Midstates Horse Shows, Inc, established
in 1985, is a dream come true for our founder, Kristin Ovrebo Rame,
President/CEO.
Born 1956 in Muscatine, Iowa, Kris grew
up living in New York, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. She began teaching and
riding professionally at age 17 in New Jersey. While attending Buck's County
Community College she was awarded a Scholarship to the Philadelphia College of
Performing Arts, performing up and down the east coast as 1st chair Oboe in
various orchestras and improvisational groups.
Teaching, training and playing
throughout the late 70's Kris returned to the Midwest in the early 80's, to care
for her aging uncle, Art Ovrebo, a retired seaman who owned the family farm in
Bricelyn, MN
The rest as they say is history -- Kris
met and married Neil Rame. Along with a group of neighbors they formed the Bricelyn Pony Club. Now they needed a place to show their horses.
Look at a map -- Interstate 35
- Interstate 90 - Interstate 80 -- all roads lead to Mason City, Iowa and The
North Iowa Fairgrounds; they had stalls, they had a sand ring and they had an
indoor arena!
-
The pony dads began building jumps,
-
The
pony moms became horse show secretaries and we even had a pony mom who was a
nurse,
-
A date was chosen, April 23-27, 1985,
-
Midstates had a logo (the horse
jumping out of the middle of the US map),
-
John Marciano one of Kris's
former trainers came from the East Coast to serve as our technical
coordinator,
-
Buddy
Brown was hired as our judge,
-
Marvin Harwood was our steward,
-
Dave Anderson our announcer, and
-
Al
Bronte was at the gate.
All we needed was horses . . .
. . and we got them, hundreds of horses from all over the Midwest came to our
one ring horse show. If you were there, Thanks for Coming, If you haven't been
back, Come Try Us Again.
Both Kris and Midstates Horse
Shows, Inc have grown. Kris
is a Licensed Official with the USA Equestrian Association, she has her large
"R" Judge's Card for Hunters, Jumpers and Hunt Seat Equitation as well a large
"R" Steward's Card for Hunters, Jumpers, Arabs, Morgans, Saddlebreds and others.
Kris has served as a board member for
both the Minnesota Hunter Jumper Association and the Iowa/Nebraska Hunter Jumper
Association. She is a USA Equestrian Zone 6 Committee Member and serves on
various National Hunter Jumper Council Committees
Her son Aaron turned 13, March 23, 2003
and works doing feed and bedding (Aaron's Feed and Bedding)
Midstates Horse Shows, Inc.
produces five "A" rated horse shows per year:
-
4 - $15,000.00 Mini-Prixs (Mason
City) and
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the $30,000.00 Grand Prix of
Minnesota (St Paul, at the state fairgrounds)
-
and manages shows in Lincoln,
Nebraska, Anthony, Florida and Hugo, Minnesota.
We were privileged to manage 5 years of
shows in Winnipeg, Manitoba in preparation for the most recent Pan Am Games.
Midstates Horse Shows, Inc. has invested
in improving the North Iowa Fairgrounds. Major improvements include:
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A large all weather Schooling area
-
Enclosing numerous buildings to provide all weather stabling for 400 horses.
and Paddocks for turn out
-
Midstates Horse Shows, Inc is a member
of both the Mason City and Clear Lake, Iowa, Chambers of Commerce.
Winter
sends Midstates Horse Shows, Inc. to Anthony, Florida, where Kris administrates
the housing program for Horse Shows in the Sun (HITS) Ocala Winter Circuit as
well as assisting in HITS local marketing. As time permits, she judges and
stewards during the Ocala Winter Circuit, spends time at the farm (Midstates
Horse Shows, Inc. Southern Division) riding, training, sitting by the pool and
occasionally producing a schooling show.
Midstates Horse
Show, Inc.
Kris Rame President/CEO
Barb Ahrens, 20 years