from the Wisconsin Harness Horse Association

Platteville, WI — Wisconsin Harness Horse Association President Gabe Wand has chosen longtime horseman Orval Bronkhorst of Brandon, Wis., as the recipient of the 2015 Horseperson of the Year Award.

Marilyn Therrian photo

Orval Bronkhorst is the recipient of the 2015 WHHA Horseperson of the Year Award.

Bronkhorst has a harness racing career dating back into the 1960s, and predominately has raced at the fairs in Wisconsin and Illinois. He is the son of Wisconsin Harness Racing Hall of Fame inductee Elmer Bronkhorst.

Bronkhorst has always maintained a small racing stable, consisting only of one-two trotters, as this was his love. He enjoyed developing his trotting hands and horsemanship over the years and has conditioned many young trotters that brought joy to him and his wife Pat. Throughout the years, Bronkhorst has garnered nine top ten trotting awards in Wisconsin, including the 1989 runner-up Trotter of the Year Honorable Edition.

As a driver, Bronkhorst has been in the WHHA top ten twice, beginning with the 1989 top ten inaugural season. He has posted more than 100 wins and well over $100,000 in driving earnings, which is not a small feat for someone driving at the county fairs.

Some of Bronkhorst’s greatest prodigies included sub-2:00 trotters LF Gran Falls (1:55.3, $30,151), Jet Flow (1:57.2, $34,079) and his greatest trotter of all, Highmaker (1:55, $159,489).

Dressed in his red and grey racing silks and sitting in his shiny red Jerald race bike, Bronkhorst is a figure of quiet authority both on and off the race track.