Team Knollwood has held three in-barn academy shows for many moons, and we were starting to feel like we were stuck in a rut. We asked questions, put our brains together, and came up with a new and improved show. We had a blast last weekend with more riders, more classes, and many, many laughs.

What did we change?

 

We relaxed the atmosphere.

 Instead of full academy dress, all our riders wore long sleeved tees designed by our friends at Wild Impact Marketing.  It kept the tension down, and brought everyone together.

Besides the relaxed attire, our fabulous hair salon ladies braided hair, created some new show looks, and put some traditional buns in.

 

All riders advanced to their championship.

You get better by doing, so all riders had a chance to ride in a championship, and try to make the workout.  Sammy worked as many riders as time would allow so the riders could get used to going to the rail alone. Our tiniest riders even got to ‘work out’ in the line up.

 

We added the

‘Open Gaming Division!’

Our show barn riders always help in the barn and concessions, so we gave them a way to participate in the show as well. They could enter Saturday’s finale, the gaming division. Academy and show riders alike competed in a challenging bareback class, a ‘slowest canter’ class, and the highlight of the games, a highly competitive game of ‘Ride a $5.’

Several of our show ring stars said they had a hard time getting out of bed on Sunday after the bareback and the intense battle in Ride a $5. We finally made Amanda drop her last $5 after a few laps of posting 3 steps and change your diagonal in the air.

 

We highlighted the academy journey in our demos.

While we usually showcase Saddlebred show horses in our demos, we chose to highlight the academy process for this show. First up, Erika and Mia rode in wearing full academy show attire and demonstrated how experienced academy stars show and use the ring.

Later in the performance, Haley rode a demonstration of where academy showing can take you. Haley showed her award winning equitation skills while piloting An Irish Victory around the arena.

 

 

We have many thanks:

Great thanks to Sammy Jo for giving up a weekend during show season to help our academy riders. Sammy’s a favorite for her ability to judge each class individually, and to offer words of encouragement when a rider has a pretty clean ride and makes an error that changes the outcome of the class. She also let lots of riders complete workouts, and really got into the spirit of the show during the game division.

 

Our personal assistants were once again rock stars. These experienced riders from school and show barns serve as mentors to our walk and trot riders and take great care of the best lesson horses in the world.

And, our streak is alive!  No riders went into the wrong class for yet another show!

 

We are beyond fortunate to have an army of volunteers who gather silent auction items, put gift baskets together, run a busy concession stand, keep riders safe in the arena, announce the show, style hair, and act as experienced ‘show moms’ to our newest riders. We couldn’t do it without you!

 

 

Coming Up?

Our show horses are in St Paul, Minnesota for the FASH Show.  It’s a big show at a beautiful facility, but unfortunately, it’s not webcast.  Good luck to everyone showing, and we’ll update results as we get them!

Our semi annual street clean-up is coming up this Saturday at 1:00 PM.  Help us clean up Oakwood and Nagawicka Roads, and then return to the farm for a Knockout meeting at 2:30.

Our annual food drive for the Food Pantry of Waukesha County is underway, and continues until the first week of June. Each rider who gathers up 5 food kits from family and friends is eligible to participate in our first ever Video Scavenger Hunt on June 8.

Team Tuesday is currently in the lead, and there’s a special prize for the team with the most food kits donated.

 

 

See you at the barn!

Hi Everyone, Forest here.

Let me start out by saying this:

Crimes have been committed.

And I started it.

You see, my fearless companion Frank the Pony and myself had been contained in the calorie controlled paddock for lo these many years, next to the obnoxious boodmares and their pesky kids. We thought we’d drop a hint to the people in charge around here, and decided to escape the fat farm.

Perhaps our error was that we chose to escape three, count ‘em, three nights in a row.

So that’s the first crime.

The second is far worse.

We’ve been banished from our private enclave to the BIG school horse pasture with the real criminals. Yes, we’re now in what they call ‘the general population.’ These guys like to chase us around and keep us from all the hay.  I actually think there are a couple of bullies out there. So if Frank or I look a little slimmer, you’ll know why…

The real story of the week is the Knollwood show this weekend.  And because I am an expert on all things Knollwood-y, I’ve been elected to fill you all in.

As I well know, the pastures are pretty muddy.  Our friends at the Kettle Moraine Curling Club have kindly allowed us to use their lot this weekend after ours fills up. 

Please enter only from Oakwood Road.

The concession stand will again be located in the show barn, and I’d love to join you all there. Unfortunately, I’m working this weekend, and I guess there are discriminatory laws about Fjords eating at human concession stands.

However, please support the Knockouts, and have a snack on me!  Be sure to tell the friendly workers that Forest sent you.

 

I must be entertained while I work, and you have a chance to do that AND support our favorite charity, Saddlebred Rescue.

  For only $5 per class, you can have the song of your choice played during a class.  All proceeds benefit the rescue which takes care of Saddlebreds who have fallen through the cracks, and helps them find new jobs and new homes. Please be generous, as not all horses are as fortunate as we Knollwood boys.

Personally, I hope someone plays my favorites, Tiny Bubbles by Don Ho, or Danke Schoen by Wayne Newton. If you don’t like those, any zippy show tune will make me happy even though I’m starving.

Because all our students will be semi casual this weekend, we’re going to use a demo to showcase two of our academy stars who will show what  seasoned academy riders look like when they’re dressed to compete at the highest levels.

There’s a rumor going around that another demo may involve a certain Triple Crown Winner who started in our lesson program.  I’ll keep you posted!

Ironically, our food drive for the Food Pantry of Waukesha County on Saturday.

Please consider donating a food kit to support your favorite Knollwood Kid(s). Each rider who solicits a minimum of 5 food kits is eligible to compete in our first ever Video Scavenger Hunt at 5:30 on June 8. I have a feeling that  I may be involved in the hunt, though no one has officially informed me.

This is a wonderful opportunity to help our neighbors in need at a time when the pantry runs low on inventory.

 

I have a few tips to help our newest spectators enjoy the show…

Many fans ask what the difference is between pleasure and equitation classes.  Simply put, the pleasure classes are about the horse and rider working together to create a picture of ease and pleasure. The horse and rider should look like they both enjoy what they’re doing.

We always schedule pleasure classes first so riders can get comfortable in their initial class, and feel how their horse is thinking on show day.

Equitation is all about the rider.  The judge is looking at body position, steering, diagonals and leads, and how the rider uses spacing in the arena to present themselves well. Of course, the rider should have their horse working at a good speed for their individual horse, and should look smooth and relaxed.

 

What’s the difference between school horse and saddle seat pleasure?

So much. School horse pleasure is for all the wonderful lesson horses who are not high headed Saddlebreds or Morgans.  The magnificent quarter horses, Arabians, and assorted crosses are stars of the school horse pleasure division. Of course, there’s also a pretty special, if skinny, Fjord competing there as well.

Saddle Seat pleasure is for the show breeds, and most of these horses are the ones who travel to academy shows with us. While they travel faster and are flashier than our school horse pleasure competitors, all these horses are beautiful in my eyes. Even the ones who don’t let me eat as much as I’d like in the pasture.

 Sure, this weekend is a competition, but most importantly, it should be FUN. 

Cheer for your friends, hug your horse, congratulate the winners, and soak it all in.

There's nothing better.

We lesson horses love what we do, and hope you do, too!

I’m looking forward to show weekend, and hope to see all my friends there. 

Please bring treats!

 

 

Our first in-barn show of the season is coming up next weekend, and we can hardly wait. 

We’re trying out a relaxed dress code with all the riders receiving long sleeved tees to wear in the ring.  The arena is going to be a sea of orange with all 73 riders decked out in their show shirts.

We’ve also added an ‘Open’ division with opportunities for our show barn riders to join the fun. 

Of course, it had to be a competition, so the experienced riders will be trying to beat Triple Crown Winner Haley in games of skill such as 'Ride a $5' and 'Slowest Canter.'  They probably don’t stand a chance against Haley in bareback equitation, however.

So, we toyed with the idea of making the 'show kids' compete 'saddle no stirrups' in old school saddles, but decided in the end that all gamers will be competing in bareback pads. 

'Ride a $5' contestents, remember to have two five dollar bills ready,  Last one with money under a knee will will the whole pot!

 

 

We’re really looking forward to showcasing the progress made by our riders over the winter.

We have a strong 9 rider maiden division for our future stars.  Just starting their show ring adventures, these girls are ready to rock it. Who knows where their dreams will take them?

Our leadline division is chock full of talent, too. Our eight smallest riders will wow the audience with their enthusiasm and presence.  Oh, and they ride pretty well, too!

The Saturday show numbers are way up, as we’ve promoted 8 riders to the walk, trot, and canter division.  We even had to split the maiden division of first time cantering riders!

 

So whether you’re a lead liner, a maiden rider making their first show appearance, a seasoned academy rider looking to qualify for the Knollwood Challenge, or a show barn rider looking to beat Haley, we hope you have a great time, learn from your horse, hang with your barn friends, and make some memories.

 

 

Just a few reminders about the big weekend…

With our relaxed dress code, we’ve also relaxed requirements for hair. Riders can do their hair however they would like as long as their numbers are visible.  We will have stylists for those wanting a traditional horse show bun, and sign up sheets are in the school barn lounge.

Songs for Saddlebreds has been a terrific program benefitting the Knockouts’ favorite charity, Saddlebred Rescue.  For only $5, you can have your favorite song played during your class, or your friend’s class.  Last year, we donated $450 to help Saddlebred Rescue, and we’d love to beat that this year.  You can sign up with your instructor.

 

Great thanks to our friends at Badger State Maintenance LLC of Milton, Wisconsin, who have kindly sponsored the concession stand for this show!

 

 

We are still looking for help in the concession stand and with the gift baskets.  We ask all Knockout members to donate a minimum of 2 hours of service to the club, as dues paid don’t come close to covering the events provided by the club.  You can sign up here.

Sign up for the gift baskets is available on the tackroom door in the school barn. Don’t have time to shop? You can always donate cash and let us do the shopping!

 

 

Our annual food drive for the Food Pantry of Waukesha County starts show weekend!

The pantry runs low after school is out, and more clients need their services to replace meals served at school.  The Knockouts are happy to help out, and have fun in the process.

 

The pantry has asked us to donate in ‘food kit’ form.  Each kit contains:

Instant Potatoes

Gravy

Canned Vegetables

Canned Fruit

Can of Soup

Box of Jello

Boxed Dessert

Box of Cereal

 

 

You can just put these items in a bag and mark the bag with the Knollwood Kid you’d like to support, and they day they ride, which will determine their team.

Each rider who has a minimum of 5 food kits donated earns the right to participate in our first ever Video Scavenger Hunt on Saturday, June 8 at 5:30. Best of all, the team who donates the most food kits over their goal wins a special prize.

Barrels from the food pantry will be in the show barn ready for your donations, and we’ll take donations right up to the date of the event.

 

 

It’s going to be a wonderful weekend celebrating all things Knollwood.

See you at the show!

 

If you're a student here at Knollwood Farms, you may have received a few emails today from Wellness Living.  As our lesson program continues to expand, we have been finding a need to help ourselves, our supportive family members and our athletes up to date on their schedules and lesson packages.  SO, Knollwood Farms is officially signed up with Wellness Living to help us keep track of our expanding lesson program.

 

A few things you should know about the site:

 

1.  Please claim your account!

If you received an email about your account, please claim it!  You can see any upcoming scheduled lessons, or past lessons (there won't be much in there as of today since we are only scheduling FORWARD from here on out), you can confirm your attendance, cancel, request appointments, and even send a message to your instructor all from your account!  You can also see how many lessons you have left in a package, or if you owe.  If you have not received an invitation, please call or email us 262-367-2391 or cmatton@knollwoodfarmltd.com

 

2. Please continue to book how you normally would!

If you book as you go when you're here through a face to face discussion with your instructor, if you call, text or email to book your lessons, please continue to do that.  The way in which you book your lessons has not changed.  Now you are just able to SEE all those beautiful riding experience you have on the docket rather than having to try and remember or pop in a phone reminder, you can just log into your Wellness Living account.

 

3. Your Package totals may look a little off....

For those of you who frequently purchase an annual grouping of lessons, the packages on your account may look a little funny.  That is because (working forward from today on) we added only the lessons you have remaining in those packages.  If totals still don't seem to add up, please get in touch and we can take a look together, after all, we are learning this system too!

 

4. Horse assignments!

Because we like to know which school horse is in need of a vacation (no Forest, not you again) we will be assigning horses in the system as well.  That being said, when you are signed up for a lesson, the system automatically assigns you a horse within your lesson category and it does not reflect your horse assignments.  Please continue to check the chart for who you are riding as your instructor will adjust the horse assignments as they check you in.

 

5. As always, ask questions!

We are constantly evolving and adding to our online capabilities to make your lesson purchasing and scheduling options more convenient and easy.  If you have any questions, concerns, recommendations or ideas, speak up and speak out! We want to know about it.  Feedback is so important to us as a means to serve you and our students better.

 We’re back from the IASPHA show in Gurnee where Team Knollwood had a marvelous time. We enjoyed deep, competitive classes, exhibitor parties each night, and even had a blizzard thrown in for fun.

With eight show horses and eight academy/’B’ horses at the show, we learned some valuable lessons and were reminded of some enduring classics.

 

Horses Aren’t A Phase.

Jeni Burton grew up riding, but put her show dreams on hold to support her two kids, Keegan and Parker so they could enjoy showing as they grew up.  Both Keegan and Parker are accomplished riders, and Parker even enjoyed a few seasons on the ‘A’ circuit, leasing several show horses.  She’s currently working in the barn when she’s not attending college or working one of her several other jobs.

So, Jeni’s no longer supporting her kids’ riding dreams, and returned to the show ring after 20 years on Michael, officially known as Finding Neverland. Jeni enjoyed an exciting warm up, and went on to win her 5 gaited pleasure qualifier.  She returned on Saturday night to win the championship as well.

It’s true, horses are NOT a phase.  They’re a life long joy.

Being A Show Horse Isn’t A Phase, Either. 

Freaky Links is a legend. He’s shown since 2003, and has wins at all the major shows, including Louisville.

For this season, Jordan has the pleasure of showing this ageless show horse, and their first show was a joy to watch. Freaky was ready to show in the big classes, and was willing to show his extra gears in the three gaited pleasure class. Judging from Jordan’s ear to ear smile, we think they both had a fabulous time.

Jordan is off to the University of Wisconsin in the fall, and we’re sure this will be a summer to remember!

 

There’s Always A Division For Great Teams.

So, Richie and Tink (Ms Mheirry Mac) have enjoyed great success the past couple of seasons in the 10 and under walk trot equitation division.

Richie is now 11, and has grown a lot.  These two have a special bond, and wanted to stay together, so the dynamic duo has entered the Country Pleasure division. Tink is pretty excited about the whole extended trot thing. 

These two entered the ring on Friday night after a little excitement about Richie’s new suit which had just arrived that morning. They looked great, and Tink was ready to take on the world. They tuned it down a little bit for their championship, and won the class. Not too shabby for their entrance to a new division!

 

IASPHA Is Perfect For New Teams.

The arena at Fields and Fences is big, with nice long straightaways, and our riders moving up from the academy division have all shown there.

McKailey made her show horse debut with Tura Lura Lura, known around the barn as Maddie.  McKailey and Maddie turned in some strong rides and rode to strong ribbons.

 

Maria made her debut with new partner Irish Victory, known at home as Murphy. Sporting a new show outfit, Maria rode the pretty gelding to some great ribbons in the show pleasure division.

 

Last year’s 13 and under pleasure equitation star Heather has moved to the senior division with a new partner, Impressive Asset.  Known around Knollwood as Fergie, she’s a very flashy character. She and Heather looked great in their qualifier and championship, winning both classes.  And, Fergie will be teaching Heather lessons this season. Many lessons.

 

 

Amanda and Smyth, officially known as Bells A Poppin', showed for the first time in both Country Pleasure and in Equitation. Amanda did a fantastic job with firey Smyth, making her look easy.  She even guided her through an equitation pattern and finished second in the UPHA Challenge Cup Qualifier!

 

It All Starts In Academy.

All seven of our show riders at IASPHA came up through our academy program, and are all quite familiar with the Fields and Fences facility.

Academy taught them valuable lessons of how to show, how to control emotions, and the importance of horsemanship in a safe setting with the best lesson horses in the world.

Our 15 riders in the IASPHA academy division made us proud. They’ve worked hard in the off season, and it showed in their classes at the show. They used the ring like pros, maintained strong positions, and learned a lot of lessons as well.  There’s no substitute for the show ring to learn how to show, and we’re thrilled so many riders are joining us for the journey.

And the horses? They were magnificent as usual.

 

Coming Up?

We’re off to the UPHA Chapter 10 show in Woodstock Illinois next weekend. Please join us at Beyond Stable Farm to cheer us on!

The Knollwood Spring Show is coming up fast in May 4-5. The show will start at 1:00 both days, and we can hardly wait!

Please consider donating to gift baskets, or helping with a shift at the concession stand. All proceeds benefit the Knollwood Knockouts.

You can sign up to help at the concession stand here!

We’re also supporting Saddlebred Rescue with our popular ‘Songs for Saddlebreds.’ For only $5, we’ll play the song of your choice during the class of your choice. Last season, we donated $450 to the rescue from our three shows!

Our food drive for the Food Pantry of Waukesha County also starts on show weekend, and will run through the beginning of June. More information will come soon!

Our spring street clean up will take place on Saturday, May 11 at 1:00. It’s a great way to meet fellow Knockouts, and earn your club service hours.  We’ll enjoy a Knockout meeting and refreshments at 2:30.

We have 2 openings left for the Mother’s Day ride on Saturday, May 11 at 5:30.  For only $40, the rider in your house can show their Mom why they love riding so much by serving as their helper in an introductory group lesson.

 

See you at the barn!