• It's July???? How Did That Happen?

    0 comments / Posted by Ann Wilt

    Well, that went quickly.

    June was filled with horse shows, the start of camp, including two weeks of academy and 2 tiny tot camps, as well as the Knollwood Olympics.

    Oh, and just a tad of hot weather...

     

     

     

    The latest happenings?

    Team Knollwood had a successful Oshkosh Charity Horse Show. It was the 50th edition of the show with hospitality plus, and everyone who showed had a grand time.

    Knollwood horses and their riders were at the top of their games.

    College girl Tori and her beautiful Country Pleasure mare Stella are having quite a summer. After great classes at Midwest, this dynamic duo won both their qualifier and championship at Oshkosh.

     

    Equitation star Shaye enjoyed Oshkosh with a new partner. She showed the always beautiful Garden of Roses in equitation classes, winning both the Good Hands qualifier and the equitation championship. Friend and barnmate Brooklyn was reserve in the Good Hands.

     

    Our academy team competed at Oshkosh with gusto. Classes were so big that the championships had to be split by age.

    Our senior walk trot and canter riders had quite a show. Samara, Aubrey, Thea, and Jules used the spacious arena like the experienced riders they are. They came out of the arena with some nice ribbons, too.

    The 13 and under riders showed in a huge class, and were stars. Jilly and Dilly have been having quite a season, and their success continued at Oshkosh. Newcomers to the big ‘A” show academy world Hailey and Teagan looked like they’ve been there before, too.

     

    Our walk and trot riders were all first time riders at this level, and they made us proud. Kelsey, Rielle, and Rebecca competed in the big 11-13 division with 13 riders in the arena.

     

    Olivia competed in the 10 and under division. She may not be the tallest rider in the class, but she and Thomas made a smooth and compelling pair.

    We’re grateful for the strong lesson programs in our area that provide such wonderful competition to create strong riders for the future!

     

    The UPHA Horsemanship challenge has previously been held at the ASAW Summerfun Horse Show at State Fair Park in July. The event was moved to Oshkosh this year because of the Lexington show dates overlapping Summerfun.

    Team Knollwood had three riders in the event, and they were fierce.

    The first round involved 20 riders entering the ring on horses they had picked from a hat, and had never ridden before.

    After a first class at all three gaits both ways of the ring, an entry cut was made. Horses and riders who made the cut remained in the ring, and showed the second phase on the horse next to them in the line up.

    At the end of the event, Knollwood’s own Shaye was the reserve champion, and Maiya was 5th.  It takes a lot of skill to show a horse you’ve never ridden. These ladies once again showed the value of Knollwood’s grand ‘library’ of lesson horses.

     

    The week before Oshkosh, 14 riders spent the week at Knollwood participating in an advanced camp. These riders spent hours with their horses practicing show skills, patterns, and building their muscles.  In addition to riding, they learned Scott's two best tie knots, had to walk to camp some days through construction on Oakwood, and laughed a lot.

    The highlight for many of the riders was our 14 entry horsemanship challenge at home. Riders picked a horse out of a hat, and showed at the walk and trot in the arena while counselors acted as judges. (We were limited to walk and trot because of the number of entries.)

    Classes were hotly contested, and riders learned a ton about spacing, timing, the importance of looking ahead, and the skill of mental organization.

    We had a ball.




    What’s Coming Up?


    Knollwood Summer Show Entry Window

    July 1-13

    Please sign up in the school barn lounge.

    Fill out a form with horse choices, even if your show is included in your enrollment.



    Lexington Junior League Show

    July 7-12

    Rolex Arena, Kentucky Horse Park

    Richfield Video is webcasting the event for ad additional fee.

    We’ll post updates as we get them!


    ASAW Summerfun Horse Show

    Wisconsin State Fair Park

    July 10-13

    The academy performance is Saturday morning at 10:00 AM.

    Please join us!

     


    Knockout Car Wash

    Sunday, August 2

    10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

    Hartland Piggly Wiggly

    Please join us for the most entertaining fundraiser of the year!

    Help us wash cars, sell some brats, and have a great time with your barn friends.

    We’re asking all Knockout members to work a shift, as the fundraiser helps us defray the cost for our fabulous award banquet.

    You can sign up here.


     

    World Championship Horse Show

    August 16-25

    Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky

    Team Knollwood will be there competing with the the best of the best.

                     


    Knollwood Summer Show

    August 22-24

    Save the dates!

     

     

     


    See you soon at the barn, or at the in-gate.

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  • All The Latest... A Little Update

    0 comments / Posted by Ann Wilt

      

    It’s a busy summer week at Knollwood.

    Show horses are in Oshkosh with Lin and Scott, horses and riders bound for Lexington are working at home with Carol, the show barn roof is being replaced, and we have 15 academy riders at the farm for a pattern camp.

    Did we mention that the construction has started on Oakwood Road?

    On Wednesday morning, the city of Delafield started tearing up Oakwood Road from Highway 83 to Oakwood Road. (This has nothing to do with the state project improving Highway 83.)

    It means that the intersection of Oakwood and 83 will be closed sporadically through the month of July.

    Our suggested , highly suggested workaround is to get to Knollwood via Nagawicka Road to avoid the long delays.


    Some Quick Updates:


    The Olympics were a rocking success.

    The 28 hard working Olympians gathered 160 more pounds of food in 2025 than the previous year. They also collected over  $1000 in cash and checks and online donations.

    Tiny Tot rider Tahlea won a special award for collecting the most food kits of anyone in the Olympics with 10.

    We retooled the games for the warm weather, and almost everyone got wet in the relay race while the blanket race was a blast with 8 teams in the little outdoor arena.

    School horse charades with the instructors and admins acting were pretty swell, too.

    Great thanks to everyone who made the event a big success.

     


    The week of June 30 – July 4 is a week off of camp. Weekday helpers, please try to arrive a little early, as we’ll have a lot of brushing to do.

    We are not holding lessons on Friday, July 4. Your instructor should have already scheduled a makeup lesson.


     

    Show horses will be heading to the big Lexington Junior League Horse Show July 7-12, while the academy team and some show horses will attend the ASAW Summerfun Show at State Fair Park July 10-13.


     

     

    See you soon at the barn, or at the in-gate.

    Arriving via Nagawicka Road, of course.



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  • The Joys of Knollwood Summer

    0 comments / Posted by Ann Wilt



    Photo by Collective Grace

    Team Knollwood is enjoying horse shows, summer camps, and long days with barn friends.

    Here’s the latest from your home away from home.


     

     

     

    Midwest Success

    The 84th annual Midwest Charity Horse Show was a fantastic competition. The classes were big, deep, and so  much fun to watch.

    Here are some of our favorite stories


    Grown Ups Rock!

    Adult show pleasure classes at Midwest are really, really big.  Tancy showed her wonderful Mickey, and Margit showed fresh face Shooter in classes as large as 16 riders.

    Both of these teams came out of the championship with ribbons, a huge accomplishment.

     

     


    Photo by Collective Grace

    Walk Trot Equitation Stars

    Knollwood’s 10 and Under walk and trot equitation riders enjoyed their first Midwest experience. Averie showed superstar Prince, and Maddie showed her beautiful Zack in some nice classes. Both riders had beautiful rides, becoming more comfortable as the week went on, and they earned some really nice ribbons.

     

     


     

    The Dallens Had A Week

    College girl Tori is home for the summer, and is reunited with her beautiful Country Pleasure horse, Stella. Tori and Stella followed up their wins at Madison with a win in their qualifier at Midwest. They finished in the top ribbons in their championship too, in a ring full of the best in the country.

     

    Brother Richie was not to be outdone. He and his equitation partner Doc put on a horsemanship lesson in working through a tough pattern to win the USEF Medal qualifier. The top-notch team also finished third in a grand equitation championship.

     

     

    Pleasure Equitation Success

    Maiya and Riddle also followed up their successes at Madison with a big win in the 14-17 Pleasure Equitation Championship.

    Natalie and Garfield won the Saddle and Bridle Pleasure Equitation Qualifier and is headed to St Louis in the fall.

    Leighton and Teddy are learning tons in their first season 11-13 pleasure equitation. They even earned a second place ribbon in the UPHA Pleasure Challenge Cup.



    Photo by Collective Grace

    Students of the Sport

    Both Shaye and Brooklyn are enjoying building seasons.

    Accomplished equitation rider Shaye is helping her beautiful new equitation partner Lady learn  the ways of an equitation horse. They’re beautiful to watch, and you can see the learning happening with calm steady Shaye at the helm.

    Photo by Collective Grace

    Last year’s 13 and under superstar has taken on both the challenge of the senior equitation division, and the challenge of the one and only Gigi. Gigi, known in the registry as Isn’t She Something, is a force unto herself.

    Gigi is a strong, self-assured handful of a horse, and she and Brooklyn are becoming a team. It’s a blast to watch.




    What’s Coming Up?

    The Knollwood Olympics

    The Knollwood community is gathering this Saturday at 6:00 to celebrate their successful food drive for the Food Pantry of Waukesha County. Everyone is welcome to come to watch. Please consider bringing a donation to the pantry.

     


    Oshkosh Charity Horse Show

    Team Knollwood is heading to the Sunnyview Expo at the Winnebago County Fairgrounds for the Oshkosh Charity Horse Show June 25-28.

    The academy performance starts at 10:00 AM on Saturday, and the classes are super competitive. It’s worth the trip up.

     


    Knollwood Show Entries

    We’ll start taking Knollwood Summer Show entries on July 1 and will continue to take them through July 13.

     


    July 4 Closure

    We will not be holding lessons on Friday, July 4. Your instructor will schedule a makeup.


     

     

    Lexington Junior League Horse Show

    July 7-12

    Many of Knollwood’s show horses are heading to Rolex Arena in the Kentucky Horse Park. The 89th annual Lexington Junior League will be a deep show with the best horses and riders from around the country.

    We’ll provide the webcast link when available.


     

     

    ASAW Summerfun Horse Show

    July 10-13

    Some show horses and our academy team will be headed to Wisconsin State Fair Park for Knollwood’s ‘home show.’

    You can sleep in your own bed and see a horse show in a beautiful venue. Please join us.


     

     

    IASPHA Summer Show

    July 25-27

    Join us at Beyond Stable Farm’s big outdoor ring for a summer horse show in the covered outdoor arena.


     

     

    Knollwood Knockout Car Wash

    Sunday, August 3

    All Knockouts are asked to sign up for a shift as the club washes cars and sells food at the Hartland Piggly Wiggly.

    It’s the most entertaining fundraiser of the year, and helps the Knockouts defray the cost of the annual awards banquet.



     

    Photo by Collective Grace

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

     

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  • A Quick Catch Up

    0 comments / Posted by Ann Wilt

    Photo by Collective Grace

    The Knollwood Community is enjoying a busy week, so it’s time for a quick update.

     


    Knollwood Summer 2025 has started at home with two different camps, and preparation for Oshkosh.


    The Tiny Tot campers had a wonderful three days learning all about horses, and starting their riding educations. And they asked a lot of questions while laughing a lot.


    Our first pattern camp of the summer runs through Friday. These advanced academy riders are furthering their knowledge both in the arena and out. They laughed so hard on Wednesday that one of the riders fell off their horse at a standstill.


    Meanwhile, Lin is working horses for the Oshkosh Charity Horse Show on June 25-28. She works horses in the morning and teaches in the afternoons, making sure horses and riders are ready for their trip to the Fox Valley.

    Photo by Collective Grace.

    Scott, Carol, show horses and customers are in Springfield, Illinois enjoying the Midwest Charity Horse Show.

    They’re having a great show in the midst of deep competition. The show continues through Saturday, and you can watch all the action on Richfield Video here.


    Our food drive for the Food Pantry of Waukesha County continues through Saturday, June 14. Knollwood Kids of any age who donate a minimum of 5 food kits earn the right to compete on a Knollwood Olympic team of June 21 at 6:00 PM.

    Please help us continue the 15 year tradition of helping the food pantry at the end of the school year when food stocks run low.  Plus, you’ll have a blast playing ‘games of skill’ with your friends on June 21.


    The Oshkosh Charity Horse Show is going to be a great one in 2025.

    Team Knollwood will be at Sunnyview Expo at the Winnebago County Fairgrounds from June 25-28 with both show and academy teams. The academy division is so big that the walk trot and canter championship has been split in advance because of the size of the class.

    Please join us for a show in a beautiful setting, hospitality galore, and deep classes. We’d love to have you cheer us on!


    We’re closed on Friday, July 4 so Knollwood families can celebrate Independence Day. All lessons will be rescheduled.


    Team Knollwood is hitting shows in two states the second weekend of July.

    Some show horses will be competing at the Lexington Junior League Show while other will be at Wisconsin State Fait Park with our academy team.

    Lexington is one of the oldest and most prestigious Saddlebred shows in the country, while we consider ASAW Summerfun to be our ‘home show.’

    Whether you’re in Kentucky or Wisconsin, please join us and cheer us on!


     

    Photo by Collective Grace

     

     

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

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  • Knollwood Summer 2025 Is Rolling

    0 comments / Posted by Ann Wilt

    The Knollwood community is enjoying warmer days, open screen doors, bathing horses outside, and outdoor lessons. Summer is here, and we’re roling!


    Our academy team spent last weekend in Woodstock while competing at the Prairie State Classic. We met up with our Morgan friends and enjoyed showing in the big outdoor ring at Beyond Stable Farm.

    Out riders gained a lot of confidence as they worked the ring to present themselves and their horses in the best way possible.

    We had so much fun learning and hanging out together.

    Next up for our academy team is the Oshkosh Charity on June 28.


     

    Our Annual Food Drive is in Full Swing!

    We hope you’ll help us in our 15th annual service project supporting the Food Pantry of Waukesha County. The pantry stocks are running low for several reasons, and we like to help them out every June.

    Knollwood Kids of any age who donates a minimum of 5 food kits earn the right to compete on an Olympic Team on June 21.

    Please put your food kit items in a bag with your name on it and place the bags in the pantry barrels in the show barn lounge.

    If your family and friends would rather donate money to the food pantry, each $20 donation equals a food kit.

    You can even donate from the comfort of the lounge using the QR code on the barrels. Please add a comment to your online donation noting that the funds are for the Knollwood Farm drive.

     

    What are the Knollwood Olympics?

    Well, all the donors are placed on teams by the Knockout officers, and then the teams compete in what we loosely call ‘games of skill.’

    Teams will compete in the blind buggy race, the helmet toss, the blanket race, a relay race yet to be designed, and one more event yet to be created.

    We guarantee you’ll laugh, you may fall down and you’ll have lots of fun while supporting our neighbors in need.

    Events will start at 6:00 PM in the big outdoor arena, weather permitting. If we’re in the middle of a monsoon, we’ll move to the indoor arena.

    It’s a ridiculous event, and you don’t want to miss it.

     


    Midwest Charity

    Our show barn team is heading to Midwest Charity for one of the biggest shows of the season.

    Nineteen Knollwood horses will be competing in the most beautiful show arena in the country when they enter the coliseum at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

    You can watch all the action live  with a subscription to Richfield Video. We’ll be posting updates as well.

    Best of luck to everyone showing!

     

     


    What’s Coming Up?

    Camp is Starting!

    June 9 marks the real beginning of Knollwood Summer 2025 when we welcome 2 camps to the farm.

    Our first tiny tot camp with Adrienne Monday thru Wednesday, and some advanced academy riders are coming all week for a pattern camp with Ann.

    Camp continues through the Knollwood show in August, and all sessions are sold out. We do have a couple of openings in TIny Tot camp. Please give us a call at 262-367-2391 if you have a rider between the ages of 4 and 6 who might love a first time camp experience!

     


    Oshkosh Charity

    June 26-29

    Sunnyview Expo at Winnebago County Fairgrounds

    It’s a sell out!

    Stalls are all sold, and it’s going to be a heck of a horse show.

    Both our show and academy teams are making the trip to the Fox Valley to compete in the beautiful outdoor arena with a roof to keep us all in the shade.

    Please join us for a show that specializes in hospitality as well as great competition.


     

    July 4

    We will not be holding lessons on Friday, July 4 so everyone can celebrate Independence Day.

    All lessons will be rescheduled.

     

     


    Lexington Junior League Horse Show

    July 7-12

    Rolex Stadium

    Kentucky Horse Park

    It’s the first of the big three shows of the year, and Knollwood will be there in force.

    The show will be webcast for a fee, and we’ll update all the latest news on our socials.


     

    ASAW Summerfun Horse Show

    July 10-13

    Wisconsin State Fair Park

    Our academy team, and some of our show horses will be showing at one of our favorite shows of the year. We consider it our ‘home show’ and always enjoy a kind of Knollwood reunion with lots of friends attending.

    If you’ve never seen a horse show or think you might be interested in joining our academy team in the future, Summerfun is a good opportunity to see show horses and academy riders. Best of all, you can sleep in your own bed!

     

     

    IASPHA Summer Show

    July 26-27

    Beyond Stable Farm

    Woodstock, IL

    Yay, the IASPHA summer show is coming up.

    We’ll be showing in the beautiful covered outdoor ring.

    Please join us!


     

    Knockouts Car Wash and Brat Bash

    August 3

    Hartland Piggly Wiggly

    All Knockouts are asked to take a shift at the car wash, one of our biggest fundraisers of the year.

    Your efforts help to keep our banquet prices down, and help the Knockouts donate to people in need. Plus, it’s a blast to wash cars and sell brats with your barn friends.


     

     

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


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