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2008 Open House |
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A
Day With Arabians In East Aurora by
Mary Kirkman
writer at the Arabian Horse Times
There are a lot of reasons why
nearly 200 to 250 people attend the Strawberry Banks Open House every
year. Some want to see the farm’s powerhouse stallions, A Temptation,
Hey Hallelujah, and as of this year, Baske Afire. Others want to look at
a top-class facility, and the Arabian nursery is a good example of one
(“It’s as if they said, ‘okay, I’m a horse; what do I want?”
observed one visitor). And some just want to spend a lovely day in the
country, which in western New York in August, is breathtakingly
beautiful. Horse heaven, one guest called it.
This year the event was better than
ever, a real accomplishment given its record of memorable times. The
gates opened at 9:30 in the morning, with the first seminar getting
underway at 10:00. Halter trainer Andy Sellman, of Argent Farms in River
Falls, Wis., was the first speaker, addressing techniques for amateur
halter exhibitors.
“It was very amateur-oriented,”
reports Russ Vento, who was attending his first Strawberry Banks Open
House. “It was all about conditioning, health care, and training—no
jerking and snatching, no rough stuff.”
The group then walked over to the
mare barn to see a selection of 2008 foals by the farm’s stallions,
and take a look at many of the mares. First-time visitors may have been
surprised to find that some of Strawberry Banks’ best broodmares live
Polish-style, loose, in the barn’s indoor arena.
“We’ve done that for six or
seven years now,” says Melanie Murch, who handles Strawberry Banks’
publicity. She notes the feed troughs on the periphery of the arena.
“Each mare knows which one is hers. They go out during the day and
come in a night. We tie them when they are fed, and then turn them loose
to mingle at night. They love it.”
Included in the group of roughly a
half-dozen are U.S. National Champion Mare Ericca, Canadian National
Reserve Champion in Park To Love Again, and the *Elkana daughter Elegant
Crystal, dam of Ericca.
“I had never seen Ericca other
than at the show,” recounts Vento. “So I wanted to see her. And Bob
had To Love Again; she used
to like to be scratched a certain way. I hadn’t seen her in 10 or 12
years, but she came running up to me, and I got to love her and pet her.
Then Ericca walked up, and her attitude was, ‘I want that too!’ So
I’ve got one arm on To Love Again, one on Ericca, and then another
mare comes along and she wants some attention too. So there I am in the
middle of six grey mares, and they are, like, ‘it’s my turn.’ It
was a blast.”
The afternoon clinic for amateurs
was by Bob Battaglia, who focused on how to show horses—not from the
standpoint of specific moves, but relating to the exhibitor’s attitude
about him or herself. Battaglia addressed personal confidence, and how
riders and their horses can work together for a better presentation.
Then he took a break from showing
techniques to chat about the Arabian industry, inviting a
question-and-answer session and throwing out a few topics that sparked a
thoughtful discussion of issues in the Arabian industry. When the clinic
ended, the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
Next on the schedule was the
presentation of sale horses. Assisting resident trainer Brian Murch were
Chad Judy, of Empress Arabians; Sean Sutton, of Highland Farm; Rodney
Echenrode of Equistar Training Center; Greg Knowles and Chris Petford.
By the end of the day, three of the horses offered had found new homes
(selling themselves, some guests commented, since the Strawberry Banks
format involved no “hard sell”), and in the days following, three
more changed hands as well.
After dinner, a highlight of the
program was “Memories of Arabian Horse Legends,” a 20-minute video
sponsored by Barbara Chur and narrated by Harry Cooper. Her goal was to
create an educational tool for enthusiasts who were not in the Arabian
industry to know the famous names in pedigrees personally. From grainy
footage of *Bask in Poland to videos of such valued names as Huckleberry
Bey, Zodiac Matador and FF Summer Storm, the film detailed the
accomplishments, bloodlines and importance of historic horses. It closed
with a brief but detailed study of the Strawberry Banks stallions.
When the lights came up, the
farm’s trio of stallions, all decked out in roses, were presented.
Brian Murch rose seven-time national champion Hey Hallelujah, while Jim
Stachowski was aboard new arrival Baske Afire. A Temptation, a four-time
national champion, was turned loose to perform for the crowd. Then their
saddles came off and visitors were invited to get up-close-and-personal
with the champion of their choice.
As an extra treat, U.S. National
Champion Mare Maggdalina was brought in during the evening, and guests
were invited to meet her personally. Russ Vento voiced a thought that
may have been in many minds: “We don’t see enough of that in our
breed. We don’t get to touch our national champions. Maggdalina is one of the most
beautiful mares! There were a hundred people standing around her, and
her attitude was like, ‘who’s got the carrot?’”
In addition to the real Maggdalina,
sculptor Judy Nordquist was on hand with a clay model of her bronze of
the mare for the crowd to preview.
“It was like the years of horse fair when
you got to see and touch horses you’d only seen in the magazine,”
says Russ Vento. “It was more like a promotion for the Arabian horse,
not just Strawberry Banks.”
“Barbara is all about sharing
information,” Melanie Murch agrees. “She always gets great people
for our seminars, and she tries to make it easy for newcomers to see the
Arabian horse. And it’s all free. We did sell horses—but the Open
House is about more than that. One sale this year was to a woman who
came to an open house a few years ago. She’s retired now and has time
to spend to horses. She hadn’t been in Arabians before, but she is
now.”
And so with good food, education to
challenge the mind, and horses to inspire the spirit, the latest
Strawberry Banks Open House passed into history. Everything had fallen
into place—even the weather. The party moved indoors in the twilight
of a summer evening, and within minutes, the skies opened and lightning
dazzled the sky.
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