Sarah Elizabeth Heard

KY, died January 8, 2026.Sarah graduated in 1981 from Sacred Heart Academy High School in Louisville, KY. She then

attended the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY and thereafter transferred to Midway College to major in Equestrian Studies. Throughout her life, Sarah was actively involved in

the training, care and showing of horses. She competed in the equestrian sport of Eventing and was successful with many championships. Sarah was mentored by Denny Emerson, a

member of the United States Eventing Team that won gold at the World Championships in 1974. Sarah worked at Emmerson’s Tamarack Hill Farm in Strafford, Vermont training and

competing event horses. In 1996, she was selected as Rider of the Year by the United States Combined Training Association (now the United States Eventing Association). The horse she owned, trained and competed, “Derby” was also chosen as the 1996 USCTA

Horse of the Year. Sarah later managed and owned, with her father George LaBeau, Evergreen Stables where she ran a youth combined training program. As she excelled in teaching, many of Sarah’s

students went on to become nationally ranked. In 2005, Sarah met her future husband, Stephen, at a joint fox hunting meet in Louisville, KY. Thereafter, Stephen invited Sarah to join him in Cornersville, TN for a cross-country competition over fences. Sarah and Stephen won this event, thus setting in motion a partnership that would last over 20 years. Sarah relocated to Chaser’s Retreat Farm in Cornersville, TN where she continued to teach,

train, compete and sell horses. Sarah shifted her focus to the equestrian sport of dressage and again excelled in competition winning many championships. In 2012, Sarah was awarded the United States Dressage Federation’s Bronze Medal. Sarah also fox hunted with and was awarded her “colors” by the Long Run Hounds in Simpsonville, KY, Hillsboro Hounds in Cornersville, TN, Cedar Knob Hounds in Cornersville, TN and Mells Foxhounds in Lynnville, TN. Sarah loved horses and dogs passionately and was

never far from either. Sarah was preceded in death by her parents, Sarah Elizabeth LaBeau, Joseph George LaBeau, and her sister, Holly LaBeau Dyess. Sarah is survived by her husband, Stephen K. Heard of Cornersville, TN, sister-in-law Connie Heard (Edgar Meyer), and brothers-in-law Christopher Heard and Frank Heard. Visitation will occur at Marshall Donnelly Combs Funeral Home, 201 25th Avenue N., Nashville, TN 37203, on January 28, 2026 at 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Visitation will occur at Duncan Memorial Chapel, 5600 Old Floydsburg Road, Crestwood, KY 40014, on January 30, 2026 from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm with a service beginning at 2:00 pm. Interment service to follow graveside at Floydsburg Cemetery, 5600 Old Floydsburg Road, Crestview, KY 40014. Memorial contributions may be sent to the Iroquois Steeplechase (Volunteer State Horsemen’s Foundation), 203 Third Ave. N., Franklin, TN 37064; or the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation, 4089 Iron Works Parkway, Lexington, KY 40511-8400.