Meet Team BLPH
Bud & Kim Lyon
Western performance horse trainer Bud Lyon is the go-to trainer for those looking to achieve the highest level of success in reining and ranch horse classes.
Originally from Southern California, Bud is a former American Quarter Horse Association Youth Reserve World Champion and Amateur World Champion, learning under the tutelage of Dana Hokana, National Reined Cow Horse Association Two Million Dollar Rider Todd Crawford and NRCHA Hall of Fame trainer Don Murphy. Bud launched his career in Arizona, riding for seven years under Randy Paul, a National Reining Horse Association Million Dollar Rider.
Bud is a NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity and Derby finalist, a National Reining Breeders Classic and NRHA Derby finalist in Level 4, an NRHA futurity finalist and the 2013 NRBC Level 2 Open Co-Champion. Moving to Texas and striking out on his own, Bud’s immediate success came from coaching clients to an AQHA Youth World champion title and a Palomino Horse Breeders Association Amateur Reining Reserve World Championship. Today, Bud’s excellence in training horses and coaching riders in ranch riding and ranch trail have amassed more than 30 World Champion titles across multiple associations and events including AQHA, American Paint Horse Association, Nationals Snaffle Bit Association, PHBA and at the Quarter Horse Congress. Bud can count the 2018 AQHA Senior Ranch Riding World Championship, 2020 AQHA Junior Ranch Riding World Championship, the 2021 AQHA Senior Ranch Riding World Champion, and the 2023 AQHA Junior and Senior Ranch Riding World Champion titles to his credit.
He’s coached riders across the U.S., conducted clinics teaching riders in Japan, Norway and Spain. Giving back to the industry is important to Bud, and he does so in a variety of ways. In addition to his international coaching seminars, Bud was selected to be the official reining clinician for the 2014 American Quarter Horse Youth World Cup and was asked to return in 2018. He’s shared his training techniques and insights in internationally distributed publications including Western Horseman, Quarter Horse News, NRHA’s The Reiner, Horse & Rider and NRHA’s Pro Trainer. Bud is also a founding member and a featured trainer for Horse&Rider OnDemand, a video subscription service dedicated to online education for Western performance events.
Bud and his wife, Kim, live in Whitesboro, Texas. The two were married in 2018. Kim is a talented horsewoman in her own right, having ridden for the Texas A&M Equestrian Team while earning her Bachelor of Applied Science, graduating in 2003. She also holds an Executive MBA from SMU Cox School of Business and currently works as a director with Newmark, representing large office and data center tenants for the commercial real estate firm. In the arena, Kim holds multiple NSBA World Champion titles, Congress Champion titles and multiple NRHA titles. She competes in the reining and ranch horse events.
Logan Pluhar
Originally from Canyon, Texas, Logan Pluhar pursued her youth riding dreams under the guidance of the great Nancy Cahill with the support of her parents, Darwin and Jenny. At Texas A&M University, she rode on the Texas A&M Equestrian Team throughout college, earning multiple titles, including NCEA academic and riding honors. She first worked with Bud as a youth, in 2009, and interned for BLPH during college.Under Bud's guidance, Logan earned an NRBC Non-Pro finalist berth in all four levels and the 2012 AQHYA World Champion title in reining aboard Rolex N Chex. She was recently named an AQHA Emerging Leader.
At BLPH, Logan focuses on giving lessons, training, and showing in the ranch horse events. She earned the 2022 AQHA Senior Ranch Riding World Championship, the 2023 Bronze Champion in the same class, and has also earned multiple NSBA World Champion titles. Logan finished the 2023 show year as the #3 Open Ranch Rider in NSBA.
When not riding, Logan enjoys breakfast for any meal and is a self-proclaimed dessert connoisseur. She enjoys spending time with family, including her brother, Joe, an equine veterinarian, and Zane, a pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Emilie Bendix-Christiansen
In May 2024, Emilie Bendix-Christiansen left her home in Denmark, where she had a training business, to come to BLPH. Having spent time at BLPH in 2021, and returned for shows like the NSBA World in 2023, Em earned a full-time spot with the program. Em earned the 2023 AQHA Reserve World Champion Senior Ranch Riding title aboard Thalia Postin’s Here For The Prizes.
In addition to working horses, Em joins Bud and Logan showing in the Open events. She and her husband, Oliver, live at BLPH with their dog, Carlos. Since moving to the U.S. for work this year, they’ve experienced barbecue, HEB and even a rodeo.
Shane Brown
Shane Brown has been working in the horse industry since his early teens and is driven both by the love of reining and his desire to teach others. He’s had successes as NRHA Futurity Open and Intermediate Finalist, an NRHA Open Derby finalist, AQHA World Show Finalist, an APHA World Show Championship, multiple AQHA World Show Qualifiers and a myriad of Regional Championships as well as global competition with USEF and FEI, where in
2016 he was a Team USA member. A past Rocky Mountain Reining Horse Association President, he has served on multiple boards with NRH A, including the 2018 executive committee, and is an NRHA judge.
Shane joined the BLPH team in 2023 and brings his vast experience and training knowledge to the reining
program. Shane and his wife, Stacy, live in Whitesboro, and have two children, Quincy and Levi. Eventually, Shane wants to pursue an automotive hobby as he loves all things car and car-related.
Payton Kick
Hailing from Big Prairie, Ohio, Payton Kick, 22, is on her way to achieving her goal of becoming a horse trainer. She started working for BLPH in 2022 when the opportunity “fell in her lap,” through connections with Logan, and Payton jumped at the chance to launch her career.
At BLPH, Payton facilitates the day-to-day riding, training and care for the more than 50 show horses in the barn. She competes in ranch horse classes and travels to all horse shows. When not riding, Payton enjoys kayaking. Her favorite horse shows are the Arizona Sun Circuit and the All-American Quarter Horse Congress, which allows her to see family and friends in Ohio.
