Everyone has heard the old adage that a dog is a man’s best friend, but given the special relationships that horses and humans have long had, perhaps dogs should share that title (and the adage amended to include women, too). Two local stable owners, Cary Bartz and Jennefer Lear, work closely together to help St. Croix Valley residents experience the best that horses have to offer. The benefits of riding, they say, simply can’t be beat.
Dual Stables
Since 1984, Bartz has owned and operated Valiant Stables. Horse training was the family business, and she swore she wouldn’t enter it. She was seeking a path separate from that of her parents, but eventually she realized that she simply couldn’t ignore the call. When she moved back to her home state of Minnesota from Missouri, she opened up her own stable, hosting lessons for beginners, helping people show at competitions and offering a wide range of other horse-related offerings.
Bartz says that her work is “all about enhancing people’s experience with the horse.” The benefits of pets like cats and dogs are well-known, but Bartz says that there is something extra-special about connecting with our taller four-legged friends. “Really, something as big and as magnificent as a horse can be so calming and build confidence in people just by being around them,” she says. Interacting with horses is a profound, positive experience for countless people, and Bartz has dedicated her life to making such experiences possible for others.
Bartz says she is an advocate for horses, and loves being able to both tend to the animals and help others experience their gifts of calmness and connection. “It kind of became, ‘If not me, who?’ And that’s probably the greatest part of why I decided to get into the horse business professionally—to help [people] nurture their love and passion for their horse.”
She also works closely with Lear, owner of Lear Stables, connected to Valiant. She and Lear have known each other for years. Lear’s mother, Alice, gave Bartz riding lessons when Bartz was a girl, and Lear took over the business from her parents about five years ago. The two collaborate frequently, hosting events and lessons for riders of every experience level.
Lear says that she loves teaching best of all, especially working with beginners. “I love when people get it,” she says. “Lightbulb moments kind of make my day.”
Singular Specialty
Both stables specialize in saddle-seat riding, a type of English riding that shows the versatility of the American Saddlebred breed. Bartz says that this particular breed carries its head high, “so you sit very straight [and] upright in the saddle. You don’t lean forward.” It takes a great deal of practice, but both Bartz and Lear are expert saddle-seat instructors—and the benefits to this type of riding are numerous.
Gail Smida can attest: Although an active horseback rider in her youth, she went years without riding due to the busyness of everyday life. But thanks to both Valiant and Lear stables, she’s back at it, also learning to ride saddle seat.
Smida says that saddle seat is a riding style requiring “attention to your posture, balance and core stability, as there is no horn or large cantle, as in Western-style, and no knee roll, as in hunt-style,” she says. “Cary and Jennefer are constantly coaching you from the ground to encourage better hand position, posture, leg position, how to cue the horse to proceed, and practice, practice, practice.”
Smida attributes sounder sleep, better stress management and “I simply have more fun” all to the type of riding she does at Valiant and Lear stables. A physical therapist by occupation, Smida says she’s constantly recommending saddle seat to her clients. “I always tell people that this is the best core workout and therapy you can buy for the price,” she says.
And thanks to their heated barns, year-round lessons, camps, shows and birthday parties (for both kids and adults) are available. But don’t be surprised if you quickly become an enthusiast. As Bartz says, “It just gets in people’s blood, and there’s such a passion for this and wanting to share it.”
