The Plaidchat: 2025 IHSA National Championship Recap with Michael Tokaruk

Send us Fan MailWelcome to The Plaidchat- an extension of The Plaidcast where we expand upon conversations in our sport and discuss the most recent issue of The Plaid Horse Magazine. Today, Piper speaks with one of the judges from the 2025 Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association National Championship in Mill Spring, North Carolina, Michael Tokaruk. Listen in and share with your friends!Host: Piper Klemm, publisher of The Plaid HorseGuest: 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 most prestigious horse shows including the 2021 USET Talent Search Finals East, 2022 ASPCA Maclay Finals, Capital Challenge Horse Show, the 2024 Adequan/USEF Junior Hunter Finals- West Coast in Del Mar, California and will be judging the 2025 USEF Medal Finals at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show.Read the May/June Issue of The Plaid Horse MagazineSubscribe To: The Plaid Horse MagazineSponsors: Taylor, Harris Insurance Services, BoneKare and Great American Insurance Group Join us at an upcoming Plaidcast LIVE!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!