Meg's Riding Academy

06/12/2026

Today marked the end of our first session of Summer Camp!! What a fun week it was!! More pictures to come - once I decompress a little bit…🙃

06/12/2026

So beautiful!!

06/09/2026

Horse Camp Vibes…🤣

06/07/2026

If any of our campers (or other students) over the next two weeks need any boots or riding gear, please have them double check our selection of riding apparel and boots!!

06/05/2026

Everyone get ready - we have two straight weeks of camp ahead!!! If your child is coming to camp, but is NOT planning to come to their afternoon lesson please make sure to reach out and let me know so I can get them marked off. All afternoon lessons will proceed as normal, but it will be two BIG weeks for the horses. So please make sure to provide the proper notice based on our cancellation policy so we can rearrange the afternoons if needed. Thank you!!

06/01/2026

What a fun day we had at the Sunrise Farms Hunter-Jumper show today. The weather was perfect and the riders and their horses were even better!! Our trip to today’s show was planned a bit last minute, but we wanted to get several of our young horses who are new to showing out and about.

🏆Cadence and Legend earned a blue ribbon in their Lead line class. I’m not sure I will be able to convince her to stay in a Lead Line Class much longer!
🥇Skylin and Pecos were Grand Champions in the Ground Pole Hunters in their very first show together and Pecos’ first show EVER! They also competed very successfully in the Cross Pole Division.
🥈Sophia and Arwen were Reserve Grand Champions in the Ground Pole Division. This was also Arwen’s first show and the first time off property since she was brought into our program. She also competed in the Crosspole division where she got better and better, with only minimal red mare spiciness related to the in gate.
🥈Maddie and Leo were Reserve Grand Champions in the Cross Pole Division and were consistently in the ribbons in the Short/Long Stirrup Division. This was Leo’s first show (do you see the trend?) and I am so excited for him to carry future students around the ring!!
🏆Florence and Milo made their first Hunter show appearance in the Novice division. Milo was tactfully ridden around his courses and he will definitely be the one to watch in the future!
🏆Claire and Lance competed in the Novice division and they were so much fun to watch go around the course! Lance’s kind spirit and go get ‘em attitude makes him so very special.
🥇Emma and Legend came out in the Novice division ready to roll and brought home Grand Champion. Then they set their sights on the bigger Limited Hunter class and I couldn’t be more proud of them! Each round was rhythmic and consistent.
🏆Maddie and Bugatti first made their appearance in the Limited Hunter division and then went up against all the big horses in the Low Working Hunter Division, with each round you saw them improve and they ended with the most perfect round!

As always I can’t pull these show days off alone. Thank you to everyone who came and helped. There is so much that goes into a show day and the help is both needed and sincerely appreciated. Ending the day burnt and tired seems like a good ending to the weekend!

05/30/2026

I wanted to share with all of my former Stanton Stables students that Bonnie Stanton passed away early Wednesday morning. I am forever grateful for her mentorship and love that she gave me over the years. Without her in my life I would not be the person I am today.

View Bonnie K. Stanton's obituary, contribute to their memorial, see their funeral service details, and more.

05/18/2026

Marla Update - Good news she is pregnant!!! Bad news…with twins. For those that don’t know carrying twins in horses is extremely dangerous. Marla has earned herself another stay at the Arthur Vet Clinic. Tomorrow they will pinch off one of the embryos to give the other its best chance at survival. We are grateful that she will remain in their care while we prepare to head briefly out of state.

For everyone really keeping up on the Marla updates this year…my response was, “you have got to be kidding me.” And then laughing because 🤷‍♀️…

05/14/2026

I am excited to finally announce that Saturday lessons will start on June 6th! We are thrilled to welcome Maddie Thackeray as our instructor. Many of you have already had the pleasure of working with Maddie, as she has worked closely with me at the barn for the last 10 years.

Maddie is a member of the USEA and USEF, where she competes with her personal German Riding Pony, Bugatti, in eventing and dressage. She will also be joining the University of Illinois Western Equestrian Team this fall as she begins her undergraduate studies. Maddie will be focusing on our youth riders, teaching in the disciplines of hunt seat and western riding. Her knowledge of horses and their behavior, in addition to her gift for teaching and working with students of all ages is a tremendous asset to our program.

I plan to start developing the schedule next week. We are accepting riders from ages 2 to 14 for Saturday lessons. For students currently on the Will Call list for weekday lessons who would like a permanent slot on Saturdays, please let me know!

I expect slots to fill quickly, so please reach out soon if you are interested in getting on the Saturday schedule!

05/10/2026

What were you doing at 6am on this beautiful Mother’s Day? Our Cathy Jones-Forsberg clinic is already in full swing this morning!