Les Ann LeClaire takes some teasing about her barn habits. At both her Rubicon Farms locations, the Portola Valley Training Center and, as of January 2010, Gilroy Gaits, “my number one priority is horse care,” she states. “I am meticulous about that to the point that some people make fun of me, but I don’t care.”

Show ring results, the veteran Northern California hunter/jumper trainer continues, are all the result of the day-to-day program at home. “Our horses do well because they feel well and they’re well cared for.” It’s old school horsemanship that LeClaire carries forward from her equestrian upbringing, primarily years spent as a Pony Clubber, then with top trainers and horsemen Carleton and Cindy Brooks, who remain friends and mentors.

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