Pinetree Denmark's Lovely Lady

These horses have been honored with a donation to the American Saddlebred Horse and Breeders Association towards the technology upgrade, which will enhance the ASHBA website and help support the advancement of our breed.

"Pinetree Denmark’s Lovely Lady (aka Lea) was my first American Saddlebred. We formed our official partnership in 1975, but my admiration for her began much earlier. I grew up going to summer camp in the NC mountains. The camp’s riding director was Birdie Bell, a "second mother” to me and so many other girls. I first became smitten by Lea when she was a two year old and owned by Birdie. I thought she was the most gorgeous horse I’d ever seen, never imagining in my wildest dreams that I would some day own her. That day came nine years later."

"We showed primarily in three-gaited pleasure, but I also learned to drive with her and earned our first blue ribbon together in pleasure driving. I was a young, single, working girl and after having Lea in training for a year, I moved her to a small boarding barn because of budget constraints. As my first Saddlebred, she taught me so much, and not just about horsemanship. I forged lifelong friendships with early barn-mates, the several barn owners where I boarded her, as well as my first trainers, Julia and Steve Joyce. I learned the heartache of breeding when she lost two foals prematurely and died from a resulting infection. But most of all, Lea gave me a lifelong love for the American Saddlebred." - Susan F. Harris.