Spring Run Farm 50-Year Anniversary Horse Show

By Russ Brown Photos By Matt Johnson 

Decades ago, 3-year-old Susan Perellis began living on the two-centuries-old 40-acre family farm in Prospect. Next month she will celebrate a milestone when Spring Run Farm marks the 50th anniversary of its annual Horse Trials -- consisting of dressage, cross country, and show jumping -- to be held on June 7. “It’s exciting,” Perellis, 71, said. “I can’t believe I’ve been running either nationally or regionally recognized competition for 50 years. That’s crazy. So it’s a big deal for us.” 

Spring Run Farm was settled by the Hardin Family in the 1790s as a land grant from Virginia governor Patrick Henry to one of Colonel William Hardin’s three sons after the Revolutionary War, more than likely while Kentucky was still part of Virginia. 

Susan’s father, William Temple Lewis, inherited the farm from his aunt, Louise Robertson, and renovated the home in the early 1950s, covering two log cabins and creating a colonial-style home. The Lewis family, including Susan, then moved from St. Matthews to the farm in 1957. 

For much of the time it was primarily a cattle farm until Perellis’ father “remodeled” by tearing down everything relating to cows, building horse stalls and starting a boarding service. 

“This was really out in the country at that time,” Perellis said of her days as a child on the farm. “We had ducks and chickens running around, I had a pony. I did all the things kids who live on farms do, playing in the creek, climbing trees, riding.” 

Fast forward to 2026. Today Spring Run is a five-barn facility offering a variety of equine services, including schooling in dressage, eventing (show jumping and cross country), and riding lessons for both experienced and novice riders, along with boarding. 

The property also features a bed and breakfast inn, The Inn at Spring Run Farm, which Susan and her then-fiance/now-husband, Jeff Parellis (an ex-chef ), decided to open in 2017 on the original rock and log foundation of the two log cabins following a renovation. The logs were refurbished and many of the rooms in the house have portions of the original exterior of the cabin on display. The 3,600-square-foot home, located on Covered Bridge Road between Prospect and Crestwood, consists of five bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. 

As for the equestrian business, the farm is currently home to 67 horses, with access to acres of trails and fields for riding. Spring Run also boasts a large indoor arena, outdoor jumping and dressage rings, and a cross-country course that winds around the farm’s perimeter that includes a water jump and other obstacles used for eventing competitions. 

Perellis is one of two trainers, assisted by former hunter/jump rider Samantha McLean, a native of upstate New York who came to this area for college and stayed. She met Susan when she started taking lessons at Spring Run in 2016 while attending the University of Louisville, and that led to a part-time job. 

“(Susan) told me I could come and feed,” McLean said for a story about Spring Run on the U.S. Eventing Association (USEA) Website. “So I started doing that, and then I started doing afternoon chores -- water, feeding, turn in, turn out -- after my college classes. That also gave me more opportunities to ride in my free time. Eventually, she asked me if I might want to teach riding to new kids.” 

Before long, after graduation, McLean was training beginning riders full-time while pursuing her own competitive creams under Perellis’ guidance. 

“When she coaches me, it’s a little different than she’s trying to do with her students,” McLean said. “Because I can see she is trying to mold me into not only being a better rider, but a better educator too. I can see she is putting her time and effort and passion into me, which is very, very special.”

Emilie Herzig, a volunteer at Spring Run whose daughter Caroline, 14, has taken lessons with Perellis since she was nine, is one of her many enthusiastic fans. She calls Perellis a “warm, loving coach.”

“If Susan ever has to give you constructive criticism, it’s never done in a condescending manner,” Emilie told USEA. “It’s always conversational. She is very kind. And she treats you no different if you are taking a lesson on a school horse once a week or if you have a $100,000 horse doing every trial possible.”

Perellis refers to her clients as her extended family, some of whom have been involved for 30 or 40 years.

“You’re talking about everybody gets to be really, really good friends, and that’s the great thing about it,” she said. “It’s your horse family and your barn family. I think everybody who comes to our farm feels it’s very family oriented. Our instructors, students and boarders know each other well. It’s a really, really important part of people’s lives. You’ve got to be a really nice person to be here. We don’t allow any drama.”

A small sample of her many awards and accomplishments: since 1978 she has competed in numerous novice through intermediate level horse trials, including the renowned Rolex at the Kentucky Horse Park; she has earned a silver medal through the U.S. Dressage Federation; competed at the Prix St. George National Dressage Championship; was presented “The Cornerstone Instructor Appreciating Award” by the USEA; is an “A” level graduate and national examiner for the U.S. Pony Club.

Perellis says that when she started her business she never envisioned it becoming as wide-ranging and successful as it has become. “That’s just how things just evolved,” she said. “I mean, I didn’t go into this thinking it would be this way or that I’d be doing it this long. You know, you start a little business and then it gets a little bigger and a little bigger. I feel like this farm and business and everything has been a really special thing and has just basically been evolving for my whole life.” 

At one time, Perellis did consider another career path for a short time. After earning her Master’s Degree from U of L Kent School of Social Work, she became a therapist for Seven Counties Services. 

“But as you can see, the horses won out,” she said. 

And they still are because even entering her eighth decade, Perellis says she is entertaining no thoughts of retiring at this point. 

“I don’t know how you do that,” she says. “How do you go from working your whole life and running a farm, and teaching and training and going to shows? How do you slow down? Although at some point, I know I will need to.” 

Until that time comes, Pelellis will continue to attack life on the farm with boundless energy, just as she has done for more than half a century. 

“Susan has put her blood, sweat and tears into that place,” McLean said. “I think the reason why she still is so attentive to the details and why she still fights for it at her age is because she is so proud of it and wants to see it continue to thrive.”