Lee Troup Johnson
While still a teenager, Lee fell in love with jumping. In the 1960's Lee rode open jumpers with Matthew Douglas and event horses with Betty Howett and Collette Stevens at the Potomac Horse Center.
Lee's success and desire led her to become a student of General Jonathan R. Burton of the U.S. Olympic Team. She became an avid eventer and was one of the pioneer women in the sport of eventing, which until that time was primarily a "man's sport".
Lee won the three-day event in Gladstone, New Jersey in 1964 and was selected by the USCTA as Rider of the Year.
In 1968, Lee joined the family business as a professional and the name of the business was changed to Runnymede Stables. Also in 1968, Lee married her husband who was the Monty Roberts of that era. Through him, Lee became interested in the behavior of the horse. From her experience she learned that many well known theories were not exactly correct and, after her husband's death, headed West to study equine behavior. In Thousand Oaks, California, Lee apprenticed with renowned horse trainers, Jack and Linda Baker, where she started a training program to break and train problem horses.
Lee specializes in training a rider to understand their horse. Her greatest reward is to give the rider and horse a new start, and watch it flourish from a new begninnig.
