Liz was always proud to say, “We’ve never killed a fox. Since then, she has assumed every field and staff position at one time or another and was elected Master of Foxhounds at TPH in 1983. Liz’s Wild Air Farms, the 250-acre nature preserve on which the horse show grounds are located, has been the site of the Indianapolis Symphony’s “Symphony at Wild Air Farms”, the annual Traders Point Hunt Cyclocross Bike Race, and the Crows’ Nest Skeet Club, of which Liz was an honorary member.Īs a member of Traders Point Hunt Club, Liz hunted the hounds as Huntsman at Traders Point Hunt for many years, and was awarded her Master Fox Hound colors in 1948 by MFH Cornelius O. The event, whose proceeds supported Riley Children’s Hospital, donated more than $1 million to charities since its inception. The Chronicle of the Horse, a leader in horse-show publications, ranked it as one of the five best shows in America. TPHCHS also featured the top grand prix and hunter/jumper riders from across the country. It began as a small two-ring, three-day country show and quickly grew into one of the most prestigious sanctioned horse shows recognized by the American Horse Show Association.Īt its peak, Traders Point Hunt Charity Horse Show was a six-day, four-ring show, drawing more than 10,000 spectators and hosting more than 1,000 of the top horses and equestrians from the United States, Canada, and Europe. She was the founder and chairperson of the Traders Point Hunt Charity Horse Show, which originated in 1977. Liz was showing horses and winning competitions across the country when she decided Indiana should have its own premier charity horse show. She also was captain of her bowling team, and she won the Ladies’ Singles Tennis Tournament in 1960 at Woodstock Club. She skied competitively in races in Aspen and Vail, winning gold, silver and bronze medals. Liz was an avid skier who received her ski instructor’s license in Aspen. She also appeared on the cover of the January 21, 1957, issue of Sports Illustrated, roller skating at the George Lyons estate in Bimini, Florida. Liz was prominently featured in Town and Country Magazine’s August 1951 edition spotlighting Indianapolis, and again in its August 1980 issue. Then, on May 26, 2015, Liz, too, was inducted into the Merion Cricket Club Hall of Fame.
Liz rode him in the Amateur Owner Hunter Division. On May 29, 2012, Liz’s horse “Super Flash” was inducted into the Merion Cricket Club Hall of Fame in Haverford, Pa. Liz won countless championships and owned 38 horses, many of them well-known. In 1996, at the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden, she was awarded a prestigious “Living Legend Award”. Liz also rode with Wilson Dennehy and George Caulkins at Madison Square Garden, winning the Hunter Team Class in 1966. She rode at the old Madison Square Garden and at the new Garden, winning many ribbons in the Worker Hunter Division and Amateur Owner Division. She rode in shows up and down the East Coast, including Harrisburg, Pa., Warrenton, Va., Middlebury, Va., Washington, D.C., and Palm Beach, Fla., to name a few. Liz won firsts in the Royal Winter Horse Show at Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
It was just one of her many accomplishments in the show ring over the years. At age 18, Liz launched her career as a competitive rider, entering her first horse show in Devon, Pa., and placing fourth out of 68 horses in the Working Hunter Stake. Liz’s brother, Edward Wiest, gave her his horse “Jennette Umber”, whom she not only hunted at the Traders Point Hunt Club, but showed as well. Liz began her horse riding experiences at Riverside Amusement Park, where as a child she rode ponies at the public stables. She won a race at the Royalton Steeplechase in 1976. Liz, a passionate equestrian, has been quoted as saying, “I have devoted my life to hunting and showing and loved it all.” She and Sylvester raised and bred thoroughbred racehorses, and it was Liz who trained them to go to the racetrack. Liz attended Public School 84, Shortridge High School her freshman year, and then Tudor Hall High School, Class of 1946. She was born to the late Edward Hubbard Wiest and Marguerite Anna Jackson Wiest on April 10, 1928, in Indianapolis. Liz Johnson, Wild Air Farms owner, dies at 94Įlizabeth Wiest Johnson, long-time Zionsville resident and owner of Wild Air Farms, died April 30, 2022.
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