After I left the Arabian Stallion behind I wandered into the “Coliseum”, one of the other large buildings.
This one was like an auditorium with tiers of seats and high ceilings. The center of the big building was a dirt covered ring. This is where they would hold “Fantasia” later in the evening.
In the center of the ring was a young filly and a trainer. For a moment I thought I’d walked in on Monty Roberts, The Horse Whisperer. The movements were the same, all calm and flowing. The trainer was wearing a head set and explaining everything as he worked. Once more the feeling that I was watching Monty Roberts hit me. Clearly this trainer was a student of that training philosophy.
If you ever get a chance to watch this type of trainer in action don’t miss it. It’s a beautiful thing to see. It’s so calm and gentle and the progress is astounding.
I wish I had been familiar with these techniques back when I was a kid and had a young handful of a horse.
I wanted to watch the whole training session but the Arabian was being brought out to a small ring and it was going to be my one chance for pictures without bars.
When a horse was moved from a stall to a ring two people did it. One when ahead through the crowd calling out “Horse coming through” and the visitors got out of the way. Then the 2nd person led the animal along the open path. Made me think of the way cars clear a path on the highway for emergency vehicles.
As I was trying to photograph the Arabian, another visitor told me I had to see the “Celebrity Horse” presentation. This is a brief presentation of a horse that has earned championship status. The horses being showcased were the crème de la crème, a different horse each day.
So saying goodbye to my beautiful Arabian I headed back through two huge buildings to locate the “Youth Pavilion” and today’s Celebrity Horse.