When Hunt Tosh first met Lone Star, he had no idea that the American Warmblood gelding would eventually become one of the greatest partners of his career. The trusty and talented Lone Star was part of Tosh’s barn for two years, showing as a children’s and junior hunter horse, not as the spectacular working hunter he was to become. In fact, that thought never crossed Tosh’s mind as he walked past Lone Star every day, but the seeds of change were planted at the 2008 Capital Challenge Horse Show.

There, Tosh entered him in the $15,000 USHJA World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) Professional Rider Final to familiarize him with the unknown venue before he was to show in the Junior Hunters division..

Flash forward several months; when Lone Star’s owner was heading off to college and Hunt Tosh and his wife Mandy were to find the horse a suitable new home, it was Mandy who encouraged Hunt to take the reins aboard Lone Star and give it ago. Mandy convinced Tosh to enter a division at the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit, and the pair walked away with a blue ribbon in every class.

Hunt kept riding Lone Star throughout the circuit, winning championship after championship and eventually nabbing the regular working hunter circuit championship. Word started to pick up about the incredible hunter, and by the end of 2009 he’d developed quite the following.

Many people have one horse that stands out in their lifetime, but there are few horses that would stand out in anyone’s lifetime. Lone Star quickly became that stand out horse. He looked like the traditional hunter horse of years gone by and evoked memories of a half-century ago, while also shaping the modern day working hunter division. Purchased by Dr. Betsee Parker in 2010, she described him as a true old-fashioned gentleman.

Following his incredibly successful regular working hunter debut at Ocala, the pair was seemingly unstoppable.

In 2010, Lone Star jumped to wins throughout the country on his way to dominating the $100,000 Chronicle of the Horse/USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals. There at the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park, he impressed everyone in a three-round final, measuring bravery, technique, handiness and style. Lone Star excelled in all of these and bested the field of more than 60 entries to cruise to victory.

Lone Star capitalized on his incredible performance by returning to the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, and winning the grand working hunter championship for the second consecutive year �" the first time any horse had done so. His remarkable performances in 2010 earned Lone Star the prestigious recognition of Horse of Honor by the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF).

After time away from the show ring at Parker’s Huntland Farm in Middleburg, Virginia, Lone Star returned to the show ring with Tosh in early 2012, immediately jumping to victories at the Kentucky Spring Classic and their success has continued from there. “"He went beautiful, he was great in the handy and felt great today. We are so happy that he is so consistent and so happy," Tosh described. Thanks to the generosity of Dr. Parker, Lone Star’s winnings are donated to Danny & Ron’s Rescue, a non-profit, no-kill rescue dedicated to saving and helping dogs in need founded by Danny Robertshaw & Ron Danta in 2005 after learning about the animals left homeless after Hurricane Katrina.

“He is such a good horse. There will be a soft spot in my heart for him forever,” Tosh said.