with the day
he took his first ride at age 8. Over the years, he has had a huge
impact on the equestrian world across the country, particularly in
the hunter/jumper world.
Langer is an FEI
official and competition manager and runs Langer Equestrian Group.
His organization produces 32 hunter/jumper shows in California and
Colorado. Langer himself is credited with broadening the
hunter/jumper circuit in the state of California by producing the
first shows outside of the state-financed fairground shows. Langer
has helped expand the sport to new participants by developing several
riding schools.
Currently, Langer is
a member of the USEF Board of Directors and is secretary of the
United States Hunter Jumper Association board of directors.
The USEF Annual Meeting will take place in Lexington, Kentucky, January
11-14. Click here to find out more.
Leslie Potter is a writer and photographer based in Lexington, Kentucky. www.lesliepotterphoto.com
