I have been a horse lover since I was six, their ability to speak without words and their strong sense of freedom captured me, and never let go. Growing up I was blessed to be able to interact with horses from various places, even taking lessons for a few years. My passion has not wavered and I attend the Equine Affair every year as a strong horse enthusiast.
Equine Affair is the largest horse related trade fair in North America, it holds hundreds of demonstrations and clinics, in every discipline you can imagine; dressage, western, jumping, driving, and beyond. The show horses seen in these demos and their farm representatives are stalled in barns open for the public to walk through and greet.
Besides the horses themselves, there are also three massive buildings full of vendors selling every horse related product and more. Tack, brushes, saddles, clothes, toys, barns, and chocolate just scratches the surface. The shopping alone easily eats up the first day of my two day stay.
Once the heavy shopping is out of the way, I head for the breed pavilion. This barn has a stall for top horse breeds and obscure ones as well. Dozens of horses laid out in rows of stalls, with information and resources about each breed. You can visit with the horses and talk to the people passionate about their breed. Its truly a horse lovers dream.
Horses from the Breed Pavilion
Sprinkled throughout the day I attend numerous clinics hosted by various trainers or experienced horsemen and women. This broad group of horse people come together at Equine Affair and share their techniques and philosophy. My personal interest is natural horsemanship. I managed to find a few demos that piqued my interest this year, they were very informative and fascinating to watch.
On Saturday I attended the Beyond the Stick clinic hosted by Sylvia Zerbini. Sylvia Zerbini is a liberty horse trainer who came from Europe. Her work has awed thousands, with her ability to herd up to sixteen horses free at liberty; twelve of them stallions.
On Sunday I attended the Be the Horse You Want to See clinic hosted by Chris Irwin. His work with a young foal was fascinating to observe as he used simple body language with the horse to ask for space and movement. It was truly an awing experience!
To top the night off Equine Affair hosts a spectacular show, the Fantasia. The Fantasia show is a collection of extraordinary horse performances, from liberty work, to comedy skits, packed into one place. Held in a collision, hoards of people fill the stands humming with excitement. It is an unexplainable experience. The show ends at 10:oo pm, then the crowd surges out, some heading home, others heading to local hotels.
In past years I've spent the night in a hotel and resume my agenda the next day. However this year I had the ability to stay over on the grounds in a camper van. This allowed me to take advantage of the whole fair day on Sunday, while also avoiding entering the gates a second time.
By Sunday afternoon the fair grounds are quietening down. The crowds wane and by late afternoon I head home. The ride back always feels long, but full of fun and contentment.
Enigma
For those interested in next years Equine Affair:
http://equineaffaire.com/
https://www.facebook.com/equineaffaire/
Information on Sylvia Zerbini:
http://sylviazerbini.com/
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