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'Hags' are happiest when horsin' around

Photo

Photo by Al Hoch

Several members of the riding group Hags on Nags ride the trails around Gibbs Lake in western Rock County during a recent outing.

Photo

Photo by Al Hoch

Sherri Torrison of Milton prepares her ride during a recent Hags on Nags outing.

JANESVILLE — Sandy Rogers loves horsin’ around.

She gets to do so when she’s not saddled with real-life responsibilities and hoofin’ it with her Hags on Nags horse lovers.

Rogers and a half-dozen of her neighbors—all middle-aged empty nesters—harnessed their lifelong desire by creating Hags on Nags.

They never dreamed their horseplay in 2002 would breed such enthusiasm.

But it has.

Hags on Nags today has 80 members, from Canada and the United States, who are in their 20s to 60s. Many are professionals—nurses, accountants, teachers and business owners.

“Some have had horses all their lives, some only within the last year or two, and we have all levels of riders,” said Rogers, 55, of Milton.

The group has no official rules or elections and conducts only one meeting a year when the Filly Forum—a six-member advisory board—asks for volunteers to take turns organizing monthly activities and goals for the next calendar year. Annual dues of $10 help pay for the cost of the Hags’ Web site, www.hagsonnags.net.

Rogers is the group’s herdmare and has the job of writing the monthly newsletter. Sandy Olds of Whitewater is known as the group’s parade princess while Lisa Tucker of Johnstown Center is the Web goddess and Sherri Torrison of Milton is treasurer.

Rogers can’t stress enough how important members’ horses are to their mental well-being.

“Some people pay therapists. We buy hay,” she said.

On the serious side, the group provides education and clinics for learning more about horses. Members also have corralled money to fight breast cancer and to benefit a local horse-riding therapeutic program plus a local woman who was left paralyzed from her waist down after a horse-riding accident.

Camaraderie also has trotted group members through difficult times. Rogers said she doesn’t know what she would have done without the support of her Hags on Nags when her 79-year-old mother died recently.

“They came together and took care of my horses while I was away for the funeral. There are so many of them who’ve also shared that depth of loss. We’re just there for each other,” she said, getting all choked up.

The group plans a monthly activity, the last was the June 8 sixth-anniversary ride/potluck, in addition to camping trips and clinics. A yearlong calendar is posted on the Web site.

The site also canters through club information, horse-related items that are for sale, links to horse associations, clinicians, clubs and magazines plus a newsletter and photos.

Rogers said she’s never bored now that she’s a Hag. “There’s always something going on with the group.”

Rogers said the popularity of the group comes from a love of family, which Hags commonly have put first.

“It’s a place you can be with your own kind.”