ÈB;_ Nealia McCracken of North Wind Stables in Hardwick, N.J., was awarded a Wing Commander Medal from the American Saddlebred Horse Association. McCracken was honored during the Super Convention held recently in Boston, Mass. The convention brought together members from four organizations dedicated to Saddlebreds, Morgans and Hackney horses. The Wing Commander Medal is awarded annual to individuals who have...
Nealia McCracken of North Wind Stables in Hardwick, N.J., was awarded a Wing Commander Medal from the American Saddlebred Horse Association.
McCracken was honored during the Super Convention held recently in Boston, Mass. The convention brought together members from four organizations dedicated to Saddlebreds, Morgans and Hackney horses.
The Wing Commander Medal is awarded annual to individuals who have made a profound impact on the American Saddlebred industry on many fronts. This medal recognizes the individual's dedication to the American Saddlebred horse.
Operating North Wind Stables, a saddle seat training and lesson facility with an emphasis on American Saddlebreds, McCracken promotes the breed and introduces it to the general public at every turn -- lesson programs, Symphony of Horses, clinics, television shows, Breyerfest, Kentucky State Fair Barn Tours, there is no end to her energy, no boundaries for her promotion of the breed.
In the training barn, she has turned out champion performance horses and equitation riders alike. A progressive thinker, McCracken fostered the western pleasure movement in the Saddlebred industry. What was frowned upon by many mainstream Saddlebred owners and trainers just a couple of decades ago is now a thriving, competitive and extremely popular division.
If all of this wasn't enough to keep her schedule full, for more than decade she has spearheaded a team of incredible volunteers behind Saddlebred Rescue, saving, rehabilitating and placing hundreds upon hundreds of American Saddlebreds that were headed for slaughter. The success stories of the horses she has saved are worthy of a Disney movie.
In her own way, McCracken made a profound impact on the American Saddlebred on many fronts. Her dedication to the horse was recognized during the Super Convention.
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