Mary Phelps - Markel Horse Insurance Specialist Since 2003

Quick Facts:
Breed/discipline specialties: Dressage, Combined Driving, Hunters, Jumpers, Combined Training, Pony and Sport horse breeds
35 years in the equine industry

Memberships: 
International Alliance of Equestrian Journalists (IAEJ), United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), American Driving Society (ADS), United States Dressage Federation (USDF)

About Mary:
A lifelong equestrian, equine photographer, journalist, founder and COO of two leading equine news and information websites, competitor at the Intermediate level in Combined Driving, and farm owner, Mary Phelps is uniquely qualified to guide you in selecting the right insurance coverage for your farm, business and horses.

Based on her own Phelps Farm in Columbia, Kentucky, Mary spends six months in Ocala, Florida, training and competing with her ponies in the sport of Combined Driving. Doing business from her year-round, Florida-based office along with longtime employee and CSR Tracey Scharf, Mary and Tracey pride themselves with being accessible and available for their clients while working closely with the Markel team of underwriters on a daily basis. The team also provides top-notch service for farrier coverage through Markel’s Farrier program.

“Whether it is through Facebook, texting, phone calls or e-mails, we are pretty much in touch 24/7, helping to make the process as clear and easy as possible,” Mary said. “We understand the busy lives our friends and clients live, and strive to make things as easy and clear as possible.”

As a longtime member of the International Alliance of Equestrian Journalists, Mary is known and respected world wide as an accomplished professional covering major events as well as local and national equestrian news. She can be seen with her camera in hand, bringing coverage to her popular websites established in 1997, horsesdaily.com and dressagedaily.com. Her company, Horses Daily Inc., provides a unique service archiving and reporting equestrian news for multiple disciplines, as well as health and wellness advice, tips on training, business management, and promotion of the equestrian industry.

“I remember the days of the country insurance agent in our rural Kentucky community; you would see him at church and community events, and there was always something he would be doing to give back to the community,” she said. “We like to think of ourselves as the 21st Century version of that image with the work we do for the industry we are so passionate about.”