Team Knollwood enjoyed a terrific weekend at the Wisconsin Futurity Horse Show. With a lot of both show and academy horses, we have some great stories to tell!

Home Grown Stars 

Equine Knollwod Kids Nacho and Willow showed successfully at Futurity.

Nacho made his debut in the UPHA Park Pleasure Class and even got to use his real name, Trust Fund Blues.  With Lindsay’s expert piloting, Nacho was more and more confident as his class went on.  To top it off, the team even won a 4^th place ribbon. 

Lin also showed Willow, officially known as Dance Party in Junior Park Pleasure.

Margit’s Weekend

Margit had a wonderful weekend at the show, getting to ride both Robert and Charlie.

Having grown up in our academy program, Margit knows her way around a busy show ring.  Her skills came in handy in with Robert, AKA Rosewood’s Homecoming Dance, in the Show Pleasure division.  They were reserve champs in their age group among a really nice group of horses.

Margit’s skills really shone with Charlie, AKA CH Ken Follett, in the 5 Gaited Show Pleasure division.  With 2 added gaits and LOTS of speed, Margit and Charlie rocked their qualifier and championship, winning both classes.  These two have quickly developed a mutual admiration society, and it shows!

Erika’s Dons a Suit

Everyone at Knollwood knows Erika.  Leader of our successful Tiny Tot camp program, she’s also quite a star on the back of a horse.  Erika has shown academy for many years, and thanks to her hard work, she made her debut in a suit at Futurity.

Erika showed Impressive Asset, owned by the Wenzel Family, in the show pleasure and equitation divisions. She had wonderful rides, and looked far more experienced in the ‘A’ ring than she is, also thanks to her academy experiences.  Erika finished the show by finishing second to Finn in their equitation class!

Willis Continues His Education

Future lesson horse Willis, known officially as Garden of Roses, continued his education at Futurity. He and Richie are becoming a team in the new single bit division, and are even heading to the national championship for the division in a couple of weeks. With Richie’s help, Willis is learning to pay attention and to become comfortable in traffic. It works both ways, as Willis is teaching Richie mew skills, too!

The team were named Reserve Champions at Futurity, and are looking forward to the Monarch National Championship in two weeks.

Knollwood Kid Korinne showed Willis in the academy division on Saturday afternoon and had a wonderful performance. In the talent packed 14-17 showmanship class, Korinne and Willis were third, rode to good equitation ribbons, and even got to perform a workout.

Korinne made her last appearance as a junior exhibitor last weekend. She’s been a Knollwood Kid for eight years, has served as a Knockout officer, and Tiny Tot instructor, and has been a mentor to many of the younger kids.

She’s currently studying pre-med at the University of Wisconsin, and we miss her already. We wish her great success in her new adventure, and can’t wait to see her at Thanksgiving!

Riddle

Every so often, a story grabs your heart and makes you thankful for wonderful people.  Here comes a great one:

 Back in August 2017 a rescue organization shared on Facebook a post of two Saddlebreds on a Colorado kill lot. Nicole Duerr,  AKA Payton’s mom,  rescued them both - the colt later named Riddle and the mare later named Ellie. Riddle was thought to be a yearling. Cryptorchid, scared of people, untouchable and poor demeanor at feeding time. They had local help to gentle him and break him to trailering, clipping, bitting, long longing and Payton started very basic riding on him.

Last November Nicole sent Riddle up to Knollwood for training. This weekend he did his first show at the WI Fall Futurity in Open English Pleasure. He’s becoming quite the unexpected star and giving attention to rescues. He’s headed to St. Louis Charity to debut in equitation with Payton and then to the Monarch National Championships.

 Nicole said, ‘Please please take the chance, go the extra mile, so many wonderful horses are lurking right under our noses. This one I thought was pretty special and I know he took work...but look at him now.. JUST WOW’

Great thanks to Nicole for her generosity and hard work in making Riddle a star.  And thanks to great riding Payton for making his first show a success. He was the talk of the show, and seemed to love the whole experience. 

Next up, St Louis!

What An Academy Team!

Some people think we’re crazy going to a show with 12 academy horses and 19 riders, but we think it’s a wonderful way to spend a weekend.

Futurity hosts the State Championships of academy equitation, and even brings in a three judge panel to make the performance  even more special.

We had riders at all different parts of their riding educations, ranging from Alessia, Dilly, and Maddie showing only for the second time to our most experienced academy stars showing lesson horses from the show barn.

All of our riders rode so well, and we’re beyond proud of them.

Highlights?

Maya showing Panic for the first time, and winning all three of her classes. Both she and Panic were grinning from ear to ear on those victory passes as Panic managed to show his slick racking skills.

Those BIG walk and trot classes! The 9 and 10 year old division featured classes with 12 riders, and Knollwood Kids used the ring like pros.

Korinne and Willis closed out her academy career in style.

Our mentors, Heather, Erika, Margit, Richie, Maria,  Jeni, and  Anna took care of our riders and provided great care to the best lesson horses in the world.

We are grateful to everyone to helped make it a great day for the Knollwood Kids.

 Coming Up Next?

Show Horses are currently showing at the St Louis National Charity Show, home to 2 National Equitation Finals, and a really deep show in all divisions.  You can watch all the action here for free!

Side note: Since Payton and Dos won the Junior Medallion Final last year, this junior team will be competing UP in the senior division!

Next week, the show horses will be in Springfield, Illinois, for the first ever Monarch National Championship Show.

Our October In-Barn show is coming up fast on

October 3 and 4!

 Here are a few reminders to keep everyone up to speed:

Be sure to get your bids in soon for the Knollwood Suite! Available on both Saturday and Sunday, the suite will offer shade and seating for 4, a cooler of beverages, and raffle tickets! You can sign up in the school barn lounge, but better be snappy! Bidding ends October 2.

Shirt packets are ready for pick up for riders who have entered by competing their form and paying their class fees.  You’ll also receive a lunch pre-order form and info from our photographer, Hanna Agathen.

Our pre-order touchless pick up meals were a hit at the August show, and we have a new fall menu for October. You’ll receive a pre-order form in your shirt packet, and extra copies are available in the school barn lounge.  Remember, orders are due September 28.

Gift baskets are still looking for some donations.  Please consider donating an item or two after you check out the sign-up sheets in the school barn. Please have your donations to the barn by October 1 so the baskets can be put together by our art department!

It takes a village! We’re looking for parent volunteers to help set up, man the lunch pick up area, and to assist with the gift baskets. We have a Sign-Up Genius that you can access here to join the best parents in the world at the show. You can access the details here. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0549abab2ea3fa7-2020

Academy Shows!

We only have two academy shows left this season!

We’ll be traveling to Beyond Stable Farm in Woodstock, Illinois on October 23-24 for the IASPHA Fall Show, and on December 5-6 for the UPHA Chapter 10 Holly Jolly Show.  We expect both shows to be quite popular, so please get your entries in soon so we can start preparing for some great shows.

See you at the barn or at the in-gate!