Horse Country

Dating back to 1924, Missouri has laid claim to about a dozen Olympic medal winners. However, one local Olympic athlete’s name does not appear on any medal count list. Although he competed, he didn’t ascend the podium with his teammate or hear the playing of our National Anthem. Untroubled by the lack of attention and retired from his Olympic competition at the Athens 2004 games, this bronze medal winner for the equestrian team competition spends his time grazing the rolling green pastures of New Spring Farm, just south of Columbia.

Today, the black Trakehner stallion, known as Windfall, stands as sire for the breeding operation of Tim and Cheryl Holekamp, one of the estimated 20 horse breeders in Boone County.

Horse country

In the past few years, mid-Missouri has become known as a horse-friendly corridor along Interstate 70 and Highway 63, with the most recent addition being the Warm Springs Clydesdale breeding facility in nearby Cooper County.

The University of Missouri has a growing equine science program and a renowned College of Veterinary Medicine. Stephens College and nearby William Woods both offer equestrian degree programs. Also, Columbia is home to one of the first equestrian programs for youth and adults with special needs, the Cedar Creek Therapeutic Riding Center. And a drive down any rural roadway in Boone County is dotted with acreages designed for small hobby-type horse operations.

Currently, Boone County’s breeding operations produce paint quarter horses, race horses, reining horses, American Saddlebreds, Hackney ponies, even mules. However, the Holekamps are the only local breeders of Trakehners in the area.

The Trakehner horse is the oldest warmblood breed in the world, whose original purpose was for use in the European cavalry. Today, the Trakehner is used primarily in the Olympic disciplines of dressage, eventing and show jumping.

Cheryl Holekamp grew up riding and competing and for the past 30 years has been training and breeding horses. Her husband, Tim Holekamp, also a local ophthalmologist, focuses on researching blood lines and assembling competitive national teams.

Although the Holekamps don’t rely solely on their breeding operation for their income, it is a nearly full-time job.

“I think there are two types of people: those that have the horse gene and those that don’t,” Cheryl Holekamp says. “I was born with the gene. It’s 24/7; it consumes our life.”

At the height of their breeding business, Cheryl Holekamp says the 120-acre New Spring Farm produced 10 colts a year. Currently, in addition to Windfall, they have two other sires and six young broodmares. Windfall’s stud fee is $3,000, and in addition to the traditional breeding, his semen is shipped to other breeders across the country.

Cheryl Holekamp says nearly all the horses she has sold are currently competing at the national level across the country, and very few have been sold locally. One of their offspring is currently sitting first in the nation in eventing, an equestrian event in which a horse and rider compete in dressage, cross-country and show jumping over a one- to three-day period. A stallion they own a share of is also sitting first in the country in his sport.

 

Coming home

Just a few miles south of New Spring Farm is High Spirits Farm, a training and breeding facility for American Saddlebreds and Hackney ponies. American Saddlebreds originated in Kentucky and were originally used by Civil War officers. They are a gaited horse, bred primarily for the show ring. Owner Anna Marie Knipp relocated to Boone County from St. Louis a few years ago and purchased Walnut Hill Farm, a two-farm, 500-acre property formerly owned by the Hardwick family of rural Ashland.

Originally from Jefferson City, Knipp’s return to central Missouri culminated a lifelong dream.

“I’ve always had a passion for the Hardwick property,” she says. “I took riding lessons there. Mrs. Hardwick was my mentor. I’ve always loved the place, and she was interested in selling at the time I needed to relocate.”

Knipp refurbished the 1950s-era facility; she built new fences, stables and landscaping.

“The show barn has 40 stalls, and the south farm has 16 to 18 stalls, in addition to outdoor paddocks for mares and colts,” Knipp says. “We probably feed 75 to 80 mouths a day.”

Knipp oversees the business and its 10 employees and is not directly involved in the breeding. Her trainer manages the breeding, which is conducted using embryo transfer and the services of the nearby Equine Medical Services.

“It’s on the upswing,” Knipp says. “This year we had two or three colts; next year we’re expecting eight to 10.”

Nationally prominent top-quality show horses with desirable blood lines can sell in the six-figure range, according to Knipp. “In your wildest expectations, an exceptional baby that shows well might bring $50,000,” she says.

Young colts who don’t make the show ring cut are typically sold as pleasure or trail horses and typically bring less than $1,000, according to Knipp.

 

History in the profession

Knipp is one of a handful of training/breeding facility owners in Boone County who does not work a second job. However, Sydney Middendorf enjoys the distinction of being one of the largest breeders with the longest history in the profession. With her husband, Garland Middendorf, Sydney has been raising American Saddlebreds for more than 40 years, though she admits her passion is subsidized by outside income.

The Middendorfs own two farms, a small 12-acre property on Route J in eastern Boone County and a 625-acre property on Highway 124 west of Harrisburg. Like Knipp and the Holekamps, the Middendorfs raise primarily show-quality horses.

Middendorf says local trainers refer buyers, and though she sells some horses locally, like the other breeders featured here, she primarily sells show horses to clients across the country.

“I have a fellow from Florida who comes twice a year to buy horses,” Middendorf says. “We’ll know soon if two of our horses are going to China.”

According to Middendorf, there has been a recent increase in the number of horses being sold to Chinese buyers. “A lady I know from Kentucky just exported 30 Saddlebreds to China,” she says. “They are buying all mares and planning on breeding them.”

The Chinese buyers, according to Middendorf, are not buying show horses but broodmares and are typically paying $3,000 to $7,500 for each.

“Top-quality show horses can fetch between $350,000 to $750,000, but the average price is around $25,000 to $30,000,” Middendorf says.

Middendorf Farms currently stands three stallions: a chestnut, a pinto and a gray. She says they also have two yearlings they have left intact as potential sires. She also stands one Hackney pony sire at her Route J farm and is partners on other Hackney pony sires located elsewhere. Her chestnut sire, named I’m A Lucky Charm, is a champion show horse and has sired several other champions.

“We were in South Africa in April at their World Champion Show and saw a half-sister to our sire,” Middendorf says. “We were not the only Americans there. Thirty years ago, the South Africans were buying horses from us, and now we’re buying horses from them.”

Middendorf estimates she currently has 115 horses in Boone County, some at her farms and some in training at area trainers, including Brenda Benner Stables and Glendale Farms.

Although there is no county-specific data, according to the Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service, equine assets, which include land, fences and outbuildings, totaled $8.5 billion in Missouri last year. Improvements and capital expenditures account for another $230 million.

Feeding, bedding and herd health costs for horses run more than $200 million annually. Horse owners who board, train and shoe their horses or hire other outside help spend more than $30 million each year in labor expenses. Locally, hay producers, trailer sales, feed stores and tack stores are all beneficiaries of the local equine population. It is estimated Missouri is home to more than 200,000 horses.