Last weekend Team Knollwood gathered to present our summer academy show.  It takes a village to put on an event like this one, and everyone pitched in to make a great weekend for our riders of all levels. Here are some of our favorite stories of the weekend.

The 'Grown Ups'

 The adult walk trot and canter division has been growing for several years, and it was impressive again at our summer show. We had participants who have ridden their whole lives, some who grew up as Knollwood Kids, and some who took up the sport as adults.

The classes were tough competition, and in the end, Abbie won the equitation championship on mighty Duke with Nicole reserve on Hugo.  All of the riders deserve a big round of applause for the terrific competition, and for their great senses of humor!

The Smallest Canterers

Our 10 and under walk, trot, and canter division is a mighty one, and we had five strong contestants riding for the ribbons last weekend. Keep in mind that these kids aren't riding the 'cantering teacher' horses, they're riding our academy show horses, and some tougher ones at that.

They showed with polish in pleasure, equitation, and pattern classes designed just for them.  Mia emerged as the equitation champ with Juliet in second, while Hailee won the pattern class with Addison second.

Most of these riders are showing as 9 year olds, so the competition will only get better next year!!

Walk Trot in Numbers

Our Sunday walk and trot division is deep, deep, deep. Our riders were especially good at this show, with the ladies in center ring commenting that they didn't have to remind any of the riders to shorten their reins all day!

The 9-10 year old division was split three ways to accommodate the entries, and they were all strong splits. Our youngest division, the 8 and under riders were just as good, as were the 11-17 riders.

Emilie turned in some terrific rides on Dexter to win the 11-17 division with Alexa in second, Florence topped the 9-10 year old division showing a horse she hadn't ridden for a while after 2 riders qualified on Eddie, Samara was a strong second, Brooklyn won the tough 8 and under division with Tessa a close second.

Much more important than the ribbons earned, some of our riders acheived some great personal bests.  A couple riders figured out diagonals after struggling, several found how to show with a little more flair, and many, many gained confidence on the backs of these wonderful school horse souls.

Our future looks really bright!

Leadline Strength

The leadline division has been growing on the strength of our TIny Tot program, and we even added a championship for our youngest riders. The smallest riders looked fabulous in their championship, with Leighton winning on Forest and Zoe finishing second on Dudley.

Demos

We enjoyed some wonderful demonstrations on Sunday featuring beautiful saddlebreds.

Richie and his equitation horse Miss Mheiry Mac rode the first demo, showing why they're so successful in the 10 and under walk trot equitation division.  Richie came up through our lesson program, and was still showing academy only a year ago.

He went to his first 'A' show last October, and then went to the National Championship at the Kansas City Royal and finished as a reserve national champion in the UPHA Walk and Trot Challenge Cup National Final.  He and 'Tink' have had a very successful 2018 season so far, finishing either first or second in every class they've shown, and are looking forward to the challenges of the World Championship Horse Show in Louisville in August.

Our second demo was our broodmare Nadia and her baby Robin. They entered the arena to the crowd's delight, and Robin seemed to enjoy the applause and attention. She showed off the ways of a young saddlebred with her natural high headset and motion while Nadia looked on. 

The Team That Makes It Work

We couldn't put on a show of this size without a great group of people who get together and get everything organized and done. Our concession stand ladies shop, prepare, and staff the stand that benefits the Knollwood Knockouts youth group.

Other fundraising efforts included bouquets from our friends at Bank Of Flowers, Gift Baskets, and our first ever wine pull!

Announcer Jeni and her center ring crew kept everyone safe in the arena, and Mary kept the show office running on Sunday.

DJ Maria kept the playlist going which benefited the Knockouts' favorite charity, Saddlebred Rescue.

Judge Jessica Moctezuma deHart of Hathaway Farm LLC gave up a busy weekend to judge both days of the show, and we are grateful for her time and expertise.

Our hair crew of Laura, Hanna, Sue, and Emma ran a four seat salon, and put in many, many buns to help our riders look their best.

Vicky came down from Oshkosh to be the 'barn mother' to all our walk and trot riders on Sunday. She makes sure the kids know their schedules, and keeps them entertained while they wait for their classes.

The personal assistants to the best lesson horses in the world worked a busy Sunday encouraging our newest riders, double and triple checked tack, and made sure all the horses were comfortable and happy. Thank you!

The best lesson horses ever outdid themselves last weekend. They all behaved like the gentlemen they are, even if Sparky did tell the judge when it was time to reverse.

Heck, even Forest behaved himself!

What's Next?

Our lesson horses are off to the Mid America Signature Show in Roscoe this weekend while our show horses will be at home continuing their preparations for the World Championship Horse Show in Louisville this August.

The ASAW Summer Showcase show is coming up fast on August 11 and 12 at the Ozaukee County Fairgrounds in Cedarburg.  The show is co sponsored by the American Saddlebred Association of Wisconsin and the Knollwood Knockouts, and is a benefit for the ASAW Scholarship Fund.

In exchange for the Knockouts running the show, they receive 50% of the profit which goes into their funds for events and the awards banquet for members of the group.

As you can imagine, it takes a lot of labor to put on a 2 day show, and we're asking all Knockout members to help us with the event. We need lots of help in the air conditioned concession stand, we need help setting up the barns on Friday, setting up center ring and organizing ribbons on Friday, delivering lunch orders to the barns on Saturday and Sunday, and we need help tearing down the show on Sunday afternoon.

Please sign up to help here!

The Knockouts are going to enjoy some 'non-horsey' fun on Wednesday, August 15 when they go mini golfing at Tee Aire in Brookfield.  All members are welcome, and if you're not a member yet, we'd love to have you.  Sign up sheets will be available soon in the school barn lounge.

And finally, we'll be projecting the live feed from Stake Night at the World's Championship Horse Show in Louisville on Saturday, August 25.  Join us in the show barn lounge as we hoot and holler as the World Grand Champions are crowned for 2018.

We ask that you bring some treats to share.  Adults are welcome to bring beverages of their choice, and we'll supply water for the crowd.

We hope you can join us for all the fun we have planned at Knollwood!

See you at the barn!