August 19, 2011 – Active Interest Media’s Equine Network recently announced the winners of Horse&Rider magazine’s 50th Anniversary Sweepstakes.

Rebekah Taylor of Pardeeville, Wisconsin, was selected as the grand-prize winner of the Horse&Rider custom saddle. Made by Cactus Saddlery, the custom saddle is fully tooled and bears Equine Network’s Horse&Rider 50th anniversary logo.

A long-time horse lover, Taylor has recently started riding a friend’s gaited horses and is now in the process of purchasing her first horse. Taylor, a disabled Marine, plans to ride her new horse, a Tennessee Walking Horse, in the Horse&Rider custom saddle. Horse&Rider is one of the many magazines that is part of the Active Interest Media Equine Network.

Taylor finds the smooth movement of gaited horses particularly comfortable because her injury can make physical activity difficult. She credits horses with assisting in her recovery. “I think [riding] is kind of bringing me out of my shell,” said Taylor.

The Horse&Rider 50th Anniversary Sweepstakes was created to celebrate the award-winning magazine’s golden anniversary and to reward readers with a special prize. “I was delighted to call Rebekah personally, and congratulate her for winning the saddle,” said Horse&Rider Editor Juli S. Thorson. “After I learned her story, there was little question that the saddle couldn’t have gone to a more deserving person.”

Second-prize winners Kimberly Myers, Debbie Scott, Theresa DeBacker, Talbert Mead, Suzanne Ashmore, Connie Shaw, Trudy Engst, James Lynn, Al Williams, and Michael Hilton each won a two-year subscription to Horse&Rider magazine.

Third-prize winner Mark Bramlett received Clinton Anderson’s Ground Manners Short Course bookfrom HorseBooksEtc.com.