Farley McLendon – Legacy Horseman And Trainer Of Champions

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132 – March/April, 2025

By Susan Winslow

Farley McLendon, owner of Farley McLendon Show Horses, is carrying on an honorable family legacy in the horse world.

Working out of Glencoe, Oklahoma, McLendon has developed a successful program specializing in developing champions in Futurity competition and Hunter Under Saddle, but she also has strong roots in Western riding.

Her grandfather, Harry Mullins, was instrumental in the development of the Georgia Quarter Horse Association (GQHA) and served as an AQHA Director Emeritus for the organization. Her mother, Sharon Mullins McLendon, helped found the National Snaffle Bit Association (NSBA) with Leo Barbera, an organization that has grown to over 20,000 members with programs including the Breeders Championship Futurity, Color Breeders Futurity, Incentive Fund Program and Smart Point. In addition to a wide range of disciplines and generous prizes for all ages, the organization also has programs ranging from the Animal Welfare Fund to Equestrians with Disabilities to Heroes on Horses, and partners with other organizations including the AQHA and APHA to offer educational clinics and seminars.

Farley is named in honor of Leo Barbera’s wife, Farley, so her destiny in the horse world was in the stars from the day she was born, although her parents gave her the opportunity to pursue sports and college and choose her own path in life. McLendon recalls with a smile, “My dad, Mike, isn’t a horse person, but he tolerates it. I’ve always had horses, but growing up in Georgia I did not get to show at the level I do now. I had a couple of horses that enabled me to compete at the Congress, but I did it on my own. I was the kid without the trainer.”

Click here to read the complete article
132 – March/April, 2025