What this Chesapeake horseman can teach you - Virginia Horse ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

AT THE FAIR 8 Fall 2009 danceS with horSeS Accomack County 4-H drill team to try to score another win By Carlos Santos One thing Stephanie Fox knows how to do is dance with horses. Fox, 18, was on the six-person Hoof Beats by the Beach 4-H drill team from Accomack County that won the state championship last year at the Virginia State 4-H Championship Horse and Pony Show. It was a big win, garnering praise even from the Virginia General Assembly which passed a resolution noting “the Hoof Beats members and their horses impressed the judges and an enthusiastic crowd of supporters with a brilliant performance.” Unsure what a drill team of horses actually does? Fox said it isn’t easy to describe. “It’s when you get a bunch of horseback riders riding in the same movement to the same music with lyrics or without lyrics. “It’s a dance of horse riders and horses,’’ she said. “It’s a whole bunch of horses doing the same thing to music. It’s really fun to watch.” Last year, 18 teams competed for the championship. Fox said lots of practice and the right choreography helped the Hoof Beats win. The music certainly was lively enough. The Hoof Beats entered the ring to the sound of the Beach Boys’ song “Wipe Out.” “We had a beach theme — a surfer theme,” Fox said. “That was our opening song.” www.horsenation.us 2009 Drill Team Competition When: Sept. 27. Where: the Virginia 4-h State Fair horse Show at the Meadow event park in doswell. Details: State Fair 4-h horse Show Manager eleszabeth Mcneel at e7aquila@aol.com. The team, riding English, walked and trotted in sync to a routine choreographed by Kendy Allen, who also coached the team. Members of the winning drill team besides Fox, were Kenneth Allen, Sara Miles, Brittany Kemp, Chris Reeder and Elizabeth Snyder. Kenneth Allen, now 20, was club president last year. “The closer the competition got, the more we crammed in the practice,” he said. The team practiced at the nearby Pony Pines Farm and worked together almost flawlessly. “This is a small 4-H club,” said Allen, now a National Guardsman. “We’re all close anyway.” The team had six to eight minutes to show its stuff. That stuff — including deftly handled synchronized turns and lines — was good enough for the state championship. The point of the competition, however, is more than just winning a title. “It makes you a better rider,” Fox said. “It Photo courtesy of Kendy Allen Hoof Beats by the Beach 4-H drill team members in the 2008 state finals were Brittany Kemp (from left), Sara Miles, Kenneth Allen, Chris Reeder, Stephanie Fox and Elizabeth Snyder. teaches you and your horse how you can become a team . . . and it teaches you how to work together with other riders.” Fox, president of the Hoof Beats club this year, just graduated from Holly Grove Christian School in Westover, Md., and is set to attend Eastern Shore Community College for two years before moving on to a four-year college. “I plan to keep riding and I plan to go to the state show this year and next year,” she said. ▪The Post welcomes feedback and story ideas. To contact us, e-mail Joan Hughes at jchruby@msn.com or call (804) 512-4373. kendy allen’s account of the 2008 finals I don’t know how much of that drill team story you were told, but the whole thing could be made into a Disney movie. It was that incredible. The club that it originated from is a young club, with only its second drill team ever entered in competition. We started with 10 members at the beginning of the summer, and it dwindled down to seven throughout the summer. The seventh one quit due to stress in her personal life the night before we left for states [The Virginia State 4-H Championship Horse and Pony Show]. The next day at states we were allowed one practice — and because everyone had a new position due to now only having six riders, the entire drill crashed and fell apart in the big arena with all the other teams watching. You could just see the other teams cross Hoofbeats by the Beach off their list to worry about. But that incredible team of six riders, the youngest (Lizzie) being 10 years old, and on the waiting list to even go to states for the longest time, Kenneth being in basic Army training all summer in Missouri and only getting home three weeks before states and learning the drill then, to Sara who was a natural leader and kept them moving no matter what, to Stephanie who overcame a tremendous attack of nerves, to Chris who couldn’t tell his left from his right, to Brittany who was in her first year of 4-H at 18 and really worked hard to learn to ride. It was an incredible joy to coach them and teach them drills through all the frustrations. Their story really is huge at what they overcame and learned and how that hard work paid off.
Fall 2009 tips for success Photo courtesy of Kendy Allen Standing from left: Kenneth Allen, Sara Miles, Brittany Kemp and Chris Reeder. Kneeling from left: Elizabeth Snyder and Stephanie Fox. Kenneth Allen was president of the Hoof Beats by the Beach 4-H club of Accomack County when the drill team won last year’s state competition. His secrets for success include: ▪ Practice a lot. The team started practicing one year before the competition and at least once a week. As the contest approached, the team practiced as often as it could. ▪ Each team member knew the other members well, leading to a unique cohesion and a cooperation fostered by friendship. ▪ Ride experienced horses. ▪ Use lively music so the crowd gets behind you. ▪ Foster team spirit because without it you’re not going to win anything. Behind the SceneS Blacksburg woman oversees Virginia’s 4-H horse program By Carlos Santos Celeste Crisman teaches kids how to successfully handle life through handling horses. “I truly believe that much of their success is due to the life skills they have learned through the 4-H horse program,” said Crisman, equine extension specialist for youth based at Virginia Tech. “The best part of my job is seeing Virginia’s youth learn, mature and excel, not only in relation to the 4-H horse program but in all facets of their lives.” Crisman has plenty of horse experience to bring to her Virginia CRISMAN Cooperative Extension job. The 47-year-old horsewoman, whose husband Mark is an equine veterinarian at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in Blacksburg, has been riding horses since she was 12. “I’ve been riding all my life,” she said. She and her husband have five horses on their farm in Blacksburg. “We trail ride and do a lot of camping.” The overall thrust of her job — though focused on youth — is to promote the horse industry in Virginia. That promotion has been successful from all evidence. The state is the fifth largest equine state (by number of horses) in the country and horses are its seventh largest agricultural commodity (according to the 2001 Virginia Equine Survey), she said. “There’s more people involved in the horse industry than ever before,” said Crisman, who is also a Virginia Horse Council director and a Virginia Horse Industry Board member. As equine extension specialist for youth, one of her key jobs is organizing all state-level 4-H (head, heart, hands and health) horse programs including the Virginia 4-H State Fair Horse Show in September at The Meadow Event Park in Doswell. Her biggest task, however, is to oversee one of the Style and practicality make Hobby Hill Farms’ custom-made purses and totes the perfect gift for the horse lover in your family or as a treat for yourself. Hand-sewn leather combined with scenic designs and mosaic tapestries in a variety of styles are sure to yield one that’s a perfect gift. And, they are made in Virginia. Cost: $30.00-$70.00 Contact: 804-598-6095 or logon to: www.hobbyhillfarm.com; you may also find some of our designs at fine jewelry stores across the US. 9 AT THE FAIR Photo courtesy of Celeste Crisman Celeste Crisman, on the bay horse turning left, led 4-H’ers on a 50-mile ride at Mount Rogers in 2008. largest 4-H horse shows in the country — the Virginia State 4-H Championship Horse and Pony Show set for Sept. 17- 20 at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington. “We have 600 youths that bring their horses to compete and another 250 that compete in the educational competitions and, in all, we bring about 2,500 people to the Lexington area for the weekend,” Crisman said. The show features almost every kind of riding including pleasure, equitation, dressage and jumping. Crisman also coordinates all state-level horseless competitions for those who don’t own horses but still love them. One example of such a competition is Hippology, a four-phase competition that includes horse judging and a written exam. “I have been in this position for 4½ years and many of the youth that were just becoming seniors in the program are now finished as 4-H’ers — they are moving in to college or careers and realize the value of their hard work in the program,” Crisman said. “Many continue with the program — giving back by volunteering and mentoring the younger 4-H’ers. It doesn’t get much more rewarding than that.” www.horsenation.us
Page 1 and 2: What this Chesapeake horseman can t
Page 3 and 4: LETTERS To The Post: I have been wa
Page 5 and 6: Fall 2009 5 ON THE COVER Mounted po
Page 7: Fall 2009 7 ON THE COVER reSearcher
Page 11 and 12: Fall 2009 (804) 598-6095 contact@ho
Page 13 and 14: Fall 2009 ShootinG Star? Manakin-Sa
Page 15: Fall 2009 horse trails for us all,

What this Chesapeake horseman can teach you - Virginia Horse ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?