With some impressive accolades under their belt, the two youngest members of the Duke family, Karter and Halle, have made everyone sit up and take notice at venues such as Spruce Meadows and Rocky Mountain Show Jumping.

The Duke family’s roots in the horse industry run deep. Jay’s father, Fred Duke, is a champion cowboy who has won the Canadian Cutting Horse Championship four times and was inducted into the Canadian Cutting Horse Hall of Fame. His mother, Cheryl Anderson, counts Mark Laskin among her long list of successful students. Jay’s daughters are a product of the generations of horsemanship that have been passed down to them. “Both are excellent horsemen, something that is rare and disappearing in the sport,” he says proudly.

When business duties are shared by family members, it can be difficult not to bring work problems home to the dinner table. “There are ups and downs, but to always have family there is invaluable,” Lisa says. “My father-in-law taught us this when we first started dating: no horse talk at dinner, don’t answer your phone at dinner, and before dinner, sit down together by yourselves with a glass of wine and discuss your day. It can’t always happen, but thankfully we have two older kids that are not into horses and they keep us grounded.”

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