Urban cowpokes
Horses, Whitehaven kids become fast friends
Whitehaven High junior Shayla Logan got a little nervous as she put a bridle on Bella, a gentle white and gray horse at the Southern Blues Equestrian Center on a 12-acre farm in Collierville.
“Aie-e-e,” Logan said as she stepped away from the horse.
“You’re fine. She is just stretching her mouth,” explained trainer Kendra Hobson.
But after mounting Bella and being escorted around a covered arena, Logan turned into a natural in the saddle. “I love riding horses. It’s hard to explain. It’s a dream come true,” she said.
Between now and December, 80 students ages 6 to 18 from the Whitehaven Community Center are attending four weeks of training through the newly founded Urban Equestrian Program. Those who show an inter- est can remain students at the center at no charge.
“Horse riding has always been a very suburban, elitist sport, and we want that to change,” said McKrell Baier, who started her horse farm in 2003. Now 35, Baier began riding when she was 7 and living in Midtown with her parents, both architects.
The new program is being offered at the Whitehaven Community Center now, but will move to other Memphis community centers later.
Memphis City Parks and Neighborhoods Division Director Janet Hooks said she is “thrilled that we would be able to bring the world of horses to our youth. Before they are able to mount a horse, kids must learn stable management and grounds maintenance, as well as sessions with equine professionals.
aking the rider and horse move as one is a goal of the training. The riders are taught classical riding that has its origins from a Greek book, “The Art of Horsemanship,” which was written in 436 B.C.
Baier and her husband, Christian Baier, 37, hope to generate more interest in the sports of horse jumping and dressage.
“If you don’t have spectators, you don’t have sponsors, and no one can afford to put on a show with the top riders. Our sport is not in a good state. The general public is not interested. It is much more accessible in Europe,” she said.
Christian Baier is originally from Sweden, where horse competitions are the second biggest sporting event behind soccer, he said.
Therman Richardson, 18, has been riding a Clydesdale named Eli in the training sessions, and said he surprised his parents by telling them he would like to ride horses professionally. “They said, ‘So you want to be a cowboy?’” Richardson said he’s interested in dressage, in which a rider guides a horse through a series of maneuvers using slight signals with hands, legs and weight shifts.
“If our sport moves forward,” McKrell Baier said, “People need to know what it is about. Everyone can appreciate the beauty of a horse and rider if they are exposed to it.”
On Aug. 17, the center is hosting a benefit dinner to celebrate the new partnership with the city of Memphis in The Skyway at The Peabody. Tickets are $65 for adults and $50 for children under 15. Email mckrell@southernbluesequestrian.com for reservations.