USA Equestrian Names Ellie Wood Keith Baxter and Elizabeth Searle for Pegasus Medal of Honor

Lexington, KY - August 14, 2003 - Ellie Wood Keith Baxter of Charlottesville, VA, and Elizabeth Searle of San Juan Bautista, CA, have been named as 2003 recipients of the USA Equestrian Pegasus Medal of Honor.

Exhibiting natural talent from the beginning, Mrs. Baxter won her first blue ribbon at the age of three. In 1936, she won the Maclay Trophy for the A.S.P.C.A. Horsemanship finals at the National Horse Show in New York City. Throughout her junior and amateur careers, Mrs. Baxter competed with great success. In 2000, she was inducted into the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame.

Elizabeth Searle has played a major role in the worlds of Dressage and Vaulting in the United States. It was through her efforts that Vaulting was first introduced to the United States, and in 1968 she co-founded the American Vaulting Association (AVA). She has served as an officer for the AVA, the United States Dressage Federation, the United States Dressage Foundation, and the United States Pony Club. Ms. Searle competed in a variety of disciplines, hunters, jumpers, eventing, and breeding, as well as FEI-level dressage.

The Pegasus Medal of Honor was created as an annual award to recognize individuals who have exhibited outstanding service to horses and the sport. Through their dedication, recipients of the Pegasus Medal of Honor have attracted people to the sport and contributed to horse sports by advancing its popularity. Ellie Wood Keith Baxter’s and Elizabeth Searle’s superior service will be acknowledged with commemorative USA Equestrian Pegasus Medals of Honor to be formally presented during the USA Equestrian Annual Meeting, January 14-18, 2004, in Los Angeles, California.