Saturday, July 16, 2022 | Country Acres South • Page 1
Country Saturday, July 16, 2022
PRSRT STD ECR U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #278 Madelia, MN
Acres
522 Sinclair Lewis Ave Sauk Centre MN 56378
SOUTH
Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
Volume 1, Edition 4
Ebling, Jones own dressage horse training, boarding farm BY KATE RECHTZIGEL | STAFF WRITER
BYRON - At the heart of Bella Vista Farm lies two women who love their horses and the sport of dressage: Jennifer Ebling and Beth Jones. “Each horse teaches me something every day,” Ebling said. “I can’t help but stay super humble because as soon as I have one thing figured out, the horse reminds me they have a different way they can do it.” Ebling had returned to her hometown of Rochester in late 2003 and started a dressage training and teaching business. Those early years often consisted of traveling to many barns each day to teach dressage to people on any type of horse and in any saddle. She quickly built a strong and dedicated client base as there was no barn dedicated to training dressage at the time. “I wanted everyone
to know that dressage was for every rider and every horse,” Ebling said. Jones, however, was just getting back into horse riding and dressage in her 30s after one of her coworkers approached her and asked if she would exercise her horse. “I started riding at the age of 12 years old and competed in games,” said Jones of her riding experience. “I had given up horses when I went to college because they were expensive. But when I started exercising my coworker’s horse, I decided I just had to get back into it.” Jones knew she could not compete in rodeos anymore and met a trainer in Madison, Wisconsin, who taught dressage. “I really liked it because it fit my process of developing things and creating a relation-
PHOTOS BY KATE RECHTZIGEL
(above) Jennifer Ebling gives pointers to assistant barn manager and dressage competitor, Sam Perrotti (left), and her daughter, Taylor Hewitt on July 1. Ebling is the head trainer of the farm. (right) Taylor Hewitt holds her horse Jack on July 1. Hewitt, 13, just started competing in dressage.
ship with the horse and that was it; I wanted to do dressage,” Jones said. Jones moved to Rochester in 2004 and shortly after met Ebling. They partnered in 2011 to create Bella Vista Farm. “I very quickly realized there was
horse, and it should look like the horse is doing all kinds of movements with the rider barely moving.” At Bella Vista Farm, they train riders for both competition and pleasure riding. “I train riders from age 7 all the way up to their 70s,” Ebling said. “It’s a lifelong journey and a very unique aspect of the sport because we can enjoy it for many years.” Jones agreed. “It’s also one of the few sports that allow men and women to compete equally,” she said. Jones and Ebling have both competed in shows and take some of their boarders to compete in shows in the Midwest put on by the United States Dressage Federation, The owners of Bella Vista farm stand in their 23-horse stall among others. a need for another barn strictly focused on dressage,” Jones said. Ebling agreed. “My goal was to bring dressage to southeast Minnesota and try to grow that in an area where it was way more common to see a horse in western saddle or doing hunt seat,” she said. The pair worked together and co-leased a barn for four years and ran it together while searching for their own farm. In 2011, they found and bought their destination, a 43-acre farm outside of Bryon in Olmsted County. “We leased it out for a few years until we got the barn design done,” Jones said. In 2014, they took
down the old buildings and poured the footings, and in 2015, after the ground thawed, they built a hay barn, a stall barn complete with 23 stalls, an indoor training arena and an outdoor training arena. The arenas have various letters along the ground which Ebling said help the riders perform movements around the arena. Come 2015, the farm opened its doors and has been in business ever since. Dressage is a form of horse riding used in exhibition and competition but is also an art form. It originated in the 17th century. “It is one of our few Olympic sports in horse riding,” Ebling said. “Many people talk about dressage as a rider dancing with their
barn Dan (from left) and Jennifer Ebling, Beth Jones and Chris Christiansen. Beth Jones and Jennifer Ebling bought the farm in 2011.
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