Parsons Insurance

Chance and Kristen McNeil in front of CK Kennels. and riding instructor, Kat Naber; kennel manager Angel Mendez; and Kristen’s brother, Zac Hyronemus, who does facility maintenance and is a jack of all trades.

Many of their part-time workers are in-house hires – girls as young as 14 who have horses in the barn have become employees. “They want to work off their board and they want to get the experience in the barn. They know our system very well,” he said. Some of the young women also end up working in the kennel.

Two of their best workers are their own children, Wyatt, 11, and Emerson, 7. Both do a good job with the puppies and the dogs. Wyatt enjoys the canines, but he’d rather be on his dirt bike than with the horses.

“Kristen and Emerson are absolutely horse fanatics,” Chance said. “The horses are their thing. Emerson got Kristen back in the saddle. I very much believe Emerson will be running the barn by the time she’s 14 years old.”

Kristen added, “I had stayed away from horses for years, but when we had Emerson and when she got to be two or three, she had a horse ride and she’s been hooked ever since. So then I got back into the horses.”

She continued, “My gosh, Emerson will go all day and all night. A lot of nights we won’t see her until 9:00. She

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Parsons' Insurance Agency PO Box 177 113 N. Main Street Viborg, SD 57070 605.326.5358 Amy Christensen Licensed Agent

The McNeil family also operates CK Bulldogs, a breeder of French (left) and English (right) bulldogs. Photos by Kristen McNeil.

comes in, eats, and lays down to sleep. She does the chores, lets them out and brings them in.” One day in October, Emerson helped the veterinarian from 8:00 in the morning until about 8:30 at night. Chance said, “She thought she was pretty cool getting out of school to help with veterinary services. She helps hold horses while the vet checks teeth and does vaccinations and so forth.”

GOOD HORSEMANSHIP

Chance said youth who have animals at CK Stables need to know and practice good horsemanship from day one. “There’s a whole checklist of things they need to know before they ever get in a saddle. The kids have to know how to care for their animal, to protect the safety of the animal, to check hooves, and they have to know how to tack. Even though we’re a full-care boarding facility, they need to understand it’s an animal they’re getting into. It’s not a dirt bike or four-wheeler you can just put in the shed when you don’t feel like dealing with it.”

Caring for animals is a 24-hoursa-day, 365-days-of-the-year business. And holidays are the busiest times for boarding dogs. “We never get away over Thanksgiving or Christmas. We just get slammed with boarding business,” Chance said.

The businesses have grown almost entirely by word-of-mouth. Their marketing is focused on two open houses that double as community appreciation events. According to Chance, “Every year, we have our big barn party on the Saturday after the 4th of July. We have a band, cater in food, give horse rides, and have a professional fireworks display. We see about 750 people. Then we have a Halloween party where we decorate all the horses and their stalls. Last year, we had a little over 1,200 people.” Both events are free and open to the public. Follow CK Stables on Facebook for event information. Chance and Kristen recently started buying land in the Black Hills where they plan to build vacation rental properties. This enterprise gives him a chance to do some of the “dirt work” he loves, but no longer has time for in Harrisburg.

On top of the stables, kennel, puppy nursery, snow plowing and now the Black Hills project, Chance is also president of the South Dakota Pet Breeders Association. The organization does continuing education for breeders. He’s involved with the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council which lobbies in Washington, D.C., for causes such as additional funding to provide service animals for veterans suffering from PTSD.

“I don’t do well with downtime,” Chance said. “I always have to have a project, I always need to have something going. I always feel like I’m behind the eight-ball, but when I look back, there are a heck of a lot of things we’ve accomplished in 10-12 years.”