St. Croix Trail Blazers

10/07/2025

Scheels is giving away $5k to 5 different non-profits as part of their communitiy give back campaign. Can you take a minute to hop on over to the link below and nominate your favorite non-profit (hint: St. Croix Trail Blazers!)?

We're celebrating 5 years in Eden Prairie and we want to giveback to the community that makes it all possible! Eden Prairie SCHEELS will be giving $5,000 to 5 different non-profit organizations in our community. Please nominate your favorite, local 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations by Sunday, July....

14/05/2025

Thank you Lift Bridge and everyone who stopped in!

24/04/2025

Kellie and I spent some time with journalist, Erik Suchy, from Press Publications (The Lowdown) back in March. He wrote a wonderful article about SCTB! Thanks, Erik!

Located on 29 acres in Jasmine Meadow, Stillwater, there is an opportunity for those to overcome challenges and establish friendships through the passion of horseback riding.

12/03/2025

Baby update: we’re an independent little (8 month old) dude! Momma is off living with cows and horses with a friend while Philippe gets used to being on his “own” (he’s supervised by uncles Rowdy and Mister). It’s easy to forget what a blank slate babies are, everything is NEW to them, good or bad. Kellie says she is enjoying the privilege and challenge of turning him into a well rounded young man. It will be a few years before he can start under saddle training, but he’s currently working on walking nicely on a lead rope, picking up his feet, not using those baby teeth to chomp humans, and to respect people’s space and verbal commands. The updated pic was worth a little celebration because he hung out in a stall by himself while everyone else was in lessons AND he walked down the aisle (with all kinds of shadow monsters and things and noises) with zero hesitation and without using anyone as a ladder. We can’t wait to see what color he turns out to be this spring when he loses all his winter floof!

(Pic of Boo for good measure)

21/11/2024

“I've been at St. Croix Trail Blazers for four and a half years now. When I first started, I was hideously burned out when it came to the horse industry. Luckily, I found a small group of some of the most dedicated, hard working, and passionate horse people I've ever met. Our mission and goals have remained consistent and aligned with the collective ethos of our organization. I think Baby Phillipe represents this the best. We (I) found him separated from his mother at less than 6 hours old. He'd missed the window to get his colostrum, and ended up with a horrific infection as a result. We weren't planning on having a baby, but since he'd arrived in the world with us, with us he would stay. It would have been cheaper and easier to have just said "Enough. We don't need a baby, especially a sick one". But that's not how we do things. Little Gibblet the Nibblet got his surgeries (yes, plural) and drained our accounts while his curly little butt was schlepped back and forth between the barn and the equine hospital. But at least we know he'll load in a trailer, and he was halter broke by the time he was 6 weeks old, and he's very good for oral medications! Our small community rallied around this little guy to ensure that we wouldn't have to choose between saving his little life, and feeding the rest of our herd.
I know there are many equine-based non profits out there, and many have set lofty goals for themselves for today. Our goal has always been fairly modest for Give to the Max. We've got 15 horses to feed and care for. But these 15 horses provide an incomparable experience to our riders. Our riders love these horses more than anyone. I can't tell you the number of times one answered "Ellyn! How's the baby? And Belle?" while my volunteers and I get them up onto Mister, or Cooper, or Bear, or Zip, or Willow, or Dodge, or Rowdy, or Nova, or Watson, or Epic, or Rogue, or Rio before lessons. Any donation helps us ensure that Mister, Cooper, Bear, Zip, Willow, Dodge, Rowdy, Nova, Watson, Epic, Rogue, and Rio, along with Belle and Phillipe, and Peach and Clancy, can continue to do their work of supporting and teaching our riders day in, and day out.”

-Ellyn Thompson, Instructor

21/11/2024

There are only a few hours left for Give to the Max day!

Give to the Max started in 2009 and is now Minnesota’s largest day of donating to non-profits like SCTB. Your contributions to charities like ours help non-profits continue on their mission to make Minnesota a better place to be.

Contributions to SCTB on this day go directly towards our mission, new development, and to providing top notch care for our equine partners.

Special People Needing Special Horses Nestled in the trees on 29 acres in beautiful Stillwater, Minnesota, is Jasmine Meadows, home to the St. Croix Trail Blazers. The Trail Blazers are a unique group of riders who share not only a love of horses, but also a commitment...