Our spring show last weekend was a wonderful adventure, and the May Classic Show at State Fair Park this weekend will be another exciting weekend of horses and friends.

The Knollwood Show was an adventure with lots of twists and turns.

Saturday went off without a hitch thanks to sunny warm weather, and a  super organized pit crew of Heather, Margit, Erika, and Emma who were joined by the instructors as their assistants.

Judge Shelby Hader had her hands full sorting through large, deep classes in our big outdoor ring.

With our audience spread throughout the shady spots of the arena, it looked like an old timey horse show.

Our Saturday show featured 26 classes with a total of 142 entries. It finished with a rollicking game division, and even judge Shelby joined in the finale.

 

Let’s talk about Sunday.

Originally scheduled to start at 11:00 AM in the little outdoor ring, on Thursday we decided to move the start time to 9:00 AM to beat the weather forecast.

Then the forecast called for all day rain, so we moved the show inside starting at 2:00 PM so the show horses could finish their last workouts before heading off to May Classic on Tuesday.

Heck, we even changed the class scheduling in our attempt to keep the spectator population down in the arena during these days of Covid.

Our customers were fantastic with all the schedule insanity. We cannot thank them enough for their flexibility and good humor about the whole thing.

Oh, and it didn’t even really rain.

 

Our Sunday riders impressed us beyond belief, and Judge Shelby was having a really difficult time placing the walk and trot riders.

Twenty-eight maiden riders showed first in pleasure, equitation, and championship classes. Due to the numbers, we split the maiden riders into five divisions.

Riders were ‘on,’ and rode like they were born to it. Heck, even most of the diagonals were correct.

Leadliners showed next, and the classes were not to believed. The personalities and smiles on our youngest  show stars surely brightened up an overcast day. The contestants even had Shelby laughing, and being as funny as she is. THAT'S quite an accomplishment.

Best line from a leadliner? Before she went into the ring, she asked, “Wait, is this a competition?’

 

Our experienced walk and trot riders finished the day, and really put on a show. Classes were fierce, hotly contested, and fun.

For those of you counting, the Sunday show featured 159 entries, bringing the two day total to 301.

 

This was a weekend showcasing the teamwork of Knollwood.

Our crack parents’ team went into action changing cooking and food prep times when the Sunday schedule was altered, and prepared a rain plan for their ‘tent city’, home to gift baskets, silent auctions, and raffles. Look in Wikipedia under ‘unflappable,’ and there’s probably a picture of them.

Jeni announced from under a tent, in full sun, and from center ring. And she was always funny.

 

Knollwood Kid For Life Shelby Hader joined us for the weekend to judge all events. Even a life long exhibitor and student of the sport admitted the classes were difficult to rank.

Photographer Hanna shot in full sun on Saturday, and in the lighting-challenged indoor arena on Sunday.

Ringmaster Nicole worked on her tan on Saturday and  on staying warm on Sunday.

 

 

The unbelievable personal assistants went above and beyond. They got sunburned on Saturday, were told they’d have to be there at 7:00 AM on Sunday and then were told they could sleep in and arrive at noon. They encouraged, informed, and calmed the maiden and leadline riders, and drove the more advanced riders to strong performances in the ring.

Our customers have the best senses of humor. We changed Sunday plans three times, because we have to admit that we cannot control the weather. Through it all, our customers were patient, supportive and humorous about all the changes. Thank you.

 

Most of all, we owe the weekend's success to the best lesson horses in the world.

They worked in hot sunny and muggy weather on Sunday.  Our walk trot and canter horses entered the ring ready to work for every class. While we gave them mini-baths when we could and took water breaks, they worked through a lot of early summer heat.

Our walk and trot horses were stars on Sunday. With 28 maiden riders, our most patient boys worked for many classes and maintained their senses of humor. Gentlemen to the end, they created many, many memories for their riders.

We are grateful for all of it.

 

This Weekend?

Most of our show horses and eight academy horses are heading to Wisconsin State Fair Park for the May Classic Horse Show. Usually held in Madison, the show has moved closer to us because the New Holland Pavilion in Madison is currently a Covid vaccination site.

We’re thrilled for the ‘home show’ and look forward to a weekend of horse showing and friends.

 

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

 

 *All Saturday photos are from Hanna Agathen Photography.

Willy is happy.

Team Knollwood helped Willy’s best buddy Brinkley cross the rainbow bridge today. Those two were so bonded that it was evident that Brinkley wouldn’t last long with us after Willy crossed.

Born in 1992, Brinkley’s registered name was Sun of Achilles.  He enjoyed a successful show career starting as a 3 year old in driving, a discipline he showed in until he came to Knollwood. Brinkley was also a very successful Arabian Country Pleasure horse.

In his second life as a member of the best lesson horses in the world, Brinkley excelled at well, almost everything. He did not like leaving home for horse shows.

This homebody had a kind soul, the patience of a saint, and a canter to die for.  All the Knollwood Kids who were fortunate to learn to canter on Brinkley called it the ‘cloud canter.’

Brinkley taught many, many Knollwood kids beginning show skills, how kind a horse can be, and perhaps best of all, that horses make great friends. He never revealed any of our secrets we shared with him.

We know Willy was impatiently waiting for you on the other side of the bridge, and we also know that Mark has no idea what was happening.

We loved you dearly, and we miss you already. We’ll think of that perfect canter and your perfect face every time we see beautiful clouds in the sky.

 

Peace to you, Brinkley.

 

As you know, we’ve been trying to work our way around weather issues for our Sunday show.

The riders have been working so hard, and their practice rides on Friday night were so good, that we decided not to use the June make up date. We didn’t want to break the educational momentum that has been building!

We'll rope off about 20% of the arena so parents and immediate family can watch the show.  Please feel free to bring chairs, or to stand.  We didn't rent any for the weekend, as were were planning on being outside. Ah, weather ...

We thought long and hard about moving the show inside in the world of Covid, and we think we’ve come up with a pretty good plan.

We’re going to start the show at 2:00, after the show horses are finished with their routine.  The maiden riders will go first, and will ride their pleasure class, their equitation class, and their equitation championship all in a row.

Instructors will be in the ring, and will offer feedback in the barn between the equitation qualifier and championship to make adjustments before the big class.

This will allow families to spend as brief an amount of time in the arena as possible.

We’ll follow the maiden division with leadline, starting around 3:30, and then our experienced walk and trot riders beginning around 4:00.

We apologize that we can’t be more precise, but, much as we’d like to,  even we can’t predict tack changes and judging time.

 

Here’s the schedule:

24A	Maiden Horsemanship
25A	Maiden Equitation
26A	CH Maiden Equitation
24B	Maiden Horsemanship
25B	Maiden Equitation
26B	CH Maiden Equitation
24C	Maiden Horsemanship
25C	Maiden Equitation
26C	CH Maiden Equitation
24D	Maiden Horsemanship
25D	Maiden Equitation
26D	CH Maiden Equitation
24E	Maiden Horsemanship
25E	Maiden Equitation
26E	CH Maiden Equitation
27	Walk Only Leadline
28	Walk Trot Leadline
29	CH Walk Trot Leadline
Raffle
30A	9-10 Year Old Pleasure
30B	9-10 Year Old Pleasure
31A	8 and Under Pleasure
31B	8 and Under Pleasure
32A	9-10 Year Old Equitation
32B	9-10 Year Old Equitation
33A	8 and Under Equitation
33B	8 and Under Equitation
34A	CH 9-10 Year Old Equitation
34B	CH 9-10 Year Old Equitation
35A	CH 8 and Under Equitation
35B	CH 8 and Under Equitation
36	Walk Trot Pattern

 

 

Maiden Riders in ‘A’ are

276, 353, 363, 364, 374

Maiden Riders in ‘B’ are:

87, 233, 241, 357, 361

Maiden Riders in ‘C’ are:

238, 240, 243, 309, 356, 362

Maiden Riders in ‘D’ are:

247, 248, 250, 283, 360, 371

Maiden Riders in ‘E’ are:

246, 234, 239, 365, 373

 

We ask that after your rider has finished in the arena, that you exit so we keep the head count as low as possible in these times of Covid. We also ask that you mask when in the lounge, which is a very contained space.

 

We appreciate everyone’s flexibility in these times, and with the weather ahead.

 We're so excited to watch our walk and trot stars show tomorrow!

 

We are so excited.

Team Knollwood has been working extra hard introducing lots of new riders to the joys of riding. We've added instructors, lesson hours, and lesson horses too.

All of our passion and hard work will be on display this weekend at our spring in-barn show.

We love what we do.

Classes are big and deep, and we’re thrilled that we’re welcoming 28 riders showing for the very first time!

Here’s info, in no particular order, that all of our riders will find useful for maximum enjoyment this weekend.

 

We’re thrilled to welcome Shelby Hader as our judge for the weekend.

Shelby grew up a Knollwood Kid, starting her riding career at age 4. Her skills led her to excel in both the equitation and performance divisions.

Now working in medical research, this Lawrence University graduate will share her knowledge and legendary sense of humor with the current Knollwood Kids.

 

The show is scheduled to begin at 11:00 AM on both Saturday and Sunday. We ARE watching Sunday’s forecast, and are considering moving the show start to 9:00 AM. We’ll make a decision on Thursday, and if we move up the start time, we’ll contact all riders.

 

Saturday’s riders will compete in our big outdoor ring while our Sunday stars will compete in the smaller outdoor ring.

Spectators are asked to bring their own chairs to enjoy the show.

Saturday’s guests can set up in the pasture to the west of the arena. Please keep your seating behind the ‘broodmare path’ along the rail so the enthusiastic audience doesn’t alarm the horses.

Sunday’s fans are welcome to set up under the trees along Horseshoe Bend, or between the barn and the arena. Please leave a path open from the barn to the arena to horses can safely make it to the arena. We’ll help with this, of course.

 

Parking is available in the Kettle Moraine Curling Club lot as well as in our own lots. Great thanks to our neighbors!

Our concession stand parents have been busy with lunch pre-orders, and thank you for the record number!

They have made some extra lunches which will be available on show days.

 

In addition to being a lot of fun, the show is a major fundraiser for our youth group, the Knollwood Knockouts. In addition to the concession stand, the Knockouts also offer a 50/50 raffle and gift baskets. Please help out where you can. All proceeds fund the club’s awards banquet and their charitable activities.

 

 

We are pleased to welcome Hanna Agathen as our official horse show photographer. She’ll he shooting in the arena both days, and will post proofs.  Each rider received an informational flier in their shirt packet with more info as well.

Speaking of cool tech stuff, Abby is publishing an online program for the weekend.  Stay tuned for download information!

 

Some common questions for our newest show riders:

 What’s the difference between horsemanship and equitation classes?

Horsemanship classes are judged on the overall picture of horse and rider. Does the rider steer well, does the rider navigate around other horses while maintaining speed and correct gait, and does the rider perform the gait requested?

Equitation classes add the rider’s form into the equation.

Is the rider sitting comfortably straight with weight in seat and heels? Are heels down, knees and thighs tight, and hands and eyes up? Is the rider posting on the correct diagonal? (Rising and falling with the shoulder next to the wall.) Equitation classes are also judged on horsemanship.

In the equitation championships, the judge can ask some or all of the  riders to perform some individual work as well. For our maiden and beginner show riders, Shelby will ask the riders to two point in the line up, or to drop their stirrups and pick them back up.

The more experienced riders may be asked to go back to the rail and perform a pattern. The more a rider progresses in their education, the more challenging the work outs become.

 

Why are some classes split?

We split classes for safety in the ring. In our small arena with novice riders, we limit each class to 6 riders before we split.

When we do split classes, we try to group riders according to their experience level so the competition is even.

 

Who’s in center ring?

Center ring is populated with friendly experienced horsepeople.

In addition to the judge, center ring staff includes a ringmaster who helps keep everyone safe in the ring. On Sunday, you’ll see additional personnel in the center. Abby and Whitney will join the judge to help with the newest riders, and they’ll be a familiar face to many of their riders showing for the first time.

 

 Who are the ‘personal assistants?’

A group of our experienced riders have volunteered their time to assist with riders and horses on Sunday. These kids have been selected not just for their knowledge, but for their kindness as well.

Each horse will have their own person for the day, and the riders on each horse will get to know their helper.

These special Knollwood Kids keep the stress level down, answer questions, and act as cheerleaders for our riders. And, they keep everyone safe!

We couldn’t do it without them.

 

 

What’s Coming Up?

May Classic Horse Show

May 26-30

Wisconsin State Fair Park

Come watch some of the best show horses and academy riders in the Midwest!

The academy performance is on Saturday, and won’t start before noon.

 

 

Prairie State Classic

June 4-6

Beyond Stable Farm

Our academy team and ‘B’ horses are on the road to compete at a favorite show. 

Come join us!

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Tradition.

Honor.

Passion. 

 

Team Knollwood is again mourning the passing of a well loved lesson horse, as we helped Mark cross over the rainbow bridge this morning.

 

Distinguished Mark was born on May 20, 1990, and has taught at Knollwood since 1998. Smooth as could be, Mark was an academy star in his younger days. While not blessed with a great intellect, he taught riders the values of persistence and determination.

 

In his later years, he became a ‘go-to’ tiny tot teacher, and was a favorite of instructors and young riders alike.

 

 

Peace to you, Mark.