2025 WEF Equitation Championship Recap with Karen Healey & Michael Tokaruk by Taylor, Harris Insurance Services

Send us Fan MailPiper speaks with two of the judges from the 2025 WEF Equitation Championship in Wellington, Florida, Karen Healey and Michael Tokaruk. Brought to you by Taylor, Harris Insurance Services.Host: Piper Klemm, publisher of The Plaid HorseGuest: Karen Healey began her professional career working for George Morris at Hunterdon Stables in New Jersey in 1971. Karen moved to California ten years later and began her business at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. Since moving to California, Karen’s riders have won over 100 medal finals and she has trained numerous hunters and jumpers to wins at indoors, earned national championships and medals at the North American Young Riders Championship and the Prix de States. In addition to her students’ success in the show ring, Karen is an instrumental force in the administration of equestrian sport. She holds a USEF R-rated judging license and has judged some of the most prestigious shows in the country, including the Devon Horse Show, the Hampton Classic, the USEF Pony Finals and the Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search East Coast Finals and the 2022 Dover Saddlery USEF Hunt Seat Medal Finals in Harrisburg, PA.Guest: Michael Tokaruk is a top rider, trainer and judge who also runs a training and sales business, Tokaruk Show Stables, out of Tennessee and Wellington, Florida. Michael worked with top professionals such as Scott Stewart, Missy Clark, Bob Braswell and Anne Kursinski as a junior rider. Michael has multiple grand prix wins, international and national hunter derby wins to his credit along with continuing his professional education by working with professionals such as Chris Kappler, Andre Dignelli, Katie Monahan-Prudent, and Melanie Smith Taylor. Michael has judged at some of the prestigious horse shows including the 2021 USET Talent Search Finals East, 2022 ASPCA Maclay Finals, Capital Challenge Horse Show and the 2024 Adequan/USEF Junior Hunter Finals- West Coast in Del Mar, CA.  Title Sponsor: Taylor, Harris Insurance ServicesSubscribe To: The Plaid Horse MagazineSponsor: Equine Affaire theplaidhorse.comThank you so much for joining us today on the Plaidcast. This podcast is a labor of love, and every single episode exists because of this incredible community of riders, trainers, barn managers, parents, and horse lovers who show up in the barn, in the ring, and right here with us.At The Plaid Horse, our commitment goes far beyond the show ring. We believe deeply in the power of literacy and education and that every rider, at every level, deserves access to knowledge, stories, and ideas that make them a better horseperson and a better human being. Reading matters. Learning matters. And the stories we tell each other in this sport matter more than we sometimes realize.Whether you are a junior rider picking up your first copy of The Plaid Horse  Magazine, a professional trainer looking for inspiration, or someone who simply loves horses and everything this world stands for then this community is for you. You belong here.We build this together. Every article, every episode, every conversation is an opportunity to learn something new, to feel less alone in the challenges of this sport, and to be reminded of why we fell in love with horses in the first place.Until next time, keep reading, keep learning, keep riding, and remember that the horse world is better when we build it together. I will see you at the ring!