Dressage trainer and educator Lendon Gray will receive the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, and hunter, jumper and equitation athlete Paige Walkenbach the Junior Equestrian of the Year award, both of which will be given during the Pegasus Awards Dinner at the 2025 USEF Annual Meeting (Kentucky), the federation announced Friday.

Lendon Gray

Lendon Gray’s influence on American dressage cannot be overstated. Her record as an athlete is remarkable, having represented the U.S. at the 1980 Alternate Olympics competition, the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, and the 1991 FEI World Cup Final in Paris. But her impact on the sport is most evident through her decades-long commitment to youth-focused dressage education and programming.

A lifelong equestrian, Gray, Bedford, New York, enjoyed riding all types of horses and ponies growing up in Old Town, Maine. She was a devoted U.S. Pony Club member, earning her A rating at age 16. It wasn’t until age 27 that Gray decided to focus on dressage, leading to her competitive successes from the late 1970s into the 1990s. She was noted for taking non-traditional equines—ponies in particular—to the top of the sport. One of her most famous partners was Seldom Seen, a Connemara-Thoroughbred cross who stood just 14.2 hands but bested his larger competition up through Grand Prix level.

Seeking to foster the development of good all-around horsemanship in the younger generations of equestrians, Gray created the Youth Dressage Festival in 1999. In addition to a traditional dressage test, competitors at the festival are also tasked with completing a written test on riding theory and stable management and a group equitation test. In line with Gray’s mission, all three sections carry equal weight for the overall results.

The Festival marked the beginning of Gray’s Dressage4Kids organization, which provides dressage athletes, coaches and officials with a wide range of opportunities and support as they advance in the sport. Despite the name, D4K has grown over the years and now encompasses educational programs and professional development for instructors and other adults in the industry in addition to youth-focused training and mentoring opportunities. Through its scholarship program, D4K provides financial assistance for youth and amateur riders as well as new professionals to access training, competition and educational resources.

D4K’s Horse Donation Program matches competitive dressage horse and ponies with dedicated young athletes who have committed to the lifelong care of their horse. Horses and riders are carefully matched, ensuring positive outcomes for both. Horses leased through the program can be seen competing across the country at all levels, including at championship events like the FEI North American Youth Championships and U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions.

Gray’s selfless sharing of her knowledge and enthusiasm for the sport of dressage and good horsemanship has created a ripple effect that has raised the bar for equestrianism across the country.

Paige Walkenbach

The 2024 season was an exceptional one for junior rider Paige Walkenbach, Paradise Valley, Arizona. The versatile athlete amassed an impressive list of top results across the hunter, jumper, and equitation classes at some of the country’s most competitive shows.

Walkenbach kicked off the year at the Winter Equestrian Festival (Florida), securing wins in the Junior Hunter 3’6” classes with Marnell Sport Horse’s Oldenburg gelding Babylon, and Walkenbach Equestrian LLC’s Belgian Warmblood mare Ever So Often and Hanoverian gelding San Pedro 15.

Walkenback then rode to championship titles on both coasts in the 2024 Adequan/USEF Junior Hunter National Championships. At the East championship, she won the overall 3’6” grand championship with Babylon and the 3’6” large junior hunter with San Pedro 15. At the West championship, she won the 3’6” small junior hunter, 16-17, championship with Ever So Often.

With her Selle Français gelding Princeton, she topped a class of 30 to win the USHJA National Hunter Derby at Old Salem Farm (New York) in May and the $25,000 USHJA National Hunt & Go Derby for Juniors and Amateurs at the USHJA National Championship (Nevada) in November.

In the equitation ring, Walkenbach rode Cent 15 to reserve champion in the California Professional Horsemen’s Association 3’6” Junior Medal Finals, champion at the NHSAA/ASPCA Maclay Region 8 championship (California), and reserve champion in the North American Junior Equitation Championship at Capital Challenge (Maryland).

In November, Walkenbach was the reserve champion at the Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search—West (California) riding Bigtalu G Z. The pair went on to the Las Vegas National Horse Show where they won the championship in the CPHA WCE Medal Finals and Walkenbach was named the show’s overall leading equitation rider.

2024 US Equestrian Pegasus Awards

In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Award and Junior Equestrian of the Year, the following awards will be presented at the Pegasus Awards Dinner at the annual meeting:

• Pegasus Medals of Honor Award: Fran Dotoli, Lisa Gorretta, Cindy Mugnier, John Roper and Tina Wentz
• Walter B. Devereux Sportsmanship Award: Cynthia Richardson
• Ellen Scripps Davis Memorial Breeders’ Cup: Larry Jerome, Asgard Arabians/Dr. Tom Sayvetz
• Richard McDevitt Award of Merit: Sissie Anderton, Trish Gilbert, Larry Jerome, Fran Steinwedell, and Patty Stovel
• Kip Rosenthal Memorial High Score Equitation Award: Taylor Cawley
• USEF/EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award: Mary Elena Moran
• USEF Youth Sportsman’s Award: Hannah Hiiva