A Dressage Rider’s Dream Barn is Elegant & Comfortable

For the past 30 years, horses have been integral to the family’s life on their farm. The Risseeuws remodeled a former dairy barn with stanchions for cows, converting it into a 5-stall barn, later adding a small riding arena. Tammy’s daughters were raised alongside their ponies and horses, happily participating in Pony Club and 4-H activities. The girls went on to compete nationally in a variety of equestrian disciplines, including eventing, gymkhanas, and polocrosse – sports that Tammy also dabbled in at a recreational level when possible.

As the equestrian facility expanded on the farm, the family added a show jumping ring, cross country jumping course, and polocrosse fields. Once the girls went off to college, Tammy found more time to devote to her riding and her passion for dressage blossomed. The former polocrosse field was then converted into an outdoor dressage court with sand and Premier Equestrian fiber mix footing.

Tammy’s dressage training was challenging during the Wisconsin winters with the small indoor arena. It made it difficult to practice the necessary movements with her Warmblood mare, as inclement wind and rain often disrupted outdoor sessions. For years, Tammy dreamed of enclosing the dressage court to create a more suitable training environment. She began collecting photos from social media of layouts and barn features she admired, using them to sketch a footprint plan. Tammy then met with KSI Construction Inc. to get an estimate on the cost of bringing her dream facility to life.

Tammy contacted American Stalls and worked with their sales and design experts with every detail for her stalls, window grates, and sliding doors. After spending weeks deciding on a powder coat paint color, Tammy landed on Statuary Bronze, the perfect color for the stall, window grate and sliding door finishes. Family and friends pitched in for a lot of staining which was the perfect color to compliment the Statuary Bronze finish.

The KSI team did just an exceptional job with the building, installation and finish details of the American Stall products.

The metal window grates securely protect the sliding glass windows from the horses.

Tammy is so happy with the final look inside the barn.

“I absolutely love the grandeur of the stall style, the decorative arches and brass finales I added on each stall. The horses are so comfortable and unstressed in the stalls with visibility of friends and air flow throughout,” Tammy said. ” The French Yokes are brilliant, allowing the horses to look into the barn aisle, yet they are compact, sleek and super easy to open and close. All the hinges, tracks, door and window latches are effortless to use and fit-up is perfect.”

Pictured above is hardware from American Stall’s Roosevelt Collection.

The classic look of the coordinating sliding barn doors, chandeliers and Eco-Flex aisle matting ties everything together beautifully inside the barn.

The Tack Room

The tack room sign is from Shari, a trainer at Epona Spain who sold her artwork at the academy. Her art is also featured in the lounge and bathroom.

Step inside the inviting tack room which features ample counter tops, cupboards for storage, and thoughtful saddle pad storage.

The saddle pad racks are from Schnieder’s, allowing pads to be thoughtfully stored by color under the counter top.

The tack room rug is an outdoor rug spotted at Lowe’s that was on clearance. It’s easy to clean and brings more ambience to the tack room.

Tammy’s husband Jim built the bridle rack with a finished piece of Ash wood that her dad had processed in his sawmill and wood kiln many years ago. It features Roosevelt hooks from American Stalls. The special piece looks like a work of art.

Indoor Arena

Connected to the barn is a beautiful indoor arena.

The arena is 200 x 70 ft and has Premier Equestrian’s Arena Aid fiber footing. This footing has performed well since the dressage court was installed in 2018 and has weathered all seasons in Wisconsin.

The arena is equipped with 4 blocks of 6 x 48 ft sliding windows manufactured by J&E.

Tammy’s best friend Jody had a stained glass window in her garage, purchased from the antique gallery in Door County, Wisconsin. They previously used it as a bedroom headboard in a cottage, which they sold. Jody suggested it would be a great fit in Tammy’s new barn. The lead contractor added a bit of framing to make a perfect fit into the window opening and added a piano hinge at the top so the window behind it could still be accessed.

With an array of modern comforts, personal details, and quality craftsmanship, this barn is an enjoyable space for everyone. Thank you Tammy for opening up your barn doors to us.