The smile says it all! Photo courtesy of Pat Schmidt.

Emily Shirley, of Orono, Minnesota, enjoyed returning to Roebke’s Run Horse Trials earlier this month to compete in the Open Training division with her Irish Sport Horse, Fernhill Romeo.

After the horse trials it was time to pack up and return to Iowa, where she is training under the tutelage of Meaghan Marinovich, with her blue ribbon in hand. At age 19, she has been competing for about six years.

“I have been training under Meaghan Marinovich for about the last three years,” said Shirley. “This is my second year being a working student for her during the summer, and I really like how I am able to expand my riding skills, learn how to manage a barn, and observe how a business is run. Meaghan has really helped my effectiveness as a rider and there is no way possible I could be a good rider without her constant help.”

Shirley and her Irish Sport horse, Fernhill Romeo, easily clear one of the cross country jumps at Roebke’s Run. Photo courtesy of Pat Schmidt.

Marinovich’s business acumen that she shares will probably aid Shirley now that she is in college. She is attending Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and majoring in finance and economics. Romeo will not be left behind; this fall at the start of her second year, she plans to bring Romeo to a barn not far off campus.

“This was our first show; last year we competed at the Preliminary/CCI 1* level. As of now, I plan to move Romeo back up to Preliminary, jump around a couple 1 stars, then decide what he’s capable of. Eventually, I’d like to run him at an Intermediate or 2*, but it depends on if he wants to do it as well,” said Shirley.

“Romeo came from Carol Gee/Fernhill Sport Horses and was bred by Ann O’Grady over in Ireland; she has also bred 4* event horse Ballynoe Castle RM. Romeo is an Irish Sport Horse, but technically he is a Westphalian, which is a German breed. Because he was born in Ireland and has an Irish passport they classify him as an Irish Sport horse, but I think his lineage says he is a Westphalian,” explained Shirley.

Fernhill Romeo excels in the show jumping phase, while Shirley says her best area of
eventing is cross country. Photo courtesy of Pat Schmidt.

Shirley says she is currently qualified at the 1* level but rode here for the good preparations Roebke’s Run provides. She said a couple of years of Pony Club riding in the Northern Lakes Region of Minnesota was what got her into eventing.

“I like cross-country jumping the best. Romeo’s favorite is stadium jumping where he does best,” added Shirley. “I love the course here, it’s very nicely designed; as long as you come out with a good attitude you will see positive results. I’ve competed here many times before and it’s pretty consistent. Every time you come out you see a nice thoughtfully designed course; I like it.”

Mark Ward and Raja compete in the dressage ring at Roebke’s Run. Photo courtesy of Pat Schmidt.

Mark Ward of Woodbury, Minnesota, has been around horses most of his life, but it was the sport of eventing many years later that really grabbed him by the reins.

Mark was on a return trip to Roebke’s Run in Hector, Minnesota, with his wife, Katie Clapp, granddaughter Louisa Ward and five other competitors from his riding stable at Windy Ridge Ranch.

“I always enjoyed jumping and dressage and didn’t even know about eventing until I went to watch my sister-in-law compete,” Mark explains. “What impressed me were the rules eventing has that prevent people from abusing their horses in any way. It is a standard in eventing and not a standard in other forms of competition.

“The first time I witnessed it, I thought I could really enjoy this kind of show because everybody is taking such good care of their horses; the rules require you treat your horse really well. I also like the way everyone behaves at these shows, it makes it a lot of fun. Everyone is congratulatory when you win and helpful when you need help.”

Mark Ward clears a cross country jump on his 8-year-old Irish Sport Horse Juniper. In addition to eventing he also teaches riding lessons from his Windy Ridge Ranch in Woodbury, Minn. Photo courtesy of Pat Schmidt.

Ward took first place honors in the Training Division on his Irish Sport horse, Juniper, as did Windy Ridge teammate Molly Prytz in the Beginner Novice class with her horse, Ruby.

Second place honors went to Windy Ridge’s Louisa Ward on Raja and Stella Ryan on Kestrel in the Beginner Novice and Starter divisions. Samantha LeTourneau and her horse, Cody, captured a third place in the Training division.

Windy Ridge Ranch, east of St. Paul, offers group riding lessons, a leasing program and other fun riding activities for students. It is home to 45 well-mannered schooling horses.

“I’ve been riding horses for 60 years, I’m 65,” Marks says. “I’ve been eventing for the past seven years and have been teaching riding lessons for 38 years. I’m really glad I get to compete with the younger riders; it keeps me young. This is actually a hobby for me and my wife. We don’t improve, show and sell horses; we just keep them. We try to get to as many shows as we can get to in the Midwest. Louisa, at age 13, will be riding in Novice at the next show — she no doubt will excel beyond my abilities.

“This course is beautiful, challenging and a lot of fun. It was the perfect level for me and my horse. We both like cross country jumping. I can tell, she gets pretty charged up, and I can ride her with a very light rein. I do a lot of training and take many riding lessons from five other instructors and attend schooling shows to train for this. I have to work really hard to stay in condition for this. This course was a good test for us.

It’s a family affair for Mark Ward, his wife Katie, and granddaughter Louisa. The three of them competed at the July Roebke’s Run Horse Trials, where Mark placed first in his division. Mark, now 65, has been eventing for seven years, while Louisa and her horse Raja are just beginning their eventing careers. Photo courtesy of Pat Schmidt.

“When I’m here, I really enjoy talking to the Schweisses. Everyone is so nice to me, it adds a lot to the attraction here. I think the whole family is outstanding and with all the work they put into this impressive facility.”

Mark Ward was named the Minnesota Horseperson of the Year, joining many others since the program was started a quarter-century ago as a way to honor some of the outstanding people in the horse industry — those who stand out from the rest for their contributions to equine and youth activity.

All year, people in the horse industry can nominate people who they think deserve this honor. The selected person is honored at the Minnesota Horse Council Annual Meeting in January. A plaque honoring this person is placed in the “Horseman’s Hall of Fame” on the wall at the entrance to the Coliseum on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.

Jay traded in his John Deere four-wheeler for this new Kubota that he used to deliver ice and water to riders during the July Roebke’s Run H.T. Photo courtesy of Pat Schmidt.

Behind every horse trial is a significant contingent of volunteers and behind-the-scenes people who do an extraordinary amount of work to ensure that everything goes off as planned and in the time frames allotted.

Roebke’s Run Horse Trials in Hector, Minnesota, is fortunate to have Jay Buboltz. The 29-year-old has given his all ever since the very first shows started at Roebke’s Run over a decade ago. If you ask him to do something, he’s right on it, whether it be delivering water and ice to riders from his four-wheeler or doing less enjoyable jobs such as making sure stalls are clean and ready for riders when they arrive.

“The days go by much faster when I’m busy,” Jay says. “I like seeing the wonderful horses and visiting with riders and asking them if there is anything they need; I also help riders pack up and bring things to their trailers with my four-wheeler.”

Jay Buboltz stopped to deliver bottled water to Emily Pieper, who was competing in the Beginner Novice Rider-B division with her horse Clovercroft Enterprize. Photo courtesy of Pat Schmidt.

Buboltz has been good friends with Mike and Julie Schweiss ever since his high school days.

“They put on a really good show here, and I like all parts of it from dressage to cross country and stadium jumping — and Julie does a super job cooking,” he says.

When he’s not volunteering at the horse trials, Buboltz likes to fish, ride his new Kubota four-wheeler or play Xbox games. His dad, Randy, also keeps him busy on the farm and at the lake.

“Mike, Julie and Brook are really nice people and help me out whenever they can. I look forward to attending every horse show,” Jay says.

Hannah Stohr and Sid Startin’ To Drive. Photo courtesy of Pat Schmidt.

For Hannah Stohr and her 9-year-old barrel-bred off-track Quarter Horse, Sid Startin’ To Drive, their long eight-hour trip from Lenexa, Kansas, to Roebke’s Run H.T. in Minnesota earlier this month paid off. The pair captured first place in the Training-Open A Division on their first visit to the event.

“This was exciting. I haven’t been to a lot of out-of- town shows with this horse,” Hannah says. “I’m a sophomore at the University of Kansas, so I haven’t had a super amount of time to show. I really wanted to have a good training run on a big course, so Roebke’s fit perfectly on my schedule to come up here, and it ended up being a big course.”

The chemical engineering student was a little worried at first because it was the biggest challenge her horse had ever faced, but she was really proud of him because he answered all the questions, leading the division from start to finish.

“Depending upon how Sid continues to go, we might move up to Prelim in the fall,” she says. “Not for any FEI questions, but we might, fingers crossed, until we get more comfortable with the bigger stuff. I hope to compete at five trials this year.

“Back when I was 14 or 15 I thought I would hit all the four-stars and do all of it. Now, honestly, it would be fun to have a horse to compete like this one. I wouldn’t mind getting to Preliminary and doing a couple of Intermediates and maybe a two-star. I don’t really have the guts or decision making to go far beyond that. It’s more for fun at this point than to go pro.”

Stohr has 12 years of eventing experience. She first became acquainted with Roebke’s Run while competing at Young Riders in 2014 where she met Autumn Schweiss, daughter of Mike and Julie Schweiss, owners of Roebke’s Run. Autumn was competing in the two-star and Hannah in the one-star; they also spent time together at a week-long camp.

“Sid has been to one show this year at Longview Horse Park in Grandview, Missouri, and ended up doing a dressage show,” Hannah says. “Because of college I honestly don’t school him that much the week before. He’s a really easy guy, super consistent, so there’s not a really big need to drill him, he knows his job; he’s really a nice guy.”

Sid was put on the market because his previous owner was having a child. He had done a little bit of Novice and Beginner Novice so he kind of knew the ropes, but initially Hannah put extra work into him.

“This was the longest trip Sid had ever gone on, either ever or in quite a few years,” Hannah says. “Yesterday he came out a little bit stiff, but Friday on the flat he did really, really well and in cross country he did well. It’s hard to ride in an awkward position in a trailer for eight hours. I’m very lucky with him, he’s very good at shows, he’s not one to get nervous or weird. In the end it’s all right.”

Stohr got into eventing after first competing in hunter-jumper and participating in Pony Club at the Mill Creek Pony Club in Raytown, Missouri.

“I really wanted to get into eventing,” she says. “The pony club had a good event trainer that I got along with. When she left I was lucky enough to get hooked up with Julie Wolfert. Julie is a fantastic trainer and fantastic person; she’s so good with the horses making sure everything is correct. Pony Club really helped me, but I owe most of my career to Julie. She found my Young Riders horse and this horse for me. She’s my coach and trainer, I work with her full-time.”

She says during her time at Roebke’s Run she kept a close eye on the CCI/CIC one- and two-star riders as a way to further her learning.

“It was a big exciting check in the box,” she says. “All of the other courses I’ve been to with this horse have been kind of local. To come up here and do something on a course I’d never seen before was a lot bigger challenge than I’d ever done. The course was big and had a lot of questions. It was super exciting to have Sid step up to the plate and do it and be as good as he was. I’m glad I came up here.”

Daniel Sarango and Katarina Van De Heffinck. Photo by Pat Schmidt.

Ecuador, a republic in northwestern South America, is miles away from Roebke’s Run in Hector, Minnesota, but Daniel Sarango competed at Roebke’s Run this past weekend to qualify for the 2017 Bolivarian Games in Santa Marta, Columbia, and looking ahead to the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

With the results of finishing second in the CCI* with Katarina Van De Heffinck, Daniel received his qualifier to compete at the Boliavarian Games for his native Ecuador, all the while keeping his eye on his major goal to represent his country on the Olympic stage.

“My goal when I moved to the United States was to compete in the Olympics,” Daniel said. “I hope to have Katarina at the 2-Star or Advanced level by 2018 and in 2019 I hope to qualify for the Pan Ams. I competed here this weekend at one-star, but I have ridden two-star.”

Daniel made the 18-hour drive from his base in Dalton, Georgia to compete Katarina, a 7-year-old Belgium Warmblood mare owned by Centaur Equestrian, in her first CCI*.

“I have been working for Michael and Nathalie Pollard for the past four years at Pollard Eventing and Chatsworth Stud,” Daniel said. “The Pollard Eventing program focuses on fitness of both horses and riders. Chatswoth Stud is a breeding program that focuses on producing horses with some of the best blood in the sport.”

Daniel, 32, started riding at the age of 5 and has been competing since he was 14-years-old. He initially competed in show jumping and began eventing in 2010. He is a former member of the Remount Unit of the National Police of Ecuador and competed as a member of the National Equestrian Team of the Police of Ecuador at national and international levels.

“Carlos Nuñez got me started in eventing and coached me in 2010 and 2011,” Daniel said. “I always liked dressage. It gives you a very good connection and feeling with your horse. It’s very important; if you are not feeling your horse you have nothing. Dressage is the best choice when you start riding. When you go to school you start basic learning, like ABC’s and numbers. Dressage is the same.”

While he has competed all along the East Coast, Daniel said he has a special fondness for Roebke’s Run. “In 2015 I competed in the two-star with my friend and former Olympian, Ronald Zabala,” Daniel said. “This is a good course; if you need to go faster it is not easy. I like the facility and am grateful to the people working very hard. The people from Minnesota are always friendly. I hope to come back here again next year and more times in the future.”

Lily Geelan and her horse Luksor had a double clear run on the Roebke’s Run stadium jumping course Sunday. Photo by Pat Schmidt.

The smile on Lily Geelan’s face told it all as she and her trusted mount, Luksor, were presented the blue ribbon for capturing first place in the Open Preliminary division at Roebke’s Run Horse Trials on July 11-12 in Hector, Minnesota. It was the first blue ribbon of her riding career.

Lily Geelan is the 15-year-old daughter of John and Mary Beth Geelan of Independence, Minnesota, a city well known for an abundance of eventers that make annual trips to participate at the Roebke’s Run Horse Trials.

“I was really happy with my rides. This was only my second Open Prelim since I moved up at Fox River Valley,” Lily said. “My dressage was good. I’m still working on getting Luksor into the connection that’s needed more because I only got him at the end of April. Cross country rode real well. We came in with a real nice time. I think I only had 10 seconds left until the optimum.

Lily’s horse is a Polish Warmblood, born in Poland, transported to Germany where he did jumpers and then brought to the United States where he started eventing. Sue Martin owned him, and he was trained by Robin Walker. Both Lily and Luksor like cross country best, but Geelan said he is strong in all phases of eventing.

It was a blue ribbon first for Lily Geelan after successfully outscoring her competition in the Open Preliminary division. Photo by Pat Schmidt.

“I really do like dressage, but I’m still working on that connection with my new horse and really working him into that contact and getting him heavy; he’s really light. Everything I’ve been doing with him is working well. All of our rails in stadium jumping have been because of rider error.

Geelan competed at Roebke’s Run’s June horse trials and was here last year as well. Prior to this, she competed at Fox River Valley and Otter Creek coming out with second, third and seventh place finishes. She likes this Minnesota course for a number of reasons other than its beauty and well-run operation.

“I love the course,” Lily said. “It’s a nice facility that helps riders get used to the bigger jumps and harder questions preparing them for Young Riders. It’s really good what the Schweisses do here.”

Her first riding experience came at age 6. From there, she moved up to jumpers and hunters and then some dressage shows under the tutorship of Liz Lund as her personal trainer. Her plan is to do a one-star this fall and move up to Young Riders next year.

[Roebke’s Run Final Scores]

Cynthia Wiseman and her horse, Vote Yes, of Springfield, MO, were the first place finishers in the CIC** Division at the Roebke’s Run horse trials held July 12-13.

Roebke’s Run CIC*/CIC** & HT in Hector, Minnesota lived up to its reputation for putting on another successful horse trial July 12-13 with nearly 150 riders and many more horses competing for top honors in their respective divisions. Most of the eventers came from the five state area, but others came from as far away as Canada and Kansas.

Weather conditions for the cross-country competition on Sunday was ideal and the course was in spectacular condition with an array of challenging jumps. Riders were also impressed with the Stadium Jump layout and Dressage courses.

Top riders and horses in following divisions were as follows:

CIC One Star:

1. Laura Markham, Storm Warning

2. Ann Bower, Prospero

3. Michaela Holcomb, Cloud Nine

CIC Two Star:

1. Cynthia Wiseman, Vote Yes

Open Intermediate:

1. Jordynn Sahagian, Nestor

2. Jamie Price, Overdraft

3. Melissa Schielein, Born To Boogie II

Open Preliminary:

1. Sam Kelly, Someday Never Comes

2. Todd Wulf, Sullivan

3. Hannah Ross-Jungling, Bella Luna

Preliminary Rider:

1. Zoey Gudger, Jiminy Cricket

2. Emma James, Marley

3. Alexandra Glenn, Kale’s Surprise

Open Training:

1. Jessica Brack, Flight School

2. Carrie Meehan, Cavalier

3. Diane Palm, Achilles

Jill Gill and Denise Dailey-Thomas placed second and fourth respectively in the Training Horse Division. Not pictured were first place winner Leah Lang-Gluscic third place entrant Kendel Torrel and in fourth place, Denise Dailey-Thomas.

Training Horse:

1. Leah Lang-Gluscic, Of Course Carter

2. Jill Gill, Simply Zena

3. Kendel Torrel, La Batt Blue

Anna Hasselquist took top honors in the Training Rider Division. Pictured with her were Greta Schwickert, left, in second place and fifth place winner Kailey Giancola. Not pictured and capturing third place were Carly Kuenstling, and in fourth place Hayley Clark.

Training Rider:

1. Anna Hasselquist, Sharp Dressed Man

2. Greta Schwickert, Purple Rain

3. Carly Kuenstling, CoCo Chanel

Novice Horse:

1. Karla Dean, Got Kissed

2. Julie Wolfert, Buenas Suerte

3. Marcia Miller, Serenghetti

Novice Rider:

1. Alexandra Baldwin, Cedar’s Sonata

2. Claire Henneman, Emma’s Wish

3. Annika Weisjahn, Matilda Speroff

Open Novice:

1. Julie Wolfert, Getaway

2. Stephanie Caston, The Flying Iris

3. Melissa Schielein, Larks Tune RSF

Beginner Novice Horse:

1. Jill Gill, Superstar Investment

2. Lisa Borgia, Laurelin

3. Ann Bower, Prospero

Beginner Novice Rider-A:

1. Hannah Gurske, Buenos Dias

2. Lexi Anderson, Wild Genius

3. Emily Revier, Aylar

Beginner Novice Rider-B:

1. Ruth Rose, Beautiful Bess

2. Cindy Koppelman, Beethoven

3. Rachel Mottet, Titan

Open Beginner Novice:

1. Annika Markovich, Rare Attraction

2. Clare VanderWoude, Skipper

3. Maura Daugherty, Lux on Ur Side

Starter:

1. Maitland Luksan, Midnight Starbuck

2. Tara Doubek, Good As Gold

3. Megan Stockburger, A Kiss with a Fist

Samantha Bell and her thoroughbred off-the-track horse, Tango, are in their second season of Eventing and making an effort to learn the ins and outs of the sport.

Samantha Bell, 24, of Davenport, Iowa credits her OTTB,Tango, with being very brave with a brilliant mind who is used to natural fences. That’s a pretty good resume for competing in cross-country. Tango is also quite fast, and recorded the lowest time in cross-country at Roebke’s Run.

Bell and Tango competed in the Open Novice Division for the first time this weekend at Roebke’s Run. “He’s consistent in Dressage and good through Cross-Country. He is still very vain in learning what all comes with Stadium. He doesn’t have as much respect for small poles as he does with a solid fence, he knows that the solid ones don’t move, so we’re still learning respect for the little fences,” noted Bell.

Bell only recently started Eventing, she is in her second season, having participated in four last year. She expecting to go to six this year. She’s qualified for American Eventing Championships in Texas but isn’t sure she will go, mainly because she’s currently Eventing to gain more experience. She will be going to Richland, Michigan Horse Park and a few other big venues to get additional experience.

Tango and Bell clear one of the early cross-country jumps at Roebke’s Run. She made a return visit here after competing for the first time last October. They placed sixth in the Open Novice division.

“I got into Eventing through my trainer, Susan Daufelt, who actually got me started in fox hunting. When I started riding with her I didn’t know much about riding hills because I’m from near Chicago. She got me out doing cross-country and eventually into the Eventing world,” explained Bell.

She says her strength currently lies in Dressage, but says Cross-Country is more fun. She walked the course prior to competition. “I like it, it’s a very beautiful course with good questions, technical with a variety of different terrain from working through the trees to open fields, ditches and a lot of different type jumps that you really have to think about and work together with your horse to get through,” said Bell.

Bell had nothing but praise for Roebke’s Run. “It is one of the most friendly disciplines I have ever ridden in and a beautiful area that is taken very good care of. The Schweiss family is extremely kind,” she said. This was Bell’s second time at Roebke’s Run, having competed in the Beginner Novice division last fall. Her goals are to work her way up the levels to give her horse confidence to learn the ins and out of the sport.

She knows she has a lot to learn and is relying on helpful advice from Jamie Price and Hannah Ross-Jungling who have taught her a lot already. They were also at Roebke’s run competing in the Open Intermediate and Open Preliminary levels. Price placed second in her division and Ross-Jungling was third in Open Prelims.

Lesa Cafferty and Bay Drummer. Photo by Pat Schmidt.

Lesa Cafferty and her 8-year-old off-the-track Thoroughbred, Bay Drummer, have been Roebke’s Run regular attendees since Magister Equitum Stables and Mike and Julie Schweiss made it a reality. What’s unique about that is she comes here from Manitoba, just outside of Anola, a half hour east of Winnipeg, Canada. That’s an 8-hour, one-way trek for her.

“Bay Drummer raced until the fall of his 4-year-old year — he only ran two seasons. He just didn’t have the speed; he did win one race, but didn’t win enough for the trainer, so they put him up for sale because he wasn’t making them enough money,” Cafferty said. That was perfect for Cafferty and Bay Drummer, who, like her other horses, is more than likely living a better life with his new loving owner as a result.

This was the third straight summer for her at Roebke’s Run since she started competing in eventing in 1992. She was at Roebke’s Run this year competing in the Training Horse division. When she feels Bay Drummer is up to it, she will move him up to the Premlinary level. She does rider training for other people as well and tells people she has four jobs — working full-time, training horses full-time, competing full-time and coaching full-time. Her husband says, “It’s an injected disease that she has.”

“I made it to every horse trial here, including the fall events, except for the very first one. I come here because I really like the course and because it is close for me. The problem with Manitoba is we don’t have anything there except for a small course. If you actually want to progress in the sport, you have to get out. There’s five different U.S. competitions within a 10-hour drive for me; whereas if I stayed in Canada, the closest is Alberta, which is 18 to 20 hours away,” explained Cafferty.

Cafferty said the long drives really don’t affect her horses’ performance much. She said the horses get used to it because it’s pretty much all they do now. She does her best to keep Bay Runner fit, well fed with grain and energy feeds. If she goes to two events on back-to-back weekends, she tries to stay with a friend in the States to eliminate time on the road.

Because she has attended so many Roebke’s Run Horse Trials, Cafferty has seen the course steadily progress to where it is today.
“The course was amazing the first time I came in the fall of 2011. Each time I come, it just grows,” Cafferty said. “It gets bigger, it gets better; the fences and questions get tougher. It’s not a course to drop your guard on, that’s something I emphasize to my students when I bring them here. What’s great is that it makes us better riders, makes us ride harder; we have to think smarter. In order to progress in the sport, that is what we need to excel.

“I absolutely love the facilities. The stadium ring is fabulous, they do an amazing job of keeping the footing good on the cross-country course — if it’s hot and dry they aerate it. They put the effort in to make it the perfect setup for horses. To me it’s very top class, right up there with a lot of the other first class facilities that I go to.”

When asked if she would be competing at the American Eventing Championships in Texas, Lesa said hasn’t looked into that and thinks that because she’s a Canadian rider, she’s not sure if she qualifies for the U.S. championships — all her memberships are Canadian. She said if it’s possible for her to compete in the Canadian National Championships she would aim for it, but it’s so much easier for her to come across the border into the U.S. She can’t just do it that easily because she also has a full-time job.

Cafferty said she owned her first horse at age 18 and really got excited about eventing after watching a movie. “I watched a movie when I was a kid called International Velvet with Tatum O’Neal — not to be confused with National Velvet. I didn’t honestly know the sport existed until I watched the movie. I said ‘You know, I’ve got to try that!’”

She’s tried it now for over 22 years, and she likes it all. She’s not afraid to mention that she is now 40 years old. But age isn’t stopping her by any means; if nothing else, she’s putting it into high gear. “My ultimate goal with this sport is to represent Canada on the Olympic team,” said Cafferty. “You have to do this if you want to progress. There’s a lot of traveling, but I’m not going to get anywhere if I stay home.”