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Bring back the Saddle Club

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Like all good things forgotten, they eventually make a comeback: bell bottom jeans, ’80s music and the Marshfield Saddle Club. 

A group of energized equestrian lovers are looking to breathe some new life into the Marshfield Saddle Club located 1/8 mile off of Highway A on Commerce Road. Once a popular place to ride, the arena now sits mostly empty and in need of many repairs. In the past, the club organized play days for local riders, but now hosts swap meets and farmers markets. 

TJ and Andrea Jones, of Marshfield, have three children who have taken an interest in riding horses. 

“We want to get them more experience and get the horse more experience,” shared Andrea. “We were going to play days, but the closest ones are Elkland, Fair Grove and Seymour, which are about 30 plus minutes away.”

A longer than needed drive mixed with skyrocketing fuel prices made the answer simple for the Joneses: find somewhere close to home. 

The Joneses, with the help of Dymisha Cappel, reached out to a few members on the board of the Saddle Club. With only a handful of members well into their 60’s and 70’s, maintaining the property has proven to be a challenge. 

Cappel nudged the community on Facebook’s “Now you know… Marshfield” asking for help to revive an old relic and potentially offer a place to ride locally. 

“All the memories and the stories there and you think it's going to be lost like a lot of things are in Marshfield,” explained TJ.  “I feel like if there was an opportunity here, more people would be interested. Even if they don't have a horse of their own, they can still enjoy the shows.”

Since the Facebook post, local riders and horse enthusiasts have responded positively with plans to attend the club’s monthly meeting on June 16 at the Saddle Club building. The group hopes to urge the Board that younger generations are here, in need of a place to enjoy the sport. The group also has plans to schedule a work day to repair and paint the facilities.

If you’d like to volunteer or learn more about the Marshfield Saddle Club, visit its Facebook page or call 417-859-4546.

 

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