This Gig Harbor farm, which offers horse-riding lessons, is busier than ever during pandemic

Off Ray Nash Drive, Kellenbrook Farms stands as a place where people can come learn how to ride horses, care for their equine friends and board the horses if they do not have the space.

Owned and operated since 1999 by sisters Kelly Burris and Brook Martz (Kelly-Brook makes Kellenbrook), the farm specializes in teaching the youngest of riders how to get into the saddle and the sport of dressage.

“We say we teach anywhere from two to 99, but ideally we have [our students] start with us between the age of six and eight because we think it’s a great age to introduce them to riding lessons,” Burris said.

Dressage is a form of horse training that looks like the rider is teaching the horse how to do ballet. Its roots can be traced to the middle ages in terms of how soldiers trained their horses to be successful in battle.

These days, dressage is widely enjoyed by people all over the world -- so much so, that it’s an Olympic sport and holds competitions all over the world.

And speaking of dressage competitions, Kellenbrook Farms has had a number of riders compete on the highest levels of the sport and place nationally.

“This year was an interesting year due to COVID, but we were able to get three kids qualified for a national championship,” Burris said. “They were the only kids from the Pacific Northwest that qualified and they placed in the top 12 in the nation. We had one student finish fifth, one finished eighth and the other finished 12th.”

Of course, COVID has also done a number on how Kellenbrook Farms operates on its day to day basis as well. When the pandemic first hit Washington, both Martz and Burris made the decision to close down the barn to outside people and take care of the boarded horses themselves.

Even people that owned their own horses that were kept at Kellenbrook were asked to come by on an appointment-only basis. The sisters made sure that nobody would touch anything and spray everything down that needed to be.

“The governor basically said that equestrian sports were a vague umbrella, they weren’t outlined very specifically,” Burris said. “We started moving on with COVID and it became an acceptable outdoor activity.”

However, when the sisters opened the farm to the public after it was made clear that equestrian sports were OK to do, some parts of their business were heavily considered and ultimately axed due to the current pandemic.

The biggest thing that was cancelled was the annual summer camp for new riders. Logistically, it would be nearly impossible to keep the six-foot distance while showing new riders how hold the reins and how to put the saddle on.

It is a big hit for Kellenbrook because the funds earned from the summer camp would help keep the winter schooling program going as well. But again, the current pandemic may have stopped that program in its tracks before that time arrives.

“There’s no way you can socially distance in those places, we chose to cancel summer camp for the summer much to people’s chagrin,” Burris said. “When it comes to teaching riding lessons, if the person is an independent rider and knows how to tack up the horse and get the horse ready by themselves then it is a very easy sport to follow every guideline.”

Thankfully, there has not been a case of coronavirus linked to Kellenbrook Farms since reopening. Again, this is due to the strict rules that Martz and Burris are following to make sure that the riders are safe at their farm.

Between riders they are wiping down the tack they use to ride the horse, making sure that every rider has their own helmet and keeping hand sanitizer everywhere. Masks are also required inside the barn, especially since they are passing each other.

Mask wearing is optional when outside on the horse, however.

“It’s been an interesting time, but we are really grateful that our business has continued to operate very similarly to how we had,” Burris said. “We hadn’t brought in a bunch of new beginner lessons and when we do, we have them sign something that says ‘this is your risk of coming to the barn’. We make our beginners wear a mask and we make our instructors wear a mask when they’re in close quarters.”

For Kellenbrook Farms, business is actually doing very well during these times. They are providing a sport that parents are comfortable in their kids participating in. There’s not a lot of physical interaction between other people like team sports.

However, that has led to a bit of a struggle for Martz and Burris. Like many other parents in the Peninsula School District, they are faced with having to balance work/home/schooling with their respective children.

Because kids doing remote learning, they have more freedom to ride and have continuous lessons. This has led to a backlog of more and more families wanting their child to have an activity to do during the day.

“We have a waiting list about a mile long, which is great. We don’t really advertise, we are a word of mouth business,” Burris said. “We’re just taking it one day at a time.”

During these turbulent times, Kellenbrook Farms has given people an opportunity to have an activity that allows them to be outside and interact with something other than their cellphone.

Whether Martz, Burris or their other instructors are teaching, coaching or taking care of the horses, they are keeping things as safe as possible for riders and their equine friends.