Christian and McKrell Baier joined forces at the Southern Blues Equestrian Center inCollierville, Tennessee after Christian moved to the United States from Europe in 2009, focusingtheir efforts on building and establishing a public riding school based in the Swedish system ofequestrian education. In 2013, their vision expanded as they decided to deepen and widen theirclient base, by providing an outreach program to the urban Memphis community, Whitehaven.The Urban Equestrian Program became an expansion of their existing business, where the teamprovided summer program opportunities to youth (ages 6-16) enrolled in WhitehavenCommunity Centers municipally funded summer camps. They also sponsored the most avidsummer camp riders, who might not otherwise be able to, to continue training year round withthem.While Christian and McKrell were passionate about the effort, it was placed on hold in 2018, asit wasnt sustainable on its own.In comes the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in New York withthe mission to transform the world by supporting the development of dreams, however big theymay be. The Foundation focuses on Empowering the Future, Women, and Innovation, andChristian and McKrell connected with them in February 2021, as their visions aligned. TheSouthern Blues Equestrian Center became a partner with the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation inOctober of 2021, and the BridgeUP GiddyUP programming started with kids learning onsite inthe stable by November 2021 and in the saddle by January 2022.Photo by Adarryll Jackson, Sr.This would be impossible without the foundation, McKrell recognized.BridgeUP GiddyUP aims to provide a personal development, holistic program with horses thattie it all together, McKrell explained. The program is set to develop people into great adults, all while training for sport theres balance in all of it.Participants receive riding lessons daily, up to five days per week. But the riding and training is balanced with the other part of life that isnt sport driven participants are taught the science of horses, stable management, and economics. The program helps develop participants resumes, and highlight secondary education choices for young people living in Whitehaven.Photo by Adarryll Jackson, Sr.BridgeUP GiddyUP is open to students in 6th grade through 12th grade, McKrell outlined.Students sign up through Havenview Middle STEAM Optional school. We spend the first 4-6weeks learning about the history, management, and science of the horse. The program isintense, providing healthy meals, self-study academic work and weekly physical fitness as wellas riding. We maintain 30 participants with a five day per week program, year-round. Theparticipants typically self-select as it gets increasingly intense, McKrell said.Throughout our conversation, McKrell expressed her appreciation for the work the program allows her to do.We are so privileged to be able to do this work, with participants in the urban Memphiscommunity, and with partners in the community. This work has provided me with the mostdevelopment Ive had in my adult life, with all of the different people with which you interact.Photo by Adarryll Jackson, Sr.In addition to helping the participants in the program, McKrell also sees the kids helping thesport evolve. This can change the way the sport is seen, McKrell stated. Programs like ourscan disrupt the equestrian ecosystem not only with a diversity in skin color, but in economics, and through training to a high level on riding school horses none of those factors affect how well any young person can ride.Photo by Adarryll Jackson, Sr.Yes, were providing access to the sport world, but were utilizing our visibility to force thehorse world to change. BridgeUP GiddyUP can become a mainstream standard of education withthe use of our Global Equestrian Curriculum, and be an outline for other equestrian educationalprograms to utilize to their own benefit. None of this would be possible without the incrediblesupport of the HGB Foundation their massive funding effort is the bedrock which providesthirty youth from the Whitehaven Community in Memphis year-round, five day per week accessto this $1 million per year program in partnership with our business, Southern Blues EquestrianCenter, and a wonderful mix of community partners locally, nationally, and internationallywho help us fill gaps in programming and operations which are outside of our own fields ofexpertise or means to achieve, McKrell stressed.GiddyUPs programming has already developed riders to be on the track of continued equestriansuccess as amateurs or professionals, from recreational riders to the top of the sport. To ensure success of the program, the Foundation and the Southern Blues Equestrian Center track various key performance indicators. These include providing competition experience, which they have at three local competitions so far, at training level dressage and 0.8m show jumping, tracking success not only by competition results, but through how students are progressing through the internationally recognized Global Equestrian Curriculum Rider Levels in regularly occurring LevelUP testing events. They also track the numbers of new recruits interested to join the program and survey the GiddyUP riders to learn how the program affects their lives outside of the stable. Individual wellness initiatives are tracked by the number of healthy meals served yearly and the number and outcome of physical fitness sessions provided every week. One of their most important missions at GiddyUP is fostering a love of lifelong learning which they track through the utilization of their GiddyUP Library onsite and regular check-ins with the academic tutoring organization, SaddleUP Scholars, who meet virtually with each high school rider once per week.Photo by Adarryll Jackson, Sr.Participants have already shown great success in their self reported survey results. 92% of riders report the program is helping them better understand their school work. 83% of riders report GiddyUP has led to improved grades in school. 69% of riders are currently planning on anequine related career path. Even riders not planning for an equestrian career highlighted that they have benefitted in workforce and personal skills assessment for their career paths of choice.Looking towards the future, McKrell has some big plans and hopes for what comes next. In2025, the program plans to begin producing 3 Global Equestrian licensing events per calendaryear which invite the general equestrian public to participate side by side with GiddyUP riders in achieving internationally recognized standards of riders licensure for all levels from seatproficiency on the longe line all the way through third level dressage & 1.30m show jumping.Simultaneously, were looking to increase our own riders opportunity to measure their skillsagainst a larger portion of their equestrian peers while also providing our local & nationalequestrian ecosystem with the understanding & experience of being assessed for their level of practical skill & theoretical knowledge which are required for excellence as an ethical equestrian at all levels of expertise from the novice level riding school student, straight through to national level sport qualifications, McKrell explained.As the program moves forward with these goals, theyre looking to raise awareness for theimmediate necessity of ethical equestrian education across the entirety of the global equestrianecosystem as well as attract the support of fellow equestrians & the partnership of industryleaders & strategic partners to help our programming propel the GiddyUP riders to the top ofhorse sport. The GiddyUP riders are poised & ready to positively impact the future of horsesport while carving out space for themselves and others who may follow in their footsteps.Photo by Adarryll Jackson, Sr.McKrell emphasized the importance of the GiddyUP riders to not only be celebrated for theirdedication and involvement in a sport with so many barriers to entry, but also to be recognizedas industry leaders who have been elevated to the top of sport by their education, ethics, anddedication to helping pave the way for ethically driven, equitable opportunities for a largerpercentage of the human population to advance through horse sport & help preserve thisopportunity for more of humanity to enjoy.Photo by Adarryll Jackson, Sr.Please check out GiddyUPs website for more information and follow their Instagram for updates on the program.