Wood fences zig-zagging across acres of pastures and tractors moving big, round hay bales toward small barns are part of a rustic landscape just a few miles north of Mankato’s downtown. Quarter horses, Arabians and Peruvians are stabled at several properties near a stretch of Third Avenue. Rising early to care for horses has been a routine Kt Harrington has enjoyed since she was a young girl.
“Being there when the sun rises and seeing the mares with their little foals; it’s like Christmas morning every day,” she said. The stable Harrington operated at Pegasus Circle is under new ownership, but she continues to train horses and riders on its grounds. Samuel Allen, formerly of Rochester, purchased the 26-acre farm in April and began offering riding lessons in May.
The stable’s new name, Top Line Performance Horses, refers to a set of muscles along a horse’s spine, the top line. Equine training at the stable is provided in two styles that appear worlds apart. Allen teaches Western-style riding, a method that’s a big part of U.
S. rodeo competitions. For several years, Allen has helped 4-Hers prepare for barrel-racing contests at county fairs.
Harrington offers her expertise in dressage, a discipline that traces back to European military horsemanship. She and her horses have won awards in national and international dressage competitions. “We look different.
I’m gonna be wearing a cowboy hat; dressage people wear a different style of pants, and the tack is differe.