Redd Crabtree

Redd Crabtree (1935–2015) was an American Saddlebred horse trainer. Crabtree, the son of notable Saddlebred trainers and saddle seat riding teachers Helen and Charles Crabtree, who owned Crabtree Stables, won three Five-Gaited World's Grand Championships and multiple World's Championships in the World's Championship Horse Show. He was president of the United Professional Horsemens Association, vice president and a director of the American Saddlebred Horse Association and was inducted into three Halls of Fame. Redd Crabtree died on January 19, 2015.

Life and career Early life Redd Crabtree was born on September 5, 1935, to Poland Jones and Susan Goodwin of Aberdeen, Arkansas. When he was 9 years old his biological mother died and his father remarried, placing him and two younger siblings in a Catholic orphanage. When he was older, he applied for a job at the stables a short distance from the orphanage. Notable horse trainers Helen and Charles Crabtree were working for the stable at the time and took a liking to Redd, teaching him how to ride. At the age of 13 he was adopted by the Crabtrees, who later moved to Tennessee. Both his adoptive parents were horse trainers who focused on American Saddlebreds, and Crabtree followed them into the horse industry as a professional trainer.

Career and honors

Redd Crabtree was best known for competing in the five-gaited division of the American Saddlebred industry, meaning the horses he rode and trained performed at a walk, trot, canter, slow gait and rack; three-gaited Saddlebreds only perform a walk, trot and canter.

He was inducted into the Kentucky State Fair Hall of Fame in 1993 and the United Professional Horsemens Association (UPHA) Hall of Fame in 1994. The same year he was also given the C. J. Cronin Sportsmanship Award for the first time. Nancy Crabtree, Redd's wife, only outlived him by a short time and died in November 2015.

Following Redd Crabtree's death, the American Saddlebred Horse Association declared him their Member of the Day on August 24, 2015. It was the opening day of the World's Championship Horse Show, and ASHA asked attendees to wear red clothing to that night's show in Crabtree's memory.