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Clem Lee grew up in Raeford, North Carolina. He felt blessed to have an
uncle, Irvine Stanton, who owned a Saddlebred barn. Jimmy Norris was the
trainer and they stood two stallions: Kalarama's Gay Flight and
Genius Appleman. So Clem grew up around Saddlebreds and showed a gaited horse all
over North Carolina at the young age of twelve years old.
When you ask Clem who taught him how to train Saddlebreds, he confesses to
being self-taught. He credits horseman John Lyons with teaching him a
basic understanding of horses. He also credits Marty Mueller's book which
he read over and over again - from cover to cover. He went to horse shows
and watched Tom Moore - and was particularly intrigued by the way this
legend of a trainer could relax the horses neck. He feels that he has
learned from the experience of "always having Saddlebreds" and from
constantly asking questions of master horsemen such as Tom Moore and
Merrill Murray. Clem also appreciates the time that he spent working with
master horseman John Champagne.
Clem married Dora in 1974, and together they raised a daughter Casi, and a
son Tre' - and as Tre' was growing up, Clem and Tre' would work horses
together. The first horse that Clem sold for good money was Thanks for
the Memories. He also showed Time to Boogie at the ASHAV Futurity and
won.
When Tre' Lee left Virginia to work for Johnny Jones in Kentucky, Clem got
involved with Standardbred horses and worked at the Red Mile for a year.
He got his Standardbred license in 2003 and feels that he has learned much
about shoeing and about the legs of a horse from working at the track.
More recently, he has been training at Little Britain Farm in Burlington,
Kentucky where he worked mostly with juvenile riders and their horses. At
the 2007 Central Kentucky Award Banquet, his riders won the Juvenile
3-Gaited Horse, Reserve Amateur 3-Gaited Horse, the 10 and Under, and the
Reserve Open Pleasure Horse.
We are delighted to have Clem join us.
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