Michele Davis Macfarlane

Michele Davis Macfarlane

Birth name	Michele Davis
Occupation	Horse trainer, horse breeder, businesswoman
Discipline	Saddle seat
Born	(1948-09-29) September 29, 1948 (age 76) San Diego
Major wins/Championships	Five-Gaited World's Grand Championship in 1988 Five-Gaited World's Grand Championship 1996 Five-Gaited World's Grand Championship in 2007
Lifetime achievements	Director of California Saddle Horse Breeders Association
Honors
Inducted into the Kentucky State Fair Hall of Fame 1998 Lurline Roth Sportsmanship Award in 1996 Meritorious Service Award in 2009 Gordon Jenkins International Award in 2013
Significant horses
Chubasco, CH Sky Watch, CH Memories' Citation, CCV Casey’s Final Countdown

Michele Macfarlane (born 1948) is an American horse trainer who competes in the sport of saddle seat. She has been one of the leading trainers and riders in the sport for over 40 years. ^[1] Macfarlane resides in San Diego, California and is Marshal for the Scripps Miramar Ranch Saddlebreds parade unit. ^{[2] [3]}

Life and career

She was born in 1948 to Everett Conley Davis, ^[4] and Ellen Browning Scripps Davis. ^[5] Her father was a lawyer and the grandson of Paschal Conley and her mother the granddaughter of E.W. Scripps and niece of Ellen Browning Scripps. ^[6]

She grew up on her family's Scripps Miramar Ranch, near San Diego. When she was five years old, her mother introduced her to the family horse riding tradition. Horses gave her hay fever, meaning she initially disliked working with them. However, she came to appreciate her role around the age of ten, when her mother bought a solid-colored Saddlebred and put her and the horse in training with Bill Rowan. ^[7] Thanks to her mother's love of both parades and pinto horses, she had the innovation of breeding spotted parade horses of Saddlebred bloodlines, eventually taking part in San Diego New Year's parade in 1962. ^[8]

This became a tradition ^[9] and the 129th Rose Parade in 2018 was Macfarlane and the Scripps Miramar Ranch’s 34th appearance ^{[10] [11]}

In 1979, she bought Sky Watch, whose legendary career earned him the title of Five-gaited Horse of the Century by American Saddlebred magazine. ^[12] Michele rode him to his fourth and final World Grand Championship in 1988, becoming the first woman amateur to ever achieve that win. ^[13] She would repeat that win with Memories Citation in 1996 and CCV Casey's Final Countdown in 2007. She remains the only person to have entered the Five-Gaited Championship three times and winning all three times.

On May 26, 1985, Michele and Ellen Scripps Davis impressed the coaching division of the Devon Horse Show with their bay Hackney four. ^[14]

Career timeline

1988

• 1st, World Championship Horse Show Five-Gaited Championship, Freedom Hall, Louisville Kentucky. On Sky Watch ^[15] Here she became the first female rider to win the five-gaited stake at the World's Grand Championship ^[16]

1996

• 1st, World Championship Horse Show Five-Gaited Championship, Freedom Hall, Louisville Kentucky. On Memories' Citation ^[17]
• Lurline Roth Sportsmanship Award at the American Saddlebred Horse Association Convention ^[18]

1998

• Inducted into the Kentucky State Fair Hall of Fame ^[19]
• At the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Macfarlane's spotted Saddlebreds featured in the closing ceremony ^[20]

2007

• 1st, World Championship Horse Show Five-Gaited Championship, Freedom Hall, Louisville Kentucky. On SA (CCV) Casey’s Final Countdown ^[21] Here Macfarlane became one of only two living riders to have won the Five-Gaited World’s Grand Championship three times with three different horses ^{[22] [23] [24] [25]}

2009

• Meritorious Service Award at the American Saddlebred Horse Association Convention ^{[26] [27]}

2012

• Represented the United States in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebration. Macfarlane's Californian Stagecoach was introduced by Helen Mirren. ^{[28] [29]}

2013

• Gordon Jenkins International Award at the American Saddlebred Horse Association Convention ^[30]

Personal life

She is the great-granddaughter of Paschal Conley, meaning she is related to the legendary Jess "Longshot" Conley, who ran the Kentucky Derby in 1911. ^{[31] [32]} On February 16, 1998, both Ellen Scripps Davis and Everett Conley Davis died in a house fire. ^[6] Michele took over the ranch and continued the family legacy, even winning the ASHA Meritorious Service Award at the American Saddlebred Horse Association Convention that same year. ^[33]

References

1. "Michele Macfarlane, CH CCV Casey's Final Countdown, CH Sprinkle, CH Like Thunder". The Saddle Horse Report Online. 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2025-06-26.
2. Cosdon, Christina K. "Here are the equestrian units for 2017", pasadenastarnews, December 6, 2016. Accessed January 4, 2018. "Rose Parade horse fans: Here are the equestrian units for 2017"
3. "On this 4th of July, Let's discuss Parade Horses". horseandman.com. 2017-07-03. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
4. "Michele Davis Macfarlane". Conley Family. Retrieved 2025-06-26.
5. "Scripps Granddaughter And Her Husband Preferred Horses And Old Cars To High Society". The Daily Transcript. 1998-02-10. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
6. "Ellen Scripps Davis, Newspaper Heiress, 84". The New York Times. 1998-02-16. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2018-01-06.
7. "Michele Macfarlane". www.joanfry.com. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
8. "Rose Parade 2018: Here's your complete guide to every float, marching band and equestrian group, in order". Orange County Register. 2017-12-21. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
9. Garin, Nina (January 2012). "For these San Diegans, everything's coming up roses". sandiegouniontribune.com. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
10. "Watch the Replay: 129th Rose Parade Presented by Honda". KTLA. 2018-01-01. Event occurs at 00:33:55 in video. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
11. "People's Choice - Michele Macfarlane, CH CCV Casey's Final Countdown, CH Sprinkle, CH Like Thunder The Saddle Horse Report". The Saddle Horse Report Online. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
12. "CH Sky Watch Kentucky Horse Park". Kentucky Horse Park. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
13. "CH Sky Watch Bio".
14. Ryder, Thomas (1985-09-01). The Carriage Journal: Vol 23 No 2 Autumn 1985. Carriage Assoc. of America.
15. "Five-Gaited World's Grand Championship 2007". YouTube . 11 December 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
16. "1988 World's Five Gaited Grand Championship". YouTube. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
17. Michelson, Miles. "Memories Citation Saddlebred". www.allbreedpedigree.com. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
18. "Awards". www.asha.net. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
19. "World's Championship Horse Show". www.kystatefair.org. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
20. "Saddle Horse Report, October 16 2017, page 60" (PDF). Retrieved 6 January 2018.
21. "Five-Gaited World's Grand Championship 2007". www.amirapress.com. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
22. "Best saddlebreds crowned at World Championships Horsetalk - International horse news". www.horsetalk.co.nz. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
23. "Saddlebred World's Grand Champions crowned". US Equestrian. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
24. "CH Sky Watch Bio Kentucky Horse Park". Kentucky Horse Park. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
25. "Macfarlane giving her victory interview after winning the 2007 World Championship Horse Show Five-Gaited Championship". YouTube . 26 August 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
26. "Awards". www.asha.net. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
27. "American Saddlebred MARCH/APRIL 2009, page 83" (PDF). Retrieved 6 January 2018.
28. Rayner, Gordon (2 November 2011). "Queen's Diamond Jubilee: 500 horses from around the world will put on equine display in Windsor" . Retrieved 6 January 2018.
29. "Scripps Miramar Ranch Saddlebreds to Participate in Queen's Diamond Jubilee". www.breyerhorses.com. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
30. "Awards". www.asha.net. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
31. Source, San Diego (10 February 1998). "Scripps Granddaughter And Her Husband Preferred Horses And Old Cars To High Society". The Daily Transcript. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
32. "Rich history in recovery Black jockeys: After more than 100 years of being written out of horse racing's past, African- American riders are finally being recognized for their contributions". tribunedigital-baltimoresun. 14 May 1997. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
33. "American Saddlebred MARCH/APRIL 2009, page 83" (PDF). Retrieved 6 January 2018.