Horsemanship Comes to Edgerton with Diamond H Acres
Hulsteins work to fill a need in the area
Last March, 16 acres of land northwest of Edgerton was sold at auction. The land had been owned by Herm and Jan Bos and was used for horses – there were corrals and a riding arena, and Herm was working on a dream he had to bring horsemanship opportunities to the Edgerton area.
But Herm passed away in October of 2020. Dave Hulstein and his family purchased the land and have been working on bringing Herm’s dream to pass. They have done a lot of work out at what they are calling Diamond H Acres – including adding a camping area, improving the riding arena, and bringing in a horse trainer.
Dave and Donna Hulstein’s children and their spouses have been working on the project together as a family all spring and summer. Travis and Kayla Hulstein and Traci and Jesse Hunter are co-owners and co-workers in the project.
One big part of the project was cleanup – they removed a lot of brush, trees, and older buildings. They also raised the riding arena about one foot so that the arena was not lower than grade. Raising the buildings required that they replace the metal siding on the fronts of the buildings, too.
They leveled out the ground to improve drainage as well. Since the Hulstein family also owns Hulstein Excavating, Inc., the equipment and knowledge to get that work done was readily available. They just recently added new washed sand to the riding arena, which is better for the horses hooves and less dusty.
Dave and his family have always loved horses, but do not have the expertise to train or teach other people to ride.
About a month ago, Michaela and Aaron Paulson moved to town. Dave met Michaela through a ditch digging job he was doing in Tea, S.D. Michaela was looking for horse training work and Hulsteins needed someone to coordinate and teach their horsemanship programs.
Michaela and Aaron Paulsen with the horses used for riding lessons. In addition to the horses and camping, the Hulsteins and Paulsens own Diamond Aussies. They breed and sell standard Australian Shepherd dogs. Australian Shepherds can be used as cattle dogs, but they also can be trained as service dogs and for show.
Michaela has loved horses since she was a little girl. She says her first word was “horse.” When she was eleven years old she worked all sorts of jobs so that she could earn enough money to buy her own horse. She is from Pinedale, Wyoming, but has family in Sioux Falls.
Michaela trains horses, teaches riding lessons, and offers horse therapy sessions. She is certified with the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) and can also teach hippotherapy. She graduated from Lamar Community College in Colorado with a degree in equine management.
Equine-assisted therapy focuses on addressing mental health, with patients caring for horses in a stable setting. Hippotherapy, on the other hand, is an approach to physical therapy where the patient rides horses in order to address physical health. She offers therapy sessions on Mondays and Fridays.
Right now, Michaela has 12 students who are taking riding lessons. She offers lesson on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning. She offers classes to all ages – adults, too. Students should be at least five years old to learn how to ride. She also plans on offering clinics on specific disciplines in the future.
In addition to teaching horsemanship, Michaela trains horses. She has two horses she is training for customers right now. She also just purchased three mustangs – wild horses that have never been ridden – that she is training.
