Sue Lightner

Sue Lightner - Owner and Trainer

Sue has been involved with horses all her life. She started Lightacres in September of 1979. Throughout the 30 years that Sue has been a professional she has produced and ridden numerous equine year-end winners. Such horses as Streisand, Masquerade, Swingtime, Glencoe Town, High Society, Tantalizin Liza, Dear Prudence, Forever Tango, Evan, Loverboy, Okoboje, Night Tracks, Wishful Thinking, Steppin Out, Astronaut, Tule, Tiger, Pyramus, Ragtime, (to name a few) have been trained, ridden, shown or started by Sue. Students coached by Sue have won the Nor Cal Jr. Medal finals three times, the Norcal Pony final, the Horse and Hound finals, the Carousel finals and the Almaden finals. Sue’s students have also placed in the Onondarka finals, the PCHA Horsemanship finals, the CPHA finals, Maclay Regionals and USEF Regionals. She has trained riders in the top 5 of the USET finals and the top 30 in the Maclay National finals. Her student, Tricia Robinson, was on the Gold Medal Team of the NAYRC, finishing ninth individually. She also coached Tricia to a win in the Napa Valley Grand Prix as a junior rider. Sue has helped fellow professionals and coached young professionals in the hunter/jumper, three day and dressage disciplines.

Sue has always had a small breeding program, which has produced many top horses. She has become very active in the hunter breeding during the last four or five years. She has been the leading handler in 2009, 2010 and 2011 in the Sallie B Wheeler West Coast Championships, winning the Ted Fieger Memorial Trophy every year since its inception. 2009 she showed the USEF National Yearling Champion for Jennifer Grubb-Reed. Ragtime Cowboy, bred by Sue and owned by Twinkle Gorman was the USEF National Champion 3 year old and Rendezvous, bred and owned by Sue, was the National Champion Yearling in 2010.

Sue is a USEF “R” judge, teaches clinics throughout the country and has served on numerous boards and committees governing our sport.