FEATURE
I
N THE ER A OF big-box horse shows and weeks-long
winter circuits, one industrious Wisconsin trainer and show operator has carved out a niche that keeps people coming back weekend after weekend. While Courtney Hayden-Fromm manages a 48-stall barn with a client roster of successful junior and amateur riders, she’s perhaps become best known for her grassroots horse show series, held from May through August at Seoul Creek, her family’s West Bend, Wisconsin, farm. The two- or three-day horse shows—the result of a bathtub brainstorm nine years ago, Hayden-Fromm says—began out of sheer necessity in the region.
Courtney HaydenFromm with her husband Doug, son Carter, and dogs Gunner and Hank
”No one else had the facility to do that,” she tells The Plaid Horse. So she created one. Hayden-Fromm estimates that she and her husband, Doug, have put in more than $750,000 worth of upgrades to their facility to host their shows. Now, the show series attracts trainers and riders looking for shows that are strong on affordability and family-friendliness with an emphasis on horsemanship. Hayden-Fromm’s shows offer a wide range of classes for all levels of horses and riders, culminating in the 9th Annual Wisconsin Equine Derby Weekend, held this year from August 13-15.
AN UNLIKELY BARN OWNER Born in Seoul, South Korea, HaydenFromm was adopted and grew up in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and got her start riding because of a babysitter who dragged her to the barn. She grew up riding on the state’s local circuit and didn’t plan on owning a barn herself—but in 2009, when she found her current farm listed as a foreclosure, the rest was history. “I’m the anomaly to a lot of trainers because when I was young, I never thought I wanted to do what Hunt [Tosh] and all those guys do. That’s not it for me,” she says. Even though Hayden-Fromm does travel to horse shows and spends all winter in Ocala, her perspective on life and horse showing changed again in 2011 when she discovered she was pregnant with her son. “But I didn’t want to raise a child on the road,” she says, adding that it’s been empowering, “to find my own balance.” For Hayden-Fromm, that’s her horse show series: “It’s what makes me tick.” The horse shows, which have a “minimal profit margin,” she says, are supported by a laundry list of “exceptionally loyal and committed” sponsors. The generous sponsor support allows her to create memorable events for exhibitors—a recent show hosted a Mother’s Day brunch—and host classes that you won’t find anywhere else, like Lexi’s Class (see sidebar).
OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND All of Hayden-Fromm’s horse shows have one thing in common: Opportunities. With the WHJA and USHJA Outreach governing bodies giving the shows
54 THE PLAID HORSE May/June 2021