Lexington, KY - As a fourth generation horsewoman, Misdee Wrigley Miller said she always knew she would be in the horse business. The Arabian horse training and breeding program attracted her to Cal Poly, where she decided to take some broadcast journalism classes - which she enjoyed so much she changed her major and university, heading to Arizona State's Walter Cronkite School of Broadcast Journalism, where she earned her degree. Miller landed a job as a production assistant at a local PBS station, eventually becoming an on air reporter for a local CBS affiliate - a far cry from being the horsewoman she always imagined she'd be.
Two and a half years later, Miller got "the call every reporter wants" - CBS wanted her to come to New York.
"That's when I had my epiphany," she said. "If I went to New York, I would leave my horses for a long time, possibly forever, and I couldn't do it. I turned down New York, and soon after left the news business for good."
At that point Miller started working for her family's farm (training and management), though she found a niche in producing marketing videos for other farms. "I've sort of had a foot in both worlds ever since," said Miller, who is now a partner in Lexington's Post Time Production video company.
Miller is a relative newcomer to Kentucky - she moved here in 2001. "I decided Kentucky was the place to be if I were going to be in the horse business," she said. She added that the Kentucky Horse Park played a huge role in her decision to move here.
"The first time I came to Kentucky was in 1983. I was just so amazed that a state park would be dedicated to the horse, and the facility was so incredible," she said. "It made such a lasting impression on me... I wish more people would take advantage of this wonderful asset."
In 2001, Miller purchased Hillcroft Farm in Paris, where she currently resides with her family: her husband James Miller, their American Saddlebred horses, Dutch Harness horses, polo ponies, a miniature donkey, four peacocks and six dogs. Miller, six-year president of the Ladies World Coaching Club, keeps a number of antique coaches at Hillcroft, where she also grows soybeans and hay.
Miller admits that she sometimes looks back at the opportunity she gave up to be a CBS reporter in New York City - not because she's dissatisfied with her life here, but because she is discouraged by the current state of corporate news organizations. "You have to understand that I was raised in the Walter Cronkite School," she said. "That standard of fairness in reporting, I think that we've completely lost."
Miller believes the biggest challenge for the horse community is "to grow and remain relevant in order to continue to attract new enthusiasts at every level. There is a misconception that horse ownership is only for the well-to-do and that is not necessarily true," she said. "There are many ways to enjoy horses in different disciplines for horse lovers of every age and every ability."
Miller recently donated a generous sum of money to the Kentucky Horse Park to build a barn complex at the new indoor arena. Her commitment to the horse park stems from the immense positive impact that horses had on her own childhood.
"My involvement with horses really kept me out of trouble when I was growing up, and formed a lot of who I am," she said. "When other kids were going out and getting into trouble, I was training and going to horse shows with other kids my age who had the same sense of responsibility."