The family tree
Keith Forbes
Known to many as having "the irish touch", Keith hailed from, you guessed it, Ireland! It's no secret that the Forbes family loves horses, and Keith was no different. He followed in his families footsteps and started a showjumping career while working at his fathers racehorse farm.
Although he studied design and architecture while in school, Keith developed these skills alongside his riding, which enabled him to create some outstanding equestrian facilities that are still known of today within our online community. In his peak, Keith had over 30 competition horses under him, while managing a stud operation and training riders all over the world.
Keith retired in 2020 and passed in 2021. He is a legendary figure in the online community and the news hit people with shock, but he was memorialised quickly and his son is carrying the business forward.
Although he studied design and architecture while in school, Keith developed these skills alongside his riding, which enabled him to create some outstanding equestrian facilities that are still known of today within our online community. In his peak, Keith had over 30 competition horses under him, while managing a stud operation and training riders all over the world.
Keith retired in 2020 and passed in 2021. He is a legendary figure in the online community and the news hit people with shock, but he was memorialised quickly and his son is carrying the business forward.
George ForbesNo longer the "baby" of the Forbes tribe, George is the quintessential middle child and the most like his father, in both looks and personality. He is highly competition driven, especially with his sisters but he'll never admit to it, and very hard working.
He is fast on the heels of his fathers fame and becoming one of the "Riders to Watch" on the showjumping circuit. With a hunger to win at every competition, George works hard with his horses, advancing not only himself, but them too by his dedication to training and learning new skills. He mucks in with all work at the farm aswell as shows, having only a small team, but it makes for tight working and he often jokes how he and his staff work on a telepathic level! |
Leanne ForbesFirst born child of Keith Forbes and Paige Price, Leanne has been a part of her father’s showjumping career since an early age and learned early on the values of hard work and dedication. At one point Leanne was helping to manage the breeding operation at Forbes Stud Farm with her father while also competing her own small string of horses.
The majority of her younger years were spent split between France and Ireland due to family issues. However, this didn't stop her from developing a deep-rooted love for all things breeding. It was after they moved back to Ireland for good and her mother got a job with the Riddermark Equestrian Center as yard manager that she was able to turn her focus onto breeding and turn it into a career. With the help of the Riddermark's breeding manager, Marcie, Leanne has been able to enjoy her favorite thing about each breeding season, which is watching the stallion books fill up, and imagining what the foals will look like and how they will act etc. She still actively competes in showjumping rings around the country and has earned many blue ribbons and although her father has retired and his equestrian enterprises have been shut down, Leanne enjoys using her name to get her into places and good deals on things. 'Keith Forbes' still has a way of getting under people’s skins but Leanne hopes that someday people’s perspectives of the name will change for the better. |