Send us Fan Mail Michael Tokaruk is a top rider, trainer, and USEF "R" judge, and the owner of Tokaruk Show Stables, a full-service hunter, jumper, and equitation training and sales operation based year round in Wellington, Florida. Tokaruk discovered his love of horses as a young rider in his native Canada before moving to the United States and taking a working student position at River's Edge Farm under Ken Berkley and Gary Zook. He rose through the junior hunter, jumper, and equitation ranks, winning classes at Devon and earning ribbons at both the American and Canadian National Equitation Finals, while working alongside some of the sport's most respected professionals, including Scott Stewart, Missy Clark, Bob Braswell, and Anne Kursinski. He went on to attend George Washington University, balancing his studies with riding and training and spending extended time competing and working in Holland. As a professional, Tokaruk captured the WCHR Legacy Cup Hunter Finals in 2005 aboard Polaroid, and he has since amassed roughly 15 career Grand Prix victories and nearly $600,000 in prize money. He has ridden and trained horses to USEF National Horse of the Year honors and coached champions at the highest levels, including the 2017 North American Young Rider jumper title and 2018 Youth Olympic show jumping gold. His students regularly contest the major national indoor equitation finals and have earned hunter and jumper championships at WEF and Harrisburg. Along the way, he has continued his own education with mentors such as Melanie Smith Taylor, Andre Dignelli, Katie Monahan-Prudent, Richard Watson, and Chris Kappler. A USHJA Certified Trainer, Tokaruk is also a sought-after judge, officiating at premier competitions including the ASPCA Maclay National Finals, the USET Talent Search Finals, Capital Challenge, the WEF Equitation Championship, and the Dover Saddlery/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Finals. Geoff Teall is one of the country's leading hunter and hunt seat equitation trainers, with more than three decades of experience in the hunter industry as a trainer, judge, clinician, and author. Horses and riders he has developed have earned championships, medals, and ribbons at the sport's most prestigious events, including Devon, the ASPCA Maclay Finals, the Capital Challenge, the Pennsylvania National, the Washington International, the USET Talent Search, and the National Horse Show. A USEF "R" judge in both hunters and hunt seat equitation, Teall has officiated at many of North America's marquee competitions, among them the National Horse Show, the Washington International, the Royal Winter Fair, the Winter Equestrian Festival, and the WIHS Equitation Finals. His contributions to the sport were recognized in 2006, when he was named both the Chronicle of the Horse Show Hunter Horseman of the Year and the USHJA Volunteer of the Year. Beyond the ring, Teall has been a driving force in shaping the hunter discipline. He is a co-founder of the American Hunter-Jumper Foundation and the World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) program, has served on the USHJA Board of Directors and Foundation Board, and has chaired US Equestrian's National Hunter Committee. He is also the author of Geoff Teall on Riding Hunters, Jumpers, and Equitation: Developing a Winning Style, a widely respected guide for riders at every level. Teall travels extensively throughout North America and Europe to teach, judge, and conduct clinics, and lives in Tryon, North Carolina. theplaidhorse.com Thank you so much for joining us today on the Plaidcast. This podcast is a labor of love, and every single episode exists because of this incredible community of riders, trainers, barn managers, parents, and horse lovers who show up in the barn, in the ring, and right here with us. At The Plaid Horse, our commitment goes far beyond the show ring. We believe deeply in the power of literacy and education and that every rider, at every level, deserves access to knowledge, stories, and ideas that make them a better horseperson and a better human being. Reading matters. Learning matters. And the stories we tell each other in this sport matter more than we sometimes realize. Whether you are a junior rider picking up your first copy of The Plaid Horse Magazine, a professional trainer looking for inspiration, or someone who simply loves horses and everything this world stands for then this community is for you. You belong here. We build this together. Every article, every episode, every conversation is an opportunity to learn something new, to feel less alone in the challenges of this sport, and to be reminded of why we fell in love with horses in the first place. Until next time, keep reading, keep learning, keep riding, and remember that the horse world is better when we build it together. I will see you at the ring!
