At our 58th Annual WHTA Awards Banquet, held on February 14th at the Embassy Suites in Franklin, TN, we were honored to recognize the 2025 Trainer of the Year recipients.
The honor of 2025 Performance Trainer of the Year went to Sam Martin. This young man began training horses just after high school with his father and brother in South Carolina. His first celebration blue was in 2003 on Skywatch’s Dark N Stormy in the Three-Year-Old Mare division.
For many years he trained in the Carolinas and spent his summers in Tennessee showing. Following several successful years, a few world champions, and a few South Carolina Trainer of the Year titles under his belt, he made the move to Shelbyville in 2016 to take a job with someone he long admired, Jimmy McConnell.
Over the past 10 years, he and Jimmy Mac accomplished many accolades together and shared a friendship few are lucky enough to find. This summer, after the incredibly tough loss of his close friend and mentor, this young man led his barn crew and customers with the quiet perseverance and grace that only a true horseman can possess, to another outstanding Celebration. With a huge hole in their hearts and a heavy weight on their shoulders, Thornridge South won 12 World Championships, 1 World Grand Championship, 2 Reserve World Grand Champions and 4 Reserve World Championships including a Two-Year-Old Mare World Championship, Two-Year-Old Stallion World Championship, Two-Year-Old Amateur Stallion World Championship, Two-Year-Old Amateur Mare & Gelding World Championship, both of the Three-Year-Old Stallion World Championships, the Three-Year-Old Gelding World Championship, a Three-Year-Old Amateur Stallion World Championship, and the Four-Year-Old Mare & Gelding Canter World Championship. I guess you can say he has a way with the young horses!
When he is not at the barn, you can find him with his family, and many times you will see him with his son Maverick, hunting, fishing or throwing a baseball. He is a greatly admired horseman and friend, and a true asset to the Tennessee Walking Horse Industry. Tonight we honor him for his achievements and look forward to what his bright future may bring. Congratulations, Sam!
The 2025 Pleasure Trainer of the Year award was a tie between two equally impressive individuals. The first, Joe Lester. This young man was born and raised in Wartburg, TN, where he began riding horses as soon as he was able to hold himself up in the saddle. At the age of 21, he trained his first horse to earn a World Championship at the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. In 2015, he rode Little Toy Gunn to his first personal World Championship a few nights before Machete became the first Joe Lester-trained World Grand Champion. Then in 2016, he got to make his first personal Celebration World Grand Championship spotlight ride, and the momentum has only built since then.
To date, at only 33 years old, he and his team have amassed 97 World Championships, 32 World Grand Championships, 105 Reserve World Championships, and 22 Reserve World Grand Championships for a total of 257 World titles in just 13 years! This young man was also named Pleasure Horse Trainer of the Year in 2018, 2020, 2023, 2024, and now in 2025 making him the only person to win this award FIVE times!
In addition to being one of the hardest working equine professionals one could ever meet, he has an exceptional eye for talent and a charismatic personality. To know him is to appreciate all he has to offer to the Tennessee Walking Horse industry and admire the success he has garnered through a lifetime of dedication. Congratulations, Mr. Joe Lester!
The second recipient, who is no less deserving of this honor, was BJ Richards. This young horseman's career reflects consistency, discipline, and a lifelong dedication to the Tennessee Walking Horse industry. This young man’s journey in the show ring began at just six years old, when he earned his first World Championship as a youth weanling handler with Adrenaline. From there, he went on to build an exceptional youth career, capturing multiple World Championships with Generator’s Sun Devil and Drop The Hammer. Those early achievements laid the foundation for the horseman and trainer he would ultimately become.
He later transitioned into his professional training career under the guidance of Bobby Richards at the Colt Center, where he developed the standards and work ethic that define his program today. During that time, he earned numerous International and World Championships, gaining the experience that would shape his approach to developing both horses and riders.
Today, this young man operates Revival Stables alongside Krysta Allen, where their program has become known for quality, consistency, and results. In 2026 alone, Revival Stables put 32 horses in the ring and concluded the season with an impressive 146 first place finishes and 102 reserve finishes, including three World Grand Championships, five World Championships, three Reserve World Championships, the 2026 Maiden Championship, and the 2026 Reserve Maiden Championship. One particularly meaningful milestone was his very first World Grand Championship aboard Raylan Givens.
This gentleman is also the only trainer to have claimed the Maiden Championship more than once — first with Jose’s Twist Of Gin in 2020, followed by B. Purdy in 2024, and Raylan Givens in 2025 — a rare and distinguished achievement that speaks to his ability to consistently develop young horses into elite competitors. But tonight’s honor is about more than numbers. It’s about the countless early mornings and late nights, the horses, the clients, the barn family, and the partnership behind Revival Stables. It’s about building something that lasts and something that has certainly been admired by his fellow peers who voted to award him this honor. Please join us in congratulating the 2026 Pleasure Horse Trainer of the Year, BJ Richards.
Congratulations to all three of these gentlemen! We sincerely admire their accomplishments and look forward to their bright futures.
