Lee Burton Plans to Stick a Feather in Her Capfeatured
Lee Burton decided to take the plunge and today she celebrated her first CDI jog at the Adequan® Tryon Spring Dressage 1 CDI3*. Clad in coral, she stood out against the gray skies at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in North Carolina, as she and her horse trotted out for the official jog. 
Burton and Enebro XIV, her 13-year-old PRE gelding by Saltador JEM will be competing in the Adult Amateur small tour classes this weekend. Imported from Spain as a 5-year-old, Burton said Enebro’s an interesting horse to show.
“Either he’s really good, or he gets a little fussy with his head and it doesn’t go well,” she said. “But either way, I’m thrilled to be here.”
Burton earned her USDF Bronze, Silver and Gold medals as well as her Gold Freestyle bar, and this is the next feather in her already well-decorated cap.
“It’s just been a dream of mine to compete at this level,” she said. “I decided to go ahead and go for it.”
She rode as a child and played golf at the national level for 25 years and, when she turned 40, she began dabbling in eventing.
“Then, I fell in love with dressage,” she in her sweet, Southern accent. She trains with Hoken Thorn in nearby Landrum, South Carolina.
From St. Simons Island, Georgia, Burton is in the process of building a house on a vineyard about 10 minutes from the Equestrian Center. She’s acting as her own general contractor for the project and said she has only herself to blame if she doesn’t meet her June 1 deadline.
“I’m going to be in the grapevine business and the horse business,” she said, adding that she is entering into her new venture with a business partner who rescues equines.
“We’ll have about 25-30 rescue horses from minis and mules to donkeys and drafts,” she said.
Named for a giant red bell that’s been in her business partner’s family for 100 years, Red Bell Run will be the banner under which all three businesses will run.
“It’ll be the centerpiece of all our logos and everything else,” she said. “We were trying to find something that could go on a wine bottle, so it’ll be Red Bell Run Merlot and Red Bell Run Equestrian and Red Bell Run Rescue. We hope to have some wine out in about two years.”
Ready to start her new business venture, she’s also eager to compete in her first CDI so close to home.
“We’re excited to have this facility in our backyard,” she said. “This is what brought me here.”
