Badger Ridge Farm staff

Alison & Bryan Koenig, & Krystle Kuhse:

 

Alison

Badger Ridge Farm has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember.  I wanted to own a farm where people feel like they are at home when they walk through the door. 

 

Throughout my life I have been blessed to have great teachers…both human and horse.  Now my goal is to bring all I have learned to others.  I love teaching and I strive to make my students independent thinkers…to be able to take what I give them in a lesson and solve day to day problems with their horses.

 

I love to watch riders achieve goals with their horses…to see horse and rider grow from individual units into a true partnership. 

 

I was raised by a single mom who did everything in her power to make sure I was always able to ride.  I worked hard too, always helping out with chores to pay for lessons or board. 

 

As I grew up, my passion for horses never wavered.  We moved around a lot because my mom worked for the air force.  Through all the moves I always found a new barn and my horse friends always made me feel like I found a home.  My last “home” was outside of Fayetteville, NC.  My mom finally quit her military job and started managing a boarding facility, NSE Stables when I was about 16.  I was at the barn every day and started helping people with their horses.  I started teaching lessons and breaking out young horses.  As I started to think about college, I had built quite a little business for myself and knew that I wanted to keep horses as part of my future.

 

I looked at several equestrian schools and ended up getting a riding scholarship to attend St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, NC.  I spent some of my best years at St. Andrews riding and earning a degree in business with a concentration in marketing.  I wasn’t able to compete a lot due to my limited financial resources, but I was able to compete on the IHSA team and even made it to IHSA Nationals my freshman year and placed third.  Again what I found at St. Andrews was a home. 

 

From college I have had several assistant training jobs as well as sales jobs using my hard earned business degree.  The first was with Steve Lackey of Greensboro, NC.  Steve is an AQHA judge and Professional Horseman.  For Steve I broke out his young stock and finished them to the show arena.  I liked what I was doing but I wanted to get back to focusing on the over fence horses so I went to work for Jim McKillips and Rita Crundwell in Beloit, WI.  I know you were all wondering how I ended up here. I worked for Jim and Rita for a very short time (6 months), but was given a lot of opportunities.  I started several horses over fences for them and was able to go with them to the Florida circuits to show.  It was a great experience but it was a lot of glitz and glamour for this humble rooted horsewoman.  So I decided to take a break from horses for the first time in 25 years.  I got a sales job working for Farmvet.com and didn’t throw a leg over a horse for almost 3 years.  During this time I met my wonderful husband, Bryan, and settled in Madison.

 

Then in the winter of 2006/2007 I started thinking about horses again.  I started by thinking I would buy a horse, so I went on a search.  My search brought me to old friends and new ones and made me realize how much I missed horses and what it brought to my life.  Through this 3 year hiatus from horses I never felt settled and complete.  So with the loving support of my husband I quit my job and started training and giving lessons full time in March of 2007.

 

We bought Badger Ridge at the end of April of 2008.  My goal for Badger Ridge is for people to find their home away from home.  I want my farm to be a fun, family oriented farm where people can be themselves and learn in a positive atmosphere.  I have had many successes with horses throughout my life and I want to help others achieve their goals with horses through a supportive environment.

 

Bryan

The maintenance man.  Bryan, my husband, is in charge of all the routine maintenance around the farm.  You will see him around the farm on the weekends helping we a multitude of tasks.  Although he has never been around horses, he is very supportive in my endeavors.  Bryan works on the east side of Madison as a Logistics Consultant for CH Robinson Worldwide.  

 

Krystle

Krystle is the assistant manager at Badger Ridge Farm.  She is responsible for all the daily care at the barn.  Krystle grew up showing competitively at open shows and 4H.  She has numerous State 4H titles as well as numerous open show championships.  Krystle is a meticulous care taker and very knowledgeable horsewoman.  Krystle purchased a weanling, Gotta Zip Ty, in 2008 from Ellis Family Farm and Feedlot to eventually show in the Novice Amateur and Amateur events on the AQHA circuit.  She is looking forward to starting her training in 2010 and making her Western Pleasure and Showmanship debut in 2011. She is an important part of the success of Badger Ridge Farm.