Commonwealth Farm

08/11/2025

WORKING STUDENT POSITION

The fall semester is right around the corner!

We are again looking for help feeding, watering, turning in/out, and cleaning stalls starting as soon as possible. We are a hunter/jumper barn that offers stall board as well as a lesson and show program. We are home to the UIUC English (Huntseat) Equestrian Team and the Commonwealth Farm IEA team. We have a fantastic string of lesson horses as well as some private boarders. We are looking for someone who already has horse experience and is willing to learn how we operate. We have openings for evening feeding shifts as well as stall cleaning to gain hours towards lessons or money off board as we have a few stalls open currently.

This position is a great way to ride and work with horses in high school, college, or graduate/professional school while on a tight budget!

*MUST HAVE YOUR OWN TRANSPORTATION TO AND FROM THE FARM*

Please PM us and comment that you did so, including your horse/riding experience and time availability in your message.

08/08/2025

08/07/2025

Hard to believe the school year is just around the corner! Come join our IEA Team!

07/29/2025

On a brighter side of why we do this…we had a GREAT time at the Skyview Farm & Wellspring Riding Academy, Inc. show on July 13!

Cat FH and her own her horse, Mac, & Alex G and his own horse, Stuart, all had great rounds in the jumpers!

Amelia S and Bitsy had beautiful rounds in the hunters!

And Charlotte H and Bitsy had their lead line debut together!

It was hot but well worth it!

07/28/2025

To add to the heartache…

On July 11 our sweet Ben went on to join the CWF herd in the sky.

“Ben Noted” came to us at least 12+ years ago as an OTTB that couldn’t keep weight while living out 24/7 on pasture. We fattened him up, put him to work and he turned into a wonderful lesson horse. He traveled to numerous IHJA and IHSA shows with multiple different riders.

Ben was put together with “spare parts” and certainly wasn’t going to win a confirmation class 🤣, but he was easily one of the kindest most gentle hearted horses we have ever had the pleasure of owning.

Over the years Ben’s big, poorly put together body started to break down with multi-joint osteoarthritis. We made the decision to donate him to the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine’s teaching herd. While there he was able to aid in the education of numerous veterinary students and intern veterinarians.

Unfortunately, a large invasive tumor was recently identified in his nasal and sinus cavity. So with the help of several of the U of IL equine medicine and surgery faculty veterinarians, we agreed to let him go peacefully.

Thank you from all those you taught over the years, Benjamin. Say hi to all the other CWF greats up there. We already miss your kind eye and head nods 💙 🌈 💛

07/28/2025

Happy birthday to our wonderful, caring, fearless leader — Terri!!

She spent the weekend doing what she does best — being a fiercely loyal daughter and beautifully caring mom and grandma on Saturday, then coaching at a horse show on Sunday!

Happy birthday, Terri!! This ship would sink without our captain!

07/27/2025

We are continuing to grieve our dear Berry but wanted to share another loss we incurred the week prior.

On July 10 our big girl Abby crossed the rainbow bridge. Abby originally came to our farm as a spry young mare looking for her place in life. She ended up with a Pony Club family in the Springfield area and went on to have a successful PC and eventing career, bringing her kid up through the levels with grandeur. Her person made the honorable decision to join the US Marine Corps, so Abby retired to their family’s field.

The family contacted us in the spring of 2022 and Abby returned to CWF to join our string of wonderful lesson horses. During that time she found a new person that loved her as her own. One of our best working students at the time built a beautiful relationship with Abby that we absolutely loved watching unfold and grow.

Unfortunately, Abby had Cushing’s disease, anhydrosis and chronic laminitis. In the late fall of 2023 Abby had a severe acute laminitic episode and became very painful and difficult to manage on a day to day basis . We elected to send her to our neighbor Haflinger Haven just down the road for rehab where she received incredible care. She remained there, making new friends - horse and human - until her feet and her heart told us she was ready.

We cannot thank Michelle at Haflinger Haven, Tobias Ellis with the U of IL Farrier Service and our own Dr. Cat Foreman-Hesterberg enough for their diligent care of Abby over the last 1.5 years.

Fly high, big girl. Run, jump, sweat and eat all the grass you can! 💙 🌈 💛

07/16/2025

Yesterday evening we lost yet another Commonwealth great. Berry crossed the rainbow bridge after a losing battle against severe colic.

For any who may not know, Berry was one of the best lesson ponies and moved around a few times over the years to be where she was needed. In the roughly 15 years Commonwealth has known the little spotted mare, she's touched countless lives both on an individual level and as a staple at IEA shows.

We want to emphatically thank the many veterinarians involved in her care yesterday. Thanks to you, we were able to help relieve a beloved pony of her pain and know in all our hearts it was the right decision.

Berry-BerBer-Bawwee-Beryl-Berries & Cream-Phyllis Dyller-Spotted One... we know so many have relied on your patient spirit over the years, but we're going to ask one final time for you to patiently wait. We ask you to wait on the other side of that bridge for the time when the many many lives you've touched join you there. We ask that you wait because so many will want to greet you there with a neck hug, a muzzle kiss, and maybe even a hidden treat. We ask you to wait for those in whom you instilled a love for the horse and the equestrian sport.

Thank you, Berry. It has been an honor and a pleasure to have you as part of the Commonwealth family. Rest in peace little spotted pony. And please, wait for us.

06/25/2025

We had a great time this past weekend at the H&H Summer Horse Show Series at Traders Point!

Emma K took CWF’s Layla. She learned a lot and had good trips in the cross rails!

Alex G took his own horse Stuart in the jumper ring and had some great rounds!

Julia R brought her own horse Leo and had success in the jumper ring!

06/22/2025

The average age in our barn is 18 years old. EIGHTEEN. Trust me, I did the math several times to confirm. Our horses range from 9-29 years old. All but one of the >20 year old club are still in some type of work from teaching one walk-trot lesson a week to teaching three to four walk-trot-canter and 18”-2’3 jump lessons a week during the school year.

Last weekend over half of our barn received their annual/bi-annual maintenance joint injections. Jazz is pictured here sporting a flopping lower lip thanks to some good sedation and having his hocks aseptically scrubbed by our assistant trainer and one of our life-long students in preparation for steroid injections into his lower hock joints.

Age is not a disease but there are things that come along with it. We cannot stress enough how important regular veterinary care (vaccines, dental floats, deworming, blood work, etc) AND routine maintenance (proper trimming/shoeing, joint injections, joint and digestive supporting supplements, etc) are to each and every horse, but especially the older ones! Our herd is unique in all of their own ways, but our goal is the same for all of them—to live a happy, active and COMFORTABLE lifestyle for as long as possible!

06/21/2025

We have a collection of these free-loaders…I mean beautiful bay geldings at our farm 🤣

06/19/2025

Recently we had the privilege of partaking in a clinic at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) with Vinton Karrasch, a fantastic upper level hunter/jumper rider and trainer!!

https://equestrianperformance.com/vinton-karrasch/

Alex G took his new horse Stuart.
Cat FH rode her trustworthy old man, Mac.
Allison B took good ‘ol CWF’s Buzz.
Kate D rode the tried and true CWF’s Bruce.
Kristina S borrowed SMEC’s infamous Max.
And Charlotte brought CWF’s Berry along for the ride (literally).

We all learned so much through the weekend and brought home some new perspectives and ideas to keep growing in our riding and training!!

Thank you to Alexis Cobb for organizing this. We look forward to the next clinic!