The holidays are upon us, and we have the perfect gift for the horse lover in your house. 

From now through January 1, 2018, Gift Certificates for Knollwood Farm are 10% off, too!

 

 

Riding lessons are always in style.

There’s no need to worry about the current fashions because riding is always stylish.  Knollwood Farm has been in operation since 1978, and we love what we do.  Our award winning riding program offers group and private lessons as well as summer camps.

 

 

Riding is a Sport for Life.

We offer lessons for riders aged three and up, starting with   our Tiny Tot program.  These young riders learn in half hour private lessons on a select group of our lesson horses.  We offer these lessons after school hours during the week and on Saturdays between 10 and 3.

For riders aged 7 and up, riders can enjoy group or private lessons. Group lessons introduce riders to the joys and challenges of riding with others, and are a great way to meet other horse crazy kids.  Private lessons are a great way to advance your skills faster, or to work on specific skills.  Many riders even participate in both! 

While most of our riders are between the ages of 6  and 17, as also love teaching adults.  Whether you rode as a kid, or if riding is something you’ve always wanted to do, we can help you out.  We offer private or group lessons, and even have a special adults only group on Thursday nights at 7:30.

 

 

 

Kids and Horses, A Perfect Match

Most of our students are kids, and we believe that horses and kids are a perfect match.  Horses teach responsibility as they can’t do much for themselves.  Riders learn to follow through to make their horse understand what they’re asking, to respect their horse’s size and feelings, and to take care of these fantastic animals.  Riders create strong bonds with their horses and fellow students as they spend time in the barn.

 

 

 

What Weather?

Here at Knollwood, riding is a sport you can enjoy year round.  Our barns and arena are heated, so the weather rarely stops us.  Group lessons are usually a little smaller in the winter, so it’s a great time to start your riding adventure.

 

 

We Love Horse Showing!

We host three academy shows here at Knollwood, and our academy riders traveled to 11 shows away from home last season.  Team Knollwood competed against riders from other lesson programs throughout the midwest at venues in both Illinois and Wisconsin.

Our show horses competed at the biggest shows in the country, traveling much further from home.  From Kentucky to Missouri, Team Knollwood was in the thick of the competition all season.

 

 

We Can Take You Wherever You'd Like To Go

Whether you're a new rider looking to take a few lessons to become acquainted with horses, a current customer looking to enter the show ring, or if you're not sure where the adventure will take you, we can help you meet any goal.

We've produced lots of recreational riders, and we're really proud of all the champions that Knollwood has taught.  We've had 2 riders win the ultimate in our discipline, the Triple Crown of Saddle Seat Equitation.  We've had many World and  National Champions, and currently have 2 riders competing for Team USA in the Saddle Seat World Cup.  Most of these riders started in our own lesson program.

 

 

We’d love to get you started with your riding experience.  You can purchase gift certificates on our website. www.KnollwoodFarmLTD.com and use Promo Code HOLIDAY2017FB to receive 10% off.

You can also call Ann or Nancy at 262-367-2391 and we can answer any questions, arrange a tour, or help design a program to get you or the horse lover in your house started.

 

 

The horses are waiting!

The snow is on the ground and the holidays are here!  The Knollwood Knockouts are looking forward to celebrating the season with their friends this Saturday.  Here's everything you need to know about the big event.

 

 

Forest has been working a few extra lessons this week to make sure his bells, lights, and bows fit for his caroling outing with Dudley and friends.  

Carolers should meet in the school barn at 5:30 pm.  Please be sure to wear warm clothes, as we'll be walking up to Horseshoe Bend to greet our neighbors.  You'll also want to be properly attired with a  flashlight and a Santa hat.  If you have any musical instruments you'd like to bring, please do.  In the past, we've enjoyed everything from triangles to violins, and all noisemakers are welcome!

 

When we return to the barn, your warm clothes will come in handy again as we'll form teams for a scavenger hunt.  The event will take place ALL OVER the farm, so you'll really enjoy your toasty jacket!

Pizza, water and soda  will be served after the hunt is completed.  Parents are welcome and are encouraged to bring their own adult beverages to enjoy during the scavenger hunt, unless you'd like to join the hunt.  

We'll be available to write up those popular gift certificates which are 10% off through January 1.  We're good at being sneaky, so while the kids are out running around, we can help with your shopping!

After everyone has refueled, the Knockouts will hold their club meeting and election of officers for 2018.  Co-presidents for 2017, Emma and Jordan, will run the event and turn over the reins to the winner of the election.

 

Following the election, we're hosting an optional gift exchange.  If you'd like to participate, please bring a wrapped gift valued at $25.  Knockout members are mostly girls between the ages of 7 and 13.

 

 

Our drive for Puerto Rico hurricane relief concludes at the party.  We're grateful for those who have supported the Knockouts in their holiday charity drive.  Please being your donations and place them in the blue bin.  

Requested items include packaged tuna or salmon, energy bars, infant formula, diapers, or tarps.  You can find a full list in both the school or show barn lounge.

We're requesting packaged food instead of cans.  All relief supplies will be shipped by air, and we'd like to keep the boxes as light as possible.

If you don't have time to shop at this crazy time of year, we're also collecting checks for the Hispanic Federation's Unidos Fund, which is sending 100% of money received to hurricane relief in Puerto Rico.

 

 

We're looking forward to a great evening of fun with the Knockouts. 

We hope you can join us!

 

 

 

At this time of the year, our thoughts often turn to what we’re grateful for in the previous year.  We think everyone at Knollwood can agree that we are fortunate to have an unbelievable crew of helpers who make the lesson program run at a level of excellence that it could never do without these cheerful souls.

Helpers are one of the first Knollwood contacts made by riders new to our program.  At their initial lesson, new customers are assisted in helmet fitting and leading a horse to the arena.  Throughout the first couple of lessons, riders will be assisted by a select group of riders chosen for this extra responsibility.

 

Helpers serve as role models to students in our lesson program.  They are friendly, helpful, and hard working, even when it’s really hot, really cold, raining like it’s monsoon season in Wisconsin, or the pasture is three feet deep in snow. You won’t find them staring at the chart, or playing with their phones. (If you do see this, please let an instructor know!)

 

Helping is a privilege, not a right.  These riders have earned the respect of their fellow riders and their instructors by setting a good example with their conduct, their work ethic, their love of horses, and their people skills. Many of our show barn riders remain as helpers in the lesson program long after their academy careers have concluded. Our goal oriented, experienced show riders serve as terrific mentors to our younger riders coming up.

 

 

Helpers spend their days filling tanks, watering horses, tacking horses, untacking horses, grooming horses, putting horses up, helping in lessons, or training the next batch of younger helpers.

While performing all these tasks, our helpers are learning some very important lessons. Perhaps most importantly, they learn how to prioritize. At Knollwood, we live by the saying, ‘Horses first, the rest later.’ This means that horse care comes first, and that cleaning, throwing hay, rolling up leg wraps, or putting tack away must wait until after horses are cared for, especially when they’re hot after a lesson.

 

 

Helpers learn a lot about horse care while they’re working.  They spend hours grooming and tacking, so they get to know our horses as unique personalities.  Helpers soon learn that Willy likes to trot out of his night time box stall to get to the food in his slip stall, and that Forest is a master of escaping from his stall without getting the back chain down. Fred doesn’t like his girth too tight, and Sparky loves being rubbed with towels just out of the dryer when it’s really cold. And Klem?  He thinks he's never has enough to eat, and isn't bashful about letting everyone know.

Our experienced helpers continue to learn as they teach the younger helpers how things are done safely.  If you really want to learn something well, try teaching it to enthusiastic young horse lovers who want to do everything at once.

Our helpers offer a unique perspective to our riders.  They’re close in age to our riders, and can offer extra encouragement and their own recent experiences with our lessons and programs.  It means a lot when a helper tells a young rider struggling with diagonals that they had the same problem when they were younger, and that they figured it out.

 

Helpers are fabulous even when we travel to horse shows.  These experienced riders encourage our newer show riders, and can offer examples from their own recent history to encourage the younger riders coming up through the ranks.  

 

Our helpers develop great people skills.  These special riders interact with kids of many ages, and often chat with parents as well.  They learn to communicate in different styles with different ages and abilities, and in different situations.  Birthday parties are very different than regular structured group lessons, and taking the time to train new helpers is very different than doing chores yourself.

 

Helpers learn to have fun and still keep working.  The chatter in the barn is really entertaining as the helpers talk about school, sports activities, horse shows, and their families.  Many helpers stay on the same night for many, many years, so deep friendships are formed over time.  It’s great to have barn friends that share a love of horses but don’t go to the same school.

 

Helpers are willing to go above and beyond.  They commit to coming on a particular day of the week each and every week.  Of course, school always comes first and our helpers are great students.  Many of our helpers have received college scholarships from local and national saddlebred associations partially as a result in their involvement in the sport.  This past summer,  the American Saddlebred Association of Wisconsin awarded scholarships to Sarah who is now studying  at Canisius University in Buffalo, and to Jess who is studying at University of Wisconsin.

 

 

In addition to their weekly shift, helpers also work camps in the summer.  Some of our most experienced helpers even serve as camp counselors, and work with our rising show ring stars at pattern camps.

 

 Our helpers also have a charitable streak.  For the last six years, helpers have hosted a 'friendly' competition to collect food and funds for the Food Pantry of Waukesha County.  Each year, they've collected more than 1000 pounds of food while having fun competing against each other in 'Olympic' events.

 

 

 We'd like to offer heartfelt thanks to the helpers who make Knollwood the welcoming place it is for so many. Our school horses are shiny and happy partially because of the care they receive from the helpers. 

Thanks, too, to the parents of these great kids who promote hard work, responsibility, and kindness in all things.  We say that good horses come from good parents, and kids are certainly the same.

If you're a young rider and would like to be a helper some day, the path is steep. 

Take great care of your horse before and after your ride, take care of your equipment, make sure your horse's blankets are up front in the warm tackroom during your lesson,  pick up manure or sweep the lounge when it needs attention, offer to help a younger rider with their horse, or offer words of encouragement to a young rider.  You can always ask your instructor or an older helper what you could do to help, too! 

 

What's Coming Up?

 

Gift certificates are 10% off through January 1.  We'd love to help you design a plan for whatever you'd like to do next year.  You can purchase lessons, camps. even horse shows, all at 10% off!

Please contact Ann or Nancy at the barn, and we can have your certificates ready and waiting for you.  We're great at keeping secrets, and can hand off envelopes in a very secretive fashion!

 

 

Knockouts Holiday Party

Join us at 5:30 pm on Saturday, December 16 for caroling followed by the Knockout party,  We'll meet in the school barn, and please dress warmly, bringing a flashlight, a Santa hat, and your singing voice!  Dudley and Forest will be joining us, too.

We'll return to the farm for a team scavenger hunt, so those warm clothes will come in handy again as teams travel from barns to pastures, and back again.  Following the hunt, Knockout members will enjoy pizza, and then get to the business of electing club officers for the 2018 year.

We'll finish the night with an optional gift exchange.  If you'd like to participate, please bring a wrapped gift valued at $25. Most of our members are girls between the ages of 7 and 13.

 

 

The Knockouts' holiday charity project for Puerto Rican hurricane relief continues through the party.  Please place your donations in the blue bin in the show barn lounge.  We'll get the donations on their way next week.

 

 

Our annual awards banquet is set for Saturday, February 16 at Bristlecone Pines. 

Our celebration of all things Knollwood is a favorite event of the year. We'll enjoy a tasty buffet dinner, high point awards, recognition of our ASHA academy award winners, a slide show, and Scott's year in review.

All Knockouts will receive an invitation shortly after the first of the year.  If you're not a member and would like to join the fun, we'd love to have you.  You can talk to your instructor, or fill out a membership envelope in the school barn lounge.  Annual dues are only $5 for kids, and only require two hours of club service per year to be considered for high point awards.

 



 

See you soon at the barn!

And be sure to thank the next helper you see!

 

The Good Stuff Is Now On Sale.

 

Gift certificates for riding lessons are 10% off through January 1, 2018! 

Knollwood will be celebrating its 40^th anniversary this year, and we have lessons for everyone on your list.

Knollwood offers riding education on more than 25 lesson horses, and can take you from your first lesson to wherever you’d like to go.

Knollwood has produced many national and world title holders, and we've instructed two winners of the triple crown of saddle seat equitation.  Our horses are professionals, many of them having been with us for most of their lives. 

From Willy, Dudley and Sparky, our perfect beginner mounts, to our academy lesson horses like CH Callaway’s Don’t Panic and A Champagne Toast, we love teaching and watching our riders progress to meet their goals.

 

Private lessons make a great gift.

For new customers, these lessons offer terrific one on one instruction from the very beginning.  Riders will progress quickly as they enjoy their instructor’s complete attention for half an hour.  Private lessons are also a great way to start if you’ve been away from the sport for a while and would like to renew your education.  We offer private lessons seven days a week and welcome new students at any time.

 

Private lesson gift certificates make wonderful presents for riders currently enrolled in our group lesson program.  These individual lessons allow the rider and instructor to work on specific skills such as diagonals or canter starts, to refine body position, to work on bridle work, or to work with a specific lesson horse.

Group lessons are a great way to start or step up.

Many of our riders start in group lessons.  These four or eight week sessions offer plenty of time to repeat the many skills learned at the beginning of a riding career.  With 45 minutes of riding per session, students build their skills and strength riding different horses and learning new skills weekly.

We offer group lessons six days a week, and can help you find the perfect group for the rider in your home.  We even offer an ‘adults only’ group on Thursday nights.

 

Our more experienced riders can benefit from group lessons as well.  These 45 minute sessions are perfect for ‘legging up,’ especially when riders use bareback pads or choose a saddle with the stirrups removed.

 

Tiny Tot Lessons Make The Perfect Gift

For our horse lovers between the ages of three and six, we offer our Tiny Tot program.  Our smallest riders team up with a select group of our lesson horses and work one on one with instructors in fun lessons.  These 30 minute lessons help the youngest riders gain confidence as they learn to walk and trot while having fun with their horses.

 

Summer Camp is a Tradition

You can be the star in your house with a gift certificate for Knollwood's summer riding school.  These week long sessions offer plenty of ‘hands on’ time with our wonderful lesson horses.  Riders take care of their mounts for the week as they learn to ride and care for them. Throw in crafts, a demonstration and cook out on the last day, and you have the perfect week of horsemanship and making new friends!

Our more experienced riders can enjoy special weeks of camp just for them.  Knollwood Kids participating in our summer show can enjoy a week of camp designed to help them prepare for show weekend.  Our academy show riders can attend specialty camps created to help them progress in the show ring.  Please talk to an instructor to see what’s right for your rider!

 

We even offer three special Tiny Tot Camp sessions!  Our youngest riders come for three hours, three days a week and enjoy riding, games, snacks, and plenty of time with their horses.  Each camper enjoys the services of a 'personal assistant' each day while they learn all about horses.

 

We'd love to tell you more about our programs, or schedule a tour of the historic Knollwood Farm.  Please contact Nancy or Ann at 262-367-2391 for more information, or to join us for a tour.  We welcome visitors at any time, but we recommend scheduling an appointment if you'd like a dedicated tour guide.

If you'd like to purchase gift cards online, use promo code HOLIDAY2017FB to receive your 10% discount.

 

 

Tradition.Honor.Passion.

 

 

Members of Team Knollwood traveled to Illinois on Sunday to enjoy the first awards banquet of the season.  We gathered with our friends from the Illinois American Pleasure Horse Association and enjoyed brunch, awards, and a great raffle.

We are fortunate to have several local horse show organizations that support the academy division.  Because of all the shows offering competitive academy classes, two of our academy stars made grand entrances to the show horse world this season with both Hanna and Richie winning reserve national championships their first year out.

 

'A' Division

Equitation 13 and Under

  Champion, Hanna

 Last season's academy 10 and under walk trot champion has started her show horse career off with a bang.  Hanna finished reserve in all three junior pleasure equitation finals in her first season, and we're looking forward to watching her progress in her 12 year old year!

 

'B' Division

Laura and Heist

Champions, Country Pleasure 18 and over

Reserve Champions, Show Pleasure 18 and Over

Laura and Heist enjoyed a year of great progress, and great fun. Always in the ribbons, this pair enjoys the horse show experience wherever it takes them!

 

Academy Awards

Denise

Champion WTC Horsemanship 18 and Over

                 WTC Equitation 18 and Over

 Reserve Champion, WTC Pattern

After watching her daughter's lessons, Denise decided to take up riding herself.  Now that Jordan is in college, Denise is enjoying her chance to show, and is having a blast doing it!

 

 

 

Megan

Reserve Champion WTC Horsemanship 18 and Over

Busy, busy Megan somehow finds the time to ride when she's not working as a police officer. She grew up at Knollwood, and never had the chance to show academy as a kid, and she'd enjoying the fun of it now!

 

McKailey

Reserve Champion WTC Equitation 14-17

Leader of the Sunday helpers, McKailey had a great time this season, showing some new horses and making her mark in the tough 14-17 academy division.

 

 

Heather

Champion WTC Horsemanship 13 and Under

Champion WTC Equitation 13 and Under

Yes, she's only 13.  Heather is often questioned about her age after people notice her height, and the length of her legs on her horse.  She's enjoyed a wonderful 2017 show season, riding some of the more advanced lesson horses including Sadie pictured above.

 

Maddie

Reserve Champion WTC Horsemanship 13 and Under

Reserve Champion WTC Equitation 13 and Under

Maddie's made a mark in the WTC under division in only her first year showing out of walk and trot.  She even had the chance to show Sharky, loaned to us by our friends at Lance Hayes Stables, after we were short a horse at the Fall IASPHA show!

 

Lauren S

Champion WTC Pattern

Lauren loves all horses, and animals for that matter.  She always wanted to show Forest, and she did a great job with him at the Fall IASPHA show.  Next time you see her, be sure to ask about Mabel, the family goat!

 

Lauren B

Champion WT Horsemanship 11 and Over

Champion WT Pattern

Reserve Champion WT Equitation 11 and Over

Lauren enjoyed great success in her first full year of academy showing.  Another member of our 'long leg club,'  she's made great progress in a short time frame!

 

Sofia

Champion WT Equitation 11 and Over     

Reserve Champion WT Pattern

Sofia travels from Oshkosh to ride with Team Knollwood, and her dedication has paid off. She's worked had all season to be scrappy, and had a really successful late season as it showed!

 

Richie

Champion WT Horsemanship 9-10

Champion WT Equitation 9-10

It's hard to believe that Richie's first show was in August of 2016 when he won the Maiden championship at the ASAW Summer Showcase.  He was lucky enough to show 12 times this season, counting the Knollwood in-barn shows.  All his riding and showing has really paid off, as he's now the Reserve National Champion in the UPHA Challenge Cup National Final on his own horse, Miss Mheirry Mack!

 

Maiya 

Champion WT Horsemanship 8 and Under

Reserve Champion WT Equitation 8 and Under

A second generation Knollwood Kid, Maiya is as scrappy as they come.  She loves all horses, has a real soft spot for the one and only Klem pictured above, and enjoys riding every horse or pony she has the chance to try.

 

Juliet

Reserve Champion WT Horsemanship 8 and Under   

Seven year old Juliet is one of the younger riders in her division, but always rides like she owns the ring. She's looking forward to being one of the older kids in her classes next season!

 

 

 

In addition, Mary and Lauren B earned awards for Junior/Amateur judging during the season.

Richie and Hanna were also honored with 'Welcome To The Big Time' awards for their graduation to the show horse world.

The banquet was a great way to end the holiday weekend.  We're so proud of all of our hard working riders, and we can't wait to watch their adventures in 2018!