Positive response, educational opportunities keep staffers busy on the Kirkwood campus
–by Kevin Corizzo, Kirkwood News Service
For almost 10 years now, the Iowa Equestrian Center has been hosting horse enthusiasts and other events on the campus of Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids.
The Center opened in 2000 and immediately established itself as eastern Iowa’s premier show facility. Since that time the Iowa Equestrian Center has served as a showcase for hundreds of events and is booked almost every weekend.
“What we have here is a state-of-the-art facility,” said Director Patrick Klatt. “In our opinion, there’s nothing close that even compares.”
The Iowa Equestrian Center features a 100’ x 200’ indoor show arena, an 80’ x 120’ warm-up arena, a 130’ x 300’ outdoor arena and a stall barn featuring 210 10’ x 10’ rubber-matted stalls. Other amenities of this regional attraction include more than seven acres of adjacent parking, 52 overnight camp sites with electrical hook ups, an on-site concession stand, cable television and wireless internet.
With those convenient services in place, the Iowa Equestrian Center attracts participants from all over the United States to a host of premier equine events, including many APHA and AQHA events, futurities, saddle club shows, clinics, and local and regional shows involving many breed associations. In addition to its equine-related events, the Center also hosts annual dog and llama shows.
But staging weekend events is only one of the Center’s dual purposes. During the week, the stables, stalls and arena serve as training ground for Kirkwood’s Horse Science programs, providing infinite learning possibilities on the traditions of horsemanship and preparing students for a dynamic future in the horse industry. Kirkwood currently has about 50 students in the program.
“This facility not only looks nice, but it’s a great benefit for the students,” said Center Assistant Liz Lindner. “Since there’s a show here almost every weekend, they get the experience of seeing all the different breeds of horses and all the different disciplines. It’s a also great opportunity to network with show exhibitors, which is part of what is so neat and unique about this facility.”
The Horse Science programs form the foundation of a unique partnership with Kirkwood Community College that has allowed students – and the Center – to benefit.
“It’s a tremendous advantage for us to be on the Kirkwood campus,” Klatt said. “Kirkwood is such an icon in this community. When I talk to people in the community, everybody either went to Kirkwood or they know somebody who went to Kirkwood. Plus, the support we receive from the Kirkwood administration has been fantastic.”
Klatt oversees the operation of the Center with the full-time help of Lindner and Operations Coordinator Zach Schaller. They are assisted by eight to 10 part-time staff, mainly students.
Together, they not only make sure everything runs smoothly at the Center, but continually monitor changes in the equestrian industry. For instance, the Center recently added rubber mats to improve its stalls.
Those changes are noticed and appreciated by those experienced in horsemanship, which includes many enthusiasts in eastern Iowa. While Iowa ranks 30th in the nation in population, it jumps to 17th in horse population with 200,000 horses in the care of 47,000 owners. On a per capita basis, that equates to one horse for every 15 people, which Klatt said ranks highest in the nation.
“When people think of Iowa, horses are not the first thing that comes to mind,” he said. “However, horses are really significant in Iowa and especially this area.”
That translates into plenty of opportunities for shows hosted by the Iowa Equestrian Center, which in turn can help provide an economic boost for the entire community. Klatt estimates those events draw nearly 50,000 people on an annual basis.
“I think a lot of people aren’t aware that we have a facility of that quality here in Cedar Rapids,” said Susan Lloyd, convention marketing manager with the Cedar Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “When I see an opportunity to win an event or bring something to Cedar Rapids, it makes it a lot easier to have such a fine and well-respected facility. It’s definitely a jewel as far as what Cedar Rapids can offer and the ability to win certain events.”
Klatt is constantly looking for ways to polish that jewel and add to a luster that sets it apart from other facilities.
“We really emphasize customer service,” Klatt said. “For instance, we’ve upgraded our food service. Before, we did it all in-house and our staff wasn’t trained in food service. Now, we contract with a professional caterer and it’s been a tremendous upgrade. We have people who go to a lot of facilities and they tell us this is the best food that they get.”
In addition to its upgrades in service, the Center is adding two 30’ x 30’ classrooms to be completed by August. Klatt said additional improvements to the footing of the arena are being examined which would allow the facility to expand its pool of events, including possibly barrel racing.
Nearly one decade after opening, the staff of the Iowa Equestrian Center is continuing to strive to maintain its status as a regional attraction and valuable tool for students.
“People like coming here,” Klatt said. “They wouldn’t sign multiple-year contracts if they didn’t like coming here. We’ve built a reputation as one of the finest facilities in the nation and we want to work hard to keep it.”