The name of the Broke and Busted Saddle Club, which puts on the Calhoun Colt Show, refers to breaking and busting horses. What members hope it doesn’t refer to is the club itself, which has been hit by a 33 percent increase in the cost of liability insurance for equine events.
To cover the BBSC’s premium, Shelly Acosta, president of the club, is ramping up the club’s fundraisers, including a Poker Ride this spring, and is looking for sponsors.
The irony of the situation: equine event insurance doesn’t cover riders at horse shows, only bystanders. Missouri law states that riders put themselves in jeopardy by getting on a horse, she said, and assume the risk.
The Broke and Busted Saddle club does get a good deal on event insurance through Horseman United, Shelly said, but when she got the Saddle Club’s bill for event liability insurance for 2024, the premium increase was a shock.
“It was recommended to us to try a Poker Ride,” she said.
A test Poker Ride was held in December on the KATY Trail, and was a big success, she said. It drew 35 riders, who paid $10 each, she said, and 29 sponsors.
Instead of collecting a playing card at every stop, the riders collected stickers from dispensers at five stops on the trail. Completing the ride, they exchanged a set of stickers for playing five cards from dealer Matt Breshears.
If they didn’t like their hand, they had the option of buying two additional cards for $5 each while keeping the cards they had. The winning hand: five of a kind.
“We had two decks of cards,” Shelly explained. “The winner got four sevens in the original hand, then bought another card, which was also a seven.”
First, second and third place winners shared a pot of cash and prizes totaling $1,000, she said. Prizes included gift cards for accommodations at five campgrounds with riding trails, which were donated.
The Broke and Busted Club has scheduled another Poker Ride for April 13. This time, they will allow people to ride in wagons as well as on horseback, Shelly said. Wagons aren’t allowed on the KATY Trail, however, so it will be held on back roads, and go to Sedalia.
If you want to play, but don’t ride horses or have a wagon available, you can enter the Poker Ride by proxy, she said, and one of the riders will be assigned to pick up your stickers.
The Spring Poker Ride will conclude a potluck dinner at the arena, with chicken provided and possibly live music. Families who want to come for the weekend can camp in the campground adjacent to the arena. Henry County Mutual Insurunce and Dr. Ron Brown, an Appleton City veterinarian, have already signed up as sponsors for the April Poker Ride, she said.
Younger members of the Saddle Club, which is family oriented, helped give out prizes for the first ride, she said. Age divisions for competitors at Broke and Busted horse shows start with PeeWee, age 7 and under, and go through youth, junior and adult, 18 to 39, and the “Jack Benny”division for riders 40 and over.
The Jack Benny division includes women who learned to ride as children, Shelly said, but started riding again in middle age. Grandparents bring their grandchildren to compete in horse shows, and sometimes like run along side the young riders to make sure they are safe.
The club’s mission: to help people learn horsemanship skills and increase their equine knowledge through friendly competitions, trail rides and parades. Unlike larger horse shows, they keep event entry fees inexpensive, she said, and gear competitions to novice riders.
“We’re doing our job if we are helping someone become a better horseman and get over the fear of riding in competitions,” she said.
In the past, almost every small town had a saddle club, she said, but the Calhoun club is now one of the few left. People travel an hour or more from Harrisonville, Holden, Fristoe and Climax Springs to enter saddle club events, she said, which the club holds throughout the year.
The jump in equine event insurance has hit businesses all over the country that involve horses, including ones in the Kansas City area, Shelly said. The increases threaten to put horse-drawn carriage rentals for weddings and historical tours out of business, she said. Insurance companies have also dropped liability insurance policies covering event horses.
“It makes it so if you aren’t wealthy, you can’t afford to take your horses off your property,” Shelly said.
To keep the Saddle Club coffers viable, the club holds an annual Murder Mystery Dinner, which will be on June 1 this year. Last year’s “Murder at the Deadwood Saloon” had a Western theme. Members of the Saddle Club, young and old, already had their costumes to hand — western shirts, jeans, boots and cowboy hats.
For this year’s murder mystery dinner, no hats are required. Titled “Mullets, Murder and Mayhem,” it is set in a small town during a festival, mullets referring to the hairstyle of the local men. If you don’t want to cut your hair in the traditional two-tier style, plan to channel your inner James Dean in jeans and a T-shirt, dust off your Daisy Duke duds or shine up the sequins on your Dolly Parton sweater set.
Weather permitting, the Murder Mystery will be held outside on the Calhoun Square, Shelly said, with carnival games set up. The highlight of the festival is an Outhouse Race. Teams can sign up to get an outhouse, actually a refrigerator packing box, which will be put on a wheelbarrow and raced. Outhouse Races traditionally have a rider sitting inside the outhouse.
“You can decorate it any way you like,” Shelly said. “We are probably not going to have people riding in the outhouses.”
The Saddle Club is planning an axe-throwing booth, Shelly said. Corn hole and a booth offering temporary tattoos will be part of the event.
The Saddle Club holds horse shows throughout the year at the Lonnie Price Memorial Arena. If you’ve driven through Calhoun but never ventured off Hwy. 52E, the arena is located four blocks north on Depot, the first road to the left when you enter Calhoun from Clinton. The BBSC also has a clubhouse on the Calhoun Square, where it holds indoor events for all ages.
This year, the Saddle Club is hosting a Coggins Clinic at the arena on March 23. A Coggins blood test for an infectious equine disease, which Dr. Brown will conduct for $25, is required to transport your horses off your property.
Nationally-ranked barrel racer Emma Sosa, of Green Ridge, is organizing a Cinco de Mayo Barrel Race for May 5, and is working on getting the race sanctioned by BBR, the national association. Her mother, Amanda Sosa, also a barrel racer, is president of this year’s Calhoun Colt Show and Festival, which is accepting nominations for the grand marshal of the parade through Jan. 21.
On Memorial Day weekend, the Saddle Club plans to kick up some dust on a trail ride at Pinecrest Campground, near Montauk State Park in Salem, Mo. They will also have a trail ride on the KATY Trail, riding towards Sedalia, for those who want to stay closer to home.
The Saddle Club has scheduled horse shows in the arena for June 22, July 20, August 24 and Oct. 19. They also hold speed races, including one after the Coggins Clinic that the junior members of the club are organizing, Shelly said.
The 115th annual Calhoun Colt Show, on Sept. 6, 7 and 8, will have Equestrian Day competitions, the Saddle Club Follies and Roping contests in the arena, and live music, cute baby contests, bouncy castles, a pet parade, dog, flower, fancywork, bike and car shows, and a grand parade on the Calhoun Square. The Colt Show grew out of an annual meeting of horse breeders to show off their young horses. Always held in early September, it is the oldest continually-running community festival of its kind in Missouri.
At the end of November, Saddle Club members will ride in Moonlight Madness, the lighted Christmas parade in Windsor. They also ride in parades in Warsaw, Lincoln and Sedalia. In December, they go Christmas caroling in Calhoun on horseback, Shelly said.
“We are trying to focus on building community in our small town,” she said, on keeping the horse shows and the Calhoun Colt Show going. “It’s a lot of work, but we know it’s appreciated.”
Having to cover the increase in the insurance premium adds to the stress, she said. Shelly and her husband, Rick, both retired last spring, but given the Saddle Club events calendar, are busier than ever, she said.
To be a sponsor of the April Poker Ride, contact Shelly at (660)233-0243 or e-mail her at Brokebustedsc@gmail.com. by February 10. Cost is $50 for a spot on the event flyers, which will be posted at the arena. For $100 or more, your business ad will also be on the club’s Facebook, and a yard sign made for your business that will be displayed at the event. Go to the Broke and Busted Saddle Club Facebook for more information about upcoming events.
