DeKam Construction

Audrey Flakus and her horse, Great Xxpectations, were the most recent national champions to come from Performance Plus Arabians. Audrey won the championship in Arabian Sidesaddle English JOTR at the Midsummer Arabian Youth Nationals in Oklahoma City. Audrey is pictured with her family and friends after her big win. Deb McGuire (third from right) is holding the trophy. Sisters Leah and Lucy Anderson take riding lessons at Performance Plus.

of those horses and the riders to national Arabian horse competitions in the early 1980s. “My parents said I couldn’t make this a business, but I proved them wrong. I kept pushing through. My parents supported me when I needed it and God has been good,” she said.

“We originally started out with a 4-H group and that morphed into people wanting to show more and more, and go to Arabian shows all over the country.”

LESSONS PROGRAM GROWS

The riding lessons program at Performance Plus has been growing. “We start everyone with an intro lesson that’s usually an hour-anda-half. They learn how to brush and groom the horse and why we do that; how to pick their feet; how to move around the horse; how to put a halter on and how to tack them; and then they learn the basics of riding.” Those that choose to go beyond the introductory lesson go into group lessons or private lessons. Out of the lesson program Deb finds horses to purchase for her students who want to take that next step. “We have had numerous national champions, including another one last year. “

They have several in-house shows each year for their academy students. There are five instructors in the program. “You need people with a lot of drive and energy to do this,” she said. Having an indoor heated facility makes it easy to operate year round.

DRAIN TILE DESIGN, PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND INSTALLATION RURAL WATER & DIRT WORK TREE REMOVAL

FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED SINCE 1973