Horse facility in Montana keeps expanding

Montana – Recently, some attention has been paid to a horse boarding establishment with a long history of breeding, racing, and recreation.

Sunshine Stables is a building with the name “Sunshine Stables” that was formerly held by the Weaver family and is now run by the couple Kalen and Jake McKelvey.

This offers year-round horse boarding in addition to an all-ages riding class program.

‘Sunshine Stables’ was founded by Kalen and Jake in the spring of 2020. Although Kalen has always had a love for horses, she never imagined it would become a successful business.

“I definitely saw myself working with horses, as it’s something I loved for a really long time, and have been passionate about, and hoped that somewhere, horses would fit into my life.” Kalen said. “I didn’t think it would be a horse-centered business.”

‘Sunshine Stables’ gets their name from the word ‘Kalen,’ which signifies sunshine. It has been her nickname, according to Kalen, and her neighbor thought Sunshine Stables would be a suitable name.

Sunshine Stables wants to fill a need in the neighborhood by giving horses and their owners a comfortable and secure place to live.

The facility’s capacity has doubled over the course of a year, and it has also expanded its lesson program and added paddock after paddock.

Most recently, they added equine massage to their list of services.

“I’m really pleased and excited to see how things have been growing with our business.”

Senior Addisyn Bengston from Cut Bank High School instructs riders at the stable.

“What I teach the student completely depends on their level as a student,” she said. “For a beginner, the lesson will be how to get acquainted to the horse, teach them how to halter, teaching them how to lead, groom and how to tack up before they get on. Once they get comfortable around the horse, I’ll show them how to get on the horse, how to sit on the saddle properly, and how to hold the reins. Then we move on to the ques, such as how to make the horse walk, how to get them to go where you want them to go.”

Bengston highlighted how her involvement with 4-H led her to start giving classes.

“I had no idea this would be my summer job,” she said. “I was looking for a job, and exploring what people had in the area. Kalen came to me in May, and approached me about the job, explaining to me what it would be. When I said I was more interested in it, she brought me out and we rode together. She gave me a lesson on what teaching a lesson would be just because I’ve never done it before, but it was exactly what I was looking for in the summer, and I’m really happy I took the job.”

Sunshine Stables has been in business for three years and is still growing in renown. Governor Greg Gianforte most recently paid a visit to the stables as part of his 56-county tour.

According to Kalen, she appreciates the community and her passion for horses the most.

“To be able to come out every day and be around the horses is therapeutic,” she said. “But I think the people are the most important part to me. I really love getting to interact with people from all over and seeing them love what I love so much.”

The major goal, according to Kalen, is to use the remaining land to construct an indoor arena. “I don’t have a time frame on when we would be able to get that done, but I would like to say it would be within the next five to ten years, having that be something that our community and surrounding communities can use.”