Meadow Brook Farm

07/29/2024

Just a few shots from around the farm lately! It’s been quieter with a break from showing, so Helmut has been taking it easy, lounging by the pool, not doing much of anything 😅😜🤣😆

Show season fires up again this week with 2 horses headed to Equifest II; the Boss 😎 will be at Dressage at Lamplight August 22-25 as well.

AND, we have our ISR/Oldenburg inspection on August 11! The question on everyone’s mind: will Wayne Carlson grace us with his presence again this year?!

Looking forward to a busy, fun August at MBF!

07/01/2024

Another weekend in dressage land!

The Boss 😎 had 3 client horses at Lamplight this past weekend and all 3 were really good ponies. Highlights:

⭐️ Vanessa Carlson’s lovely homebred Rhoccoca WF (Coco) started her show season at 3-1 and 3-2, posting some solid scores and winning 2 classes!

⭐️ Kate Wallace’s Opportune K (Oliver) continued blazing his path of glory—he was Training Level champion with a high score of 77.6%! He also tested well in Materiale classes (78% in both). This baby powerhouse is really figuring things out!

⭐️ Jaclyn Plock’s Sullivan (a MBF homebred!) competed in his very first show and was a super good boy, taking everything in stride and finishing the weekend with a 71.03% at Training 2–pretty darn good for his first crack at showing!

Horse moms, horses and the trainer all went home happy Saturday night. Extra props to Helmut for powering through 12 tests in two days, especially Saturday in that gross humidity 🤮 Lucky for us, The Boss is impervious to weather and fatigue so he just blasts through the long horse show days while we straggle behind him.

Word on the street is the D saddle and white gloves were actually his sneaky camouflage; no one recognized him without the Stubben and the yellow gloves 😂😎😶‍🌫️

Congrats to all! Looking forward to the next one!

06/26/2024

STOPPPPPPPPPP ITTTTTTT!!!!!! How are we supposed to handle this cuteness?!??!?!
😍🥰🐴🥰😍

06/24/2024

Look who showed up this morning!
🤩😍🤩😍🤩😍🤩😍🤩😍🤩

This big, gorgeous filly is by Wradar and out of C’est Si Bon MBF. She picked a beautiful Sunday to make her grand entrance into the world!

We will spam this page with baby pics all summer-how could we not-she’s SO CUTE!

06/21/2024

MBF is now also a cat sanctuary 🐈‍⬛🙀🐈😂

Can you pick out the new guy??

📸: The Boss 😎

06/06/2024

On May 8th our family barn was hit directly by a tornado. We have LOS… Hallie Powell needs your support for Tornado Relief For Spirit Horse Stables and Horses

06/05/2024

🚨🏆🥇🚨🏆🥇🚨PEOPLES! 🚨🏆🥇🚨🏆🥇🚨

We at MBF have been informed that Helmut and Kate Wallace’s Opportune K received the Grand Champion Award for their 78.462% at T-1 on Sunday.

The Grand Champion Award is given to the horse/rider combo who receive the highest percentage ride for the entire show, across all divisions.

That’s a pretty kick-ass honor! Congrats to the Boss 😎, Kate and Oliver for one hell of a horse show!

(We just hope the Boss’ head doesn’t get too big from all this winning-we’d hate for him to outgrow that brand new helmet-we are pretty sure he plans to use it till 2035.)

06/04/2024

Windy City Dressage I and II (or as the Boss 😎 calls them, the “D” shows) are done and dusted-or should we say done and washed away by Saturday’s monsoon? 🌧️☔️🌧️☔️🌧️ 🫠

**Note: if anyone was worried, the Boss’ jump saddle survived the deluge—as Kate said, “the Stubben handled the downpour like a champ”—so it lives to ride another day!**

The weather may have been a roller coaster, but the MBF horses and riders were rock-steady through the whole weekend.

🏆Duewer Rich Teri and her Devante LDS were Second Level reserve champs on both Saturday and Sunday in just their second show together 🥰

🏆Olivia Pilch's Lord Europe Dancier had another solid outing, earning a 70.1% with Helmut in the USEF Four Year Olds ❤️

🏆Kate Wallace's Opportune K got the baby horse gold star ⭐️ for the weekend—in just his second show, he scored an 84.3% and 82.1% in his Materiale classes, and a 78.462% and 74.038% at T1! AND, that 78 included a 🔥10🔥on the final halt!!!!! Oliver was the Training Level reserve champ on Saturday, and capped the whole weekend off with the Training Level champion ribbon on Sunday. Did we mention that he’s 4 and it was 60 degrees and pouring rain on Saturday?! 🤯

Once again, we are so proud of our horses and riders for putting in the hard work at home-it pays off at the shows, and we love seeing the results!

We also want to take a minute and recognize the Boss 😎 for all of the hard work HE puts in, both at home and at the shows. He is unfailingly patient with the young horses and their owners, totally unflappable in the face of wind, rain, scorching heat, long-ass days and whatever else we run into at the shows, manages our horse show nerves without judgment (we hope😬), and does it all with a smile.

Helmut doesn’t seek out recognition or take much credit for how talented and skilled he is, so all of us MBFers just wanted to say a huge thank you-and also congratulations on such a successful show! Maybe he should buy a new helmet more often!!!

A few pictures below-our social media manager is a deadbeat so we don’t have many this week-and please check out our reel for some Oliver highlights!

PS: if anyone shows this post to him….🔪

📸 and 🎥 credit: Kate Wallace

05/20/2024

Okay. *deep breath* We verified with the Boss 😎 that the new helmet purchase was made out of necessity and not some delayed mid-life crisis, so we can move on now and talk about the actual horse show(s)!

🐴Mary Pettey and Chase jumped some really solid 1.0m rounds in the sometimes-terrifying GP ring, another step forward for Mary and her giant homebred baby! EDIT: Mary and Chase were RESERVE CHAMPION in the 1.0m Jumpers!!!! 💪🏆🎖

🐴 Olivia Pilch's young horse did quite well in the 4-Year-Old classes, scoring a 72 on Saturday!

🐴 Kate Wallace's gorgeous Oliver was a star 🌟 at his very first show, getting 8s for his gaits in the Materiale class before getting eliminated for sporting some extra gear in the show ring 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

🐴 Duewer Rich Teri and Davey completed their first recognized show together; both Teri and Helmut have worked really hard with their golden boy and it sure as heck showed this weekend with a 67 for Second Test 2!

The first show or two of the season can be nerve-wracking even for veteran horses and riders; with young horses and the notoriously tricky Midwest weather, it can be a real roller coaster.

BUT-it’s often a good indicator of how much time and effort was logged over the winter, and this show was no exception. We are ESPECIALLY proud of our AA ladies; they work full time, they run farms, they have families, they haul their own horses, while still putting in all the hours and lessons and practice needed to set themselves and their horses up for success. It’s not always easy and we give them major props for gettin’ it done!

And as always, thanks to the Boss 😎 for his patience, expertise, encouragement, and frighteningly endless energy 😝

Next up: Windy City Dressage and HITS Lamplight Spring Spec in June!

05/19/2024

Is….is that a….new helmet?!!!!!

We were so surprised to see this, we thought y’all should be notified right away-this is a big deal! We believe the previous helmet was, like, circa 2007, and we weren’t sure if he’d replace it before he retired.

Now, if the Stubben saddles ever have to be taken out of service, the entire farm will shut down for a week of mourning, so let’s hope those bad boys never die.

Show updates to come later today, after we’ve recovered from this shock. 🤯

05/18/2024

The MBF summer show season is officially underway, and we’re starting with a double header at Lamplight! Mary Pettey & Chase are representing the jumpers; on the dressage side, we have Duewer Rich Teri & Davey (Mikey?!), Olivia Pilch and her two boys, and Kate Wallace’s Oliver making his horse show debut. 5 horses, 3 riders, 2 shows….and in the middle of it all is the Boss 😎 doing what he does best: staying calm and completely unbothered in the middle of chaos 🤣 We’ll update with results over the weekend—good luck everyone!

05/13/2024

Speaking of Mother’s Day….congrats to our good friend Jen Moskal Biebel of Invictus Farm & Sport Horses of Florida (MBF’s winter base) on her new baby boy! Abby delivered a healthy, perfect little c**t and he is just too stinking cute 🥰 Happy Mother’s Day to Jen and Abby!

05/12/2024

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms of 2 and 4 legged kids! Enjoy your day!

04/16/2024

The Boss 😎 is offering a new program at Meadow Brook Farm: de-spooking sessions! These are offered at no charge because they are totally unscheduled and you may end up participating whether you want to or not 😜

No need to sign up-just show up to the farm and see what happens. Not pictured: the chainsaw running at the other end of the ring 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

04/15/2024

Boom 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥! Way to go Emma Kane-Mikan! Emma and her adorable pistol of a pony have been working with Helmut since last year and they have made HUGE progress. Hell of a way to start the show season!

Schrant Wealth Management

Emma and Er Ist Mein Liebling cruise to the win in the Puddle Jumper Classic at week IV of the Showplace ‘B’ Winter Indoor series

📸 Andrew Ryback Photography, LLC

04/09/2024

Kate Wallace

04/07/2024

We don’t always ride outside after a week of garbage weather, but when we do, we are grateful for arenas with excellent footing and for horses who don’t kill us for the first outdoor ride of the year!

Also, Helmut is home from Florida and available for lessons in dressage, jumping, math, farming, breeding, and any other topic you can come up with. Cavalletti are out and ready to be used as instruments of torture. Happy Spring! Bring on the 2024 season!

03/14/2024

🚨🚨🚨NEWS ALERT🚨🚨🚨

It’s been pretty quiet lately at MBF (we are 100% lazy when the Boss is gone) so we are extra excited to share something pretty cool with y’all!

Margret and Athena competed at the Global Dressage Festival this morning (3rd in the FEI Intermediate II AA) and as they left the ring after their test, they were happily surprised to learn that Athena won the Omega Alpha - Equine Healthy Horse Award! Why did they win? Because Athena looked so healthy and happy in her job! 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

So neat to be recognized for this, especially with a teenaged mare competing at this level. Congratulations Margret and Princess Athena! Shout out to the Boss for doing Boss stuff and a huge thank you to Patricia Becker for all of your coaching, help and support! ❤️

Schrant Wealth Management Christina Schrant

02/19/2024

At MBF, we provide luxurious accommodations for the cats so they can sunbathe in total comfort 🐈☀️


📸: Patricia Wheaton