STABLE BUSINESS: STUDENTS AT HUNTOON STABLES TAKE THE REINS AND LEARN MORE THAN JUST RIDING

Aurora, IL
Hoofbeats thump the ground as a horse marches past the viewing room window at Huntoon Stables in North Aurora.

In this warm room, photos of riders on high-stepping horses cover the walls.

A young girl sits at the table doing math homework.  There is a signup sheet for horse shows and an announcement for a horse camp taped to the window that looks out into the indoor arena.

Melinda Huntoon calls out commands to her riders as they walk, trot and canter past: “Bump his head up a little.  That’s it.”

Melinda is on her feet for 100 lessons every week, teaching her 60 students how to ride American Saddlebred horses, known as “the peacocks of the show ring.”  She’s been doing this since 1958.

Meanwhile, co-owner of Huntoon Stables, Carleton Huntoon, drops flakes of hay into each horse’s stall for dinner.  The air is thick with the sweet smell of oats and the sounds of munching.

In the late 1800s, Carleton’s ancestors ran Huntoon Livery Stable in downtown Aurora, and horsemanship has been a major part of the family business ever since.  The horse business has shifted, but the strong community and family values remain core qualities.

Please contact Jessie or The Beacon News to read the entire article.

YOGA, ANYONE?  WHAT A RECENT TRANSPLANT FROM CHICAGO AND THREE-YEAR YOGA PRACTITIONER DISCOVERED ABOUT YOGA IN THE ‘BURBS

As a transplant to Aurora from Chicago, where there seems to be a yoga studio around every corner, I was worried when I moved to the suburbs.

Where would I go for yoga?  What studio could I trust for an authentic yoga experience?

After checking out a few, I was pleasantly surprised.  Because of the growing popularity of yoga and the inherent desire in yoga teachers to share its benefits, there are a number of quality yoga studios in the western suburbs.  Yoga Among Friends in Downer’s Grove, the Vaughn Athletic Center in Aurora, Prana Yoga Center in Geneva and Universal Spirit Yoga in Naperville are places I can confidently recommend and where certified teachers will assist in developing your personal yoga practice.

Please contact Jessie or The Beacon News to read the entire article.

TRANSFORMATION AT THE MIDWEST YOGA RETREAT

Being a first-time retreater in a depressive funk that I hadn’t been able to shake, I was poised to regret spending a hunk of cash I didn’t really have on a yoga retreat. Why pay extra to practice yoga with 30 strangers, when I already pay to practice every day at a studio at home? I’d signed up for Thomas Fortel’s Midwest yoga retreat because a teacher and friend of mine couldn’t say enough good things about it. When we arrived in the small rural town of Selma, Indiana, I hoped the retreat would prove her right.

Read the entire personal essay, published in Yoga Chicago Magazine, here.