Our History
Shearing Sheep… That’s how it all started.
When I was 16 years old, my grandpa (Bennie Myers) said he was “getting too old to shear sheep” and asked me, “Would you want to do something with horses you love so much someday?” You see, he bought my first pony and we kept it in with the sheep. There are coyotes around, so the only time I was allowed to ‘round up the herd’ was in the evening when my grandpa would protect the sheep from the coyotes.
I answered his question with a resounding yes, and with his jaw dropped he responded, “Now, you can’t just have the land, you have to pay for it.” So at the age of 16, I started paying for what is now known as Benvelle Equestrian Center. I named it after my grandparents BENnie and LaVELLE Myers of Pequot Lakes.
When two hearts meet…
I met Dean, my husband at a wedding rehearsal in Ada, MN. His pick-up line was, “Hey, do you wanna’ see some horses?” And as they say, the rest is history. Yes, Dean’s family had horses and ponies too. He enjoyed training with his brothers and friends. From a young age, Dean and the boys would ride their animals and hook them up to the old metal runner sleds and give rides around the yard.
Little did he know at the time he would later be managing several boarding horses, guiding trail rides, driving a team of Fjords for community festivals and events, giving lessons and training horses for the public someday.
Our Passion
Dean and I love working together at the stable.
While we each have our own specialties, we enjoy overlapping and helping each other out. As his wife of 25 years I tease that, “Dean refuses to wear breeches and ride English” so I do all the English riding, as well as Western and teach lessons in both. While Dean rides and trains western, he is also in charge of the nutrition/feeding program, maintaining the fences, buildings and property, assists the vet and farrier, grooms the trails, and maintains the serenity of our family.
With the busy schedule that includes feeding, turnout, stall cleaning, sweeping the barn, training horses, teaching lessons, guiding trail rides, attending clinics and horse shows, and then feeding and doing chores again at the end of the day, days can become long and strenuous. Although working from sun up till sundown can take its toll, at the end of the day it’s all worth it.
As Dean puts it, “We are so lucky! We get to work together, investing in ourselves and our family. Our children were raised here, and can think of no better life.”
At Benvelle, family is important to us.
Our daughter Alexis, purchased and started showing her Shetland pony, Nibs at age four. We were very proud parents as she participated in 4-H and competed successfully in several shows. She also assisted me in training many horses, including some Lipizzan dancing horses!
Alexis is now a member of the United States Air Force and is our Digital Marketing Director. She married her husband, Greg, in Wyoming in 2017.
Our son Ryan is more interested in horsepower than actual horses.
He was born 20 years ago on the 4th day of teaching equestrian summer camp. I was with 12 campers until 10:00 the evening before and went to the hospital at 6:30 am the next day. He likes the tractors, the 4-Wheeler, ice fishing, snowmobiling, maintenance and building things at the shop.
He is employed at Lexington Manufacturing and enjoys it very much.