Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 22, 1990 TAG: 9004220131
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: KAREN L. DAVIS Special to the Roanoke Times & World-News
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
And Saturday's threatening weather did not prevent the young riders from showing off their skills and grace throughout the day at the second Virginia Horse Festival in Lexington.
Currently the East Coast trot team champions, the Mount Tabor team has 14 members, ages 7 to 20. They practice at the Dori-Del Equine Center in Christiansburg. James Cooper co-coaches the team with Jennifer Williams, a top East Coast vaulter.
Vaulting, or trick riding, emphasizes coordination, Cooper said. "You don't have to be good with horses, you don't have to be strong, you don't have to be a gymnast to learn how to do this," Cooper said. "The sport teaches body coordination, which compensates for the strength and flexibility you don't have. But it also helps you develop that strength and flexibility you need."
Vaulting is an ancient sport used by the Romans to train their equestrian warriors, Cooper explained. "Pony club members use it quite a bit to improve their riding. It improved my riding tremendously," he said.
He and Williams vault internationally with the U.S. team, but the sport is done only as a demonstration at the Olympics.
But "there's a strong chance that it will be included in the 1992 games," Cooper said.
If so, spectators at the two-day festival at the Virginia Horse Center may be lucky enough to see some future gold medalists in the making.
The vault team is just one of many demonstration groups showcasing the state's diverse horse industry at the festival. Other demonstrations or displays feature English and Western riding disciplines, fox hunting and farrier work, tack and equipment, and equine art and photography. The event also offers free wagon rides behind mules or Suffolk Punches.
4-H groups present periodic programs on how to care for a stalled horse, how to lead a horse, how to feed a carrot to a horse and how to judge a horse show class.
Debbie Harless and the 4-H Riders of Salem also gave an educational demonstration on "Learning to Jump and Ride Hunters."
"People think horses jump all by themselves. I'm here to tell you that's not true," Harless said, as her riders demonstrated how they train over cavalletti (evenly spaced poles laid flat on the ground.) Next comes grid work, which includes cavalletti and low fences. Grid work conditions the horse athletically and "teaches the rider to gauge the horse through the obstacle," Harless said.
Numerous horse breeds also are on exhibit, including some unusual ones.
Linda White of Raphine said her American Bashkir Curlies are among the rarest of all breeds. There are only about 800 of them registered in the United States and Canada. Curlies are named for their 3- to 6-inch-long wavy winter coats and curly manes and tails. Although the animals shed their curls in summer, their fetlocks, ear hairs and manes and tails remain curly.
Curlies are believed to be an ancient breed, possibly originating from Russian stock, but they were first sighted wild in the U.S. in Nevada around 1898. They drew attention then because they were the only horses to survive a particularly treacherous winter blizzard, White said.
Breeders have not yet unraveled the specific genetic requirements for the curly trait. Nor have they figured out why curlies possess one other mysterious characteristic - they are hypoallergenic. People who usually are allergic to horses report that they have no unpleasant symptoms around curlies, White said.
Festival manager Bonnie Grogan said commercial vendor space and draft horse pull participants have nearly doubled from last year's event. About 8,500 spectators showed up last year. Grogan said she expected this year's total attendance to be between 10,000 and 12,000.
The festival continues today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children under age 12.
by CNB