HDV Logo Full

Barns, Fencing & Equipment   click here!  Spring/Summer Show Previews  click here!     Photo Contest click here!     

Join Our Mailing List and Get a Free Subscription.

Sign up to get interesting news
delivered FREE to your inbox.  

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Adele Paxson, side saddle competitor at Devon and thoroughbred breeder

Adele Warden Paxson (1913 – Dec. 27, 2000) was an American socialite, philanthropist, conservationist, and a champion breeder of thoroughbred racehorses.

AdelePaxson 1Adele Paxon's husband, Henry D. Paxson, inherited Elm Grove Farm on Old York Road in Holicong, Bucks County, Pa.

Near the community of Lahaska, Elm Grove is an original Colonial Province of Pennsylvania property, it was granted to Henry Paxson's family in 1680 by Governor William Penn.

An avid horsewoman, Adele Paxson began riding while still a young girl.

As an adult, she rode frequently and was a competitor in the Devon Horse Show.

These photos show her great form while jumping fences at least 4' in height, a remarkable feat.

At Elm Grove Farm, the Paxsons bred field hunter horses as well as thoroughbreds for flat racing.

She and her husband served as Masters of Foxhounds at the Huntingdon Valley Hunt Club.

 

WHILE ADELE PAXSON owned many champion hunter horses, she gained national recognition with her flat-racing thoroughbreds.

In addition to the Elm Grove Farm breeding operation, Adele Paxson maintained a racing stable in Florida and a barn at the Aiken Training Track in Aiken, S. C.

Adele Paxson 2Adele Paxson competing at DevonOf her numerous successful racehorses, the best known is the 1978 American Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Filly, Candy Éclair.

Adele Paxson was the breeder of Heavenly Cause who was voted the 1980 American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.

That year she received the Thoroughbred racing industry's highest honor, the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder.

In an interview following Adele Paxon's death, Rick Abbott, who managed her racing and breeding operation during the 1990s said of her: "the welfare of the horses always came first," and that "money was not a concern. Working with her was the most gratifying thing I have ever done."

In failing health, during the latter part of the 1990s Adele Paxson began selling off her racehorses and in early December 2000 Rick Abbott oversaw the sale of her remaining bloodstock at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic mixed auction in Timonium, Maryland.

Jimmy Paxson, Master and huntsman of River Hills Foxhounds, is a distant relative.

 

The Horse of Delaware Valley

Editor: Sara Cavanagh
Target Market Publications
newshorse@aol.com
610-793-1964

Advertising Director: Ginny Jenkins 
ginny.jenkins@hotmail.com
For information please call:
610-873-4042

Marketing Manager: Debbie Morrison
debbiehdv1@gmail.com
610-368-1677

Media Manager/Creative Coordinator: Heather Mullen
heather.bradway75@gmail.com 

Since 1980

facebook200 Instagram

 

Monthly Advertising Themes

  • February
    Barns, Fencing & Equipment, Photo Contest 2022, Winter Care & Stallions & Breeding
  • March
    Spring/Summer Show Previews, Barns, Fencing & Equipment
  • April
    All Natural Products & Services, Spring/Summer Show Previews
  • May
    DEVON HORSE SHOW, All Natural Products & Services, Equine Vets & Caregivers
  • June
    Equine Vets & Caregivers, Pets, Pet Supplies & Pest Control, Footing and Fencing, Equestrian Apparel & Accessories
  • July
    Pets, Pet Supplies & Pest Control, Footing and Fencing, Equestrian Apparel & Accessories 
  • August
    Fall Show Previews, Equine Insurance, Legal & Accounting, Dressage at Devon
  • September
    Fall Show Previews, Equine Feed & Supplies, Equine Insurance, Legal, & Accounting, Dressage at Devon
  • October
    Trailers & Equine Transportation & Equine Feed & Supplies
  • November
    Holiday Gift Guide, Trailers & Equine Transportation & Equine Feed & Supplies
  • December
    Stallions & Breeding, Holiday Gift Guide
  • January
    Stallions & Breeding, Photo Contest & Winter Care

Click here for more Information.