Helen Crabtree (December 14, 1915 – January 4, 2002) was an American

equitation Equitation is the art or practice of horse riding or horsemanship. More specifically, equitation may refer to a rider's position while mounted, and encompasses a rider's ability to ride correctly and with effective aids. In horse show competitio ...

coach in the discipline of

saddle seat Saddle seat is a style of horse riding within the category of English riding that is designed to show off the high action of certain horse breeds. The style developed into its modern form in the United States, and is also seen in Canada and Sout ...

riding as well as a breeder and trainer of

American Saddlebred The American Saddlebred is a horse breed from the United States. This breed is referred to as the "Horse America Made". Descended from riding-type horses bred at the time of the American Revolution, the American Saddlebred includes the Nar ...

horses. In 1970, she authored the book ''Saddle Seat Equitation'' which remains a primary guide for equitation riders. Crabtree Stables, in which she ran with her husband Charles and son Redd, produced 75 World Champion

horses and 22 winners of the National Equitation Championships.

Life and career

She was born Helen Kitner in

Jacksonville, Illinois Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,446 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County. It is home to Illinois College, Illinois School for the Deaf, and the ...

on December 14, 1915 and began riding by the age of four. By the age of seven she was showing horses for other people and by age 11 she was training horses for a dollar a day. She attended MacMurray College to become a schoolteacher and later became a riding instructor. She met Charles Crabtree at Missouri Stables, where she taught riding lessons. The couple married after a two-year engagement. They trained horses at Clayton Riding and Hunt Club in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, before moving to Arkansas, then Tennessee and ultimately to Kentucky. They trained at the Rock Creek Riding Club in Louisville for several years. The Crabtrees bought their own farm, Crabtree Stables, located near

Simpsonville, Kentucky Simpsonville is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Shelby County, Kentucky, Shelby County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is located 8 miles west of Shelbyville, Kentucky and 23 miles east of Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville si ...

, in 1958. While in Arkansas, they adopted their son, Redd, a horse-loving boy from a nearby orphanage. Helen Crabtree became a notable equitation coach and taught many young girls to ride, including

Mary Gaylord McClean Mary Gaylord McClean (born 1950/51) is an American horse breeder, horse owner and exhibitor, businesswoman and philanthropist. McClean owns and shows American Saddlebred horses and Hackney ponies, on which she has won multiple Championships. Ma ...

. Crabtree preferred to teach children in groups, pairing less skilled riders with more talented ones, and did not allow longe line riding. In 1970 she wrote the book ''Saddle Seat Equitation'', which she revised in 1982, and was re-released in paperback in 1999. Helen Crabtree received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Horse Shows Association (now the

United States Equestrian Federation The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF or US Equestrian) is the national governing body for most equestrian sports in the United States. It began on January 20, 1917, as the Association of American Horse Shows, later changed to the Ameri ...

) and was also the United Professional Horsemen's Association Instructor of the Year. Helen Crabtree died January 4, 2002. She was 86 years old. At her passing, it was said that she helped make Shelby County, Kentucky the "Saddle Horse Capital" of the United States and "changed the face of the Saddlebred industry."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crabtree, Helen 1915 births 2002 deaths American Saddlebred breeders and trainers