REGION 5
By: Sara Barnwell — Region 5 Director
Happy Spring, Region 5! Plans for the 2025 season are well underway! One thing all of us frequently hear from members (or future members) is, “I wish there was more in my area.” Luckily, we have people who are working hard to bring Working Equitation to their area! I would like to share this inspiring story from Shellie Hensley, Cy-Hawk Working Equitation Iowa. This article was originally published in their AO newsletter and Shellie has graciously allowed us to share it in this newsletter.
How It All Started
It all started when Robin and I decided to audit a Working Equitation clinic on the coldest day of the year in early 2023. I remember being frozen and half starved, so we stopped for lunch before heading back to Middle River Ranch. In between bites of chicken bbq pizza, we discussed what we had just witnessed. Robin had recently purchased a book called “The Working Equitation Training Manual ~ 101 Exercises for Schooling & Competing” by Ali Kermeen and we flipped through the pages. Our brains were a buzz with excitement as we vowed to throw our hats into the ring and give this new equestrian sport a try…just as soon as Iowa thawed out!
When it was warm once again, we invited Amy VanWyc and her horse, Odin, over and we played in the outdoor arena of Middle River Ranch, using old jump standards, a teeter-totter bridge, some barrels and a few poles to give us a feel for the Working Equitation obstacles. Up to this point, we have poured over the pages of the book Robin had, watched YouTube videos and dreamed big dreams. That’s when we got the bright idea to invite our friends over and they invited friends and next thing you know, we are meeting as a group of riders exploring the world of Working Equitation.
In 2024, a Board of Directors was created. Rick set to work on building obstacles to the standards of the USA Working Equitation. We formed a club, became the first affiliate member of USA Working Equitation and began to interview clinicians while planning clinics, practices, lessons and events. My husband Randy and I designed and created the club mascot, “Cy”, a giant black bull obstacle to be used on course and the next thing you know, Cy-Hawk Working Equitation was born. Riding the wave of our excitement, we quickly set to work building what our year would look like.
Most of us had some form of background in or at least had been exposed to dressage, but we needed to find clinicians to teach us all the fine details of competing in Working Equitation. Dressage, clinics, lessons and shows were already a regular part of our training and equestrian journey. We were already hosting practice twice per month as a club, but we were excited to move to the next part of our journey. We needed to find the right fit – the missing piece to our puzzle and that’s when Robin found Peet Equestrian with Erica and Howard Peet of Illinois.
Peet Equestrian came to Middle River Ranch for three clinics in 2024. The first two clinics focused on the Ease of Handling and all of the rules of the USA Working Equitation. We rode the hair off our horses. We learned a lot. We laughed even more! The third clinic was in the format of a schooling show the first day and private lessons with both Erica and Howard the following day to solidify what participants had experienced and learned from their schooling show experience.
By October of 2024, we hosted what has become our annual Halloween themed schooling show complete with costume class! It was a blast! Everyone was so creative with their freestyle ride and costumes. If you missed it, we will be doing it again in October, so get it on your calendar now.
We finished the year much like we had started it…with practices and dressage clinic opportunities. The weather turned colder and the Board of Directors began to look to 2025 with new adventures and training opportunities. And all of this started on the coldest day of the year in 2023 when Robin and I nearly froze to death while auditing a Working Equitation clinic.
