Christian and McKrell Baier joined forces at the Southern Blues Equestrian Center in
Collierville, Tennessee after Christian moved to the United States from Europe in 2009, focusing
their efforts on building and establishing a public riding school based in the Swedish system of
equestrian education. In 2013, their vision expanded as they decided to deepen and widen their
client base, by providing an outreach program to the urban Memphis community, Whitehaven.
The Urban Equestrian Program became an expansion of their existing business, where the team
provided summer program opportunities to youth (ages 6-16) enrolled in Whitehaven
Community Center’s municipally funded summer camps. They also sponsored the most avid
summer camp riders, who might not otherwise be able to, to continue training year round with
them.
While Christian and McKrell were passionate about the effort, it was placed on hold in 2018, as
it wasn’t sustainable on its own.
In comes the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in New York with
the mission to transform the world by supporting the development of dreams, however big they
may be. The Foundation focuses on Empowering the Future, Women, and Innovation, and
Christian and McKrell connected with them in February 2021, as their visions aligned. The
Southern Blues Equestrian Center became a partner with the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation in
October of 2021, and the BridgeUP GiddyUP programming started with kids learning onsite in
the stable by November 2021 and in the saddle by January 2022.
Photo by Adarryll Jackson, Sr.
“This would be impossible without the foundation,” McKrell recognized.
“BridgeUP GiddyUP aims to provide a personal development, holistic program with horses that
tie it all together,” McKrell explained. “The program is set to develop people into great adults, all while training for sport – there’s balance in all of it.”
Participants receive riding lessons daily, up to five days per week. But the riding and training is balanced with the other part of life that isn’t sport driven – participants are taught the science of horses, stable management, and economics. The program helps develop participants’ resumes, and highlight secondary education choices for young people living in Whitehaven.
Photo by Adarryll Jackson, Sr.
“BridgeUP GiddyUP is open to students in 6th grade through 12th grade,” McKrell outlined.
“Students sign up through Havenview Middle STEAM Optional school. We spend the first 4-6
weeks learning about the history, management, and science of the horse. The program is
intense, providing healthy meals, self-study academic work and weekly physical fitness as well
as riding. We maintain 30 participants with a five day per week program, year-round. The
participants typically self-select as it gets increasingly intense,” McKrell said.
Throughout our conversation, McKrell expressed her appreciation for the work the program allows her to do.
“We are so privileged to be able to do this work, with participants in the urban Memphis
community, and with partners in the community. This work has provided me with the most
development I’ve had in my adult life, with all of the different people with which you interact.”
Photo by Adarryll Jackson, Sr.
In addition to helping the participants in the program, McKrell also sees the kids helping the
sport evolve. “This can change the way the sport is seen,” McKrell stated. “Programs like ours
can disrupt the equestrian ecosystem – not only with a diversity in skin color, but in economics, and through training to a high level on riding school horses… none of those factors affect how well any young person can ride.”
Photo by Adarryll Jackson, Sr.
“Yes, we’re providing access to the sport world, but we’re utilizing our visibility to force the
horse world to change. BridgeUP GiddyUP can become a mainstream standard of education with
the use of our Global Equestrian Curriculum, and be an outline for other equestrian educational
programs to utilize to their own benefit. None of this would be possible without the incredible
support of the HGB Foundation— their massive funding effort is the bedrock which provides
thirty youth from the Whitehaven Community in Memphis year-round, five day per week access
to this $1 million per year program in partnership with our business, Southern Blues Equestrian
Center, and a wonderful mix of community partners— locally, nationally, and internationally—
who help us fill gaps in programming and operations which are outside of our own fields of
expertise or means to achieve,” McKrell stressed.
GiddyUP’s programming has already developed riders to be on the track of continued equestrian
success as amateurs or professionals, from recreational riders to the top of the sport. To ensure success of the program, the Foundation and the Southern Blues Equestrian Center track various key performance indicators. These include providing competition experience, which they have at three local competitions so far, at training level dressage and 0.8m show jumping, tracking success not only by competition results, but through how students are progressing through the internationally recognized Global Equestrian Curriculum Rider Levels in regularly occurring LevelUP testing events. They also track the numbers of new recruits interested to join the program and survey the GiddyUP riders to learn how the program affects their lives outside of the stable. Individual wellness initiatives are tracked by the number of healthy meals served yearly and the number and outcome of physical fitness sessions provided every week. One of their most important missions at GiddyUP is fostering a love of lifelong learning which they track through the utilization of their GiddyUP Library onsite and regular check-ins with the academic tutoring organization, SaddleUP Scholars, who meet virtually with each high school rider once per week.
Photo by Adarryll Jackson, Sr.
Participants have already shown great success in their self reported survey results. 92% of riders report the program is helping them better understand their school work. 83% of riders report GiddyUP has led to improved grades in school. 69% of riders are currently planning on an
equine related career path. Even riders not planning for an equestrian career highlighted that they have benefitted in workforce and personal skills assessment for their career paths of choice.
Looking towards the future, McKrell has some big plans and hopes for what comes next. “In
2025, the program plans to begin producing 3 Global Equestrian licensing events per calendar
year which invite the general equestrian public to participate side by side with GiddyUP riders in achieving internationally recognized standards of riders’ licensure for all levels— from seat
proficiency on the longe line all the way through third level dressage & 1.30m show jumping.
Simultaneously, we’re looking to increase our own riders’ opportunity to measure their skills
against a larger portion of their equestrian peers while also providing our local & national
equestrian ecosystem with the understanding & experience of being assessed for their level of practical skill & theoretical knowledge which are required for excellence as an ethical equestrian at all levels of expertise— from the novice level riding school student, straight through to national level sport qualifications,” McKrell explained.
As the program moves forward with these goals, they’re looking “to raise awareness for the
immediate necessity of ethical equestrian education across the entirety of the global equestrian
ecosystem as well as attract the support of fellow equestrians & the partnership of industry
leaders & strategic partners to help our programming propel the GiddyUP riders to the top of
horse sport. The GiddyUP riders are poised & ready to positively impact the future of horse
sport while carving out space for themselves and others who may follow in their footsteps.”
Photo by Adarryll Jackson, Sr.
McKrell emphasized the importance of the GiddyUP riders to “not only be celebrated for their
dedication and involvement in a sport with so many barriers to entry, but also to be recognized
as industry leaders who have been elevated to the top of sport by their education, ethics, and
dedication to helping pave the way for ethically driven, equitable opportunities for a larger
percentage of the human population to advance through horse sport & help preserve this
opportunity for more of humanity to enjoy.”
Photo by Adarryll Jackson, Sr.
Please check out GiddyUP’s website for more information and follow their Instagram for updates on the program.
