News, from page 13 Intercollegiate and Interscholastic (I/I) polo takes place in an arena, and Susie says that she and Tiger are finalizing a deal to have a polo arena constructed in a convenient location so that the new I/I program will have its own home base. Intercollegiate polo is highly competitive, and the new team will not necessarily be dominant, but it will certainly be a contender. Both Caldwell twins are accomplished players, and Charlie Caldwell has an added distinction as a horse trainer. Last year he entered and won the national Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover Challenge with a 3-year old mare named Old Tavern, beating about 300 professional and amateur trainers in almost a dozen different disciplines. “We’re all really excited about the Caldwells coming,” says Susie. “We hope that having a good team here will encourage other polo kids to consider USC Aiken when they are making their college plans.” A number of potential new recruits will be in town from April 2829 when the National Youth Series Tournament comes to Aiken once again. For more information, contact Tiger Kneece at 803-646-3301.
Horses And Harmony:
“Horses and Harmony,” a benefit for the Aiken Symphony Orchestra, will be held in the covered arena at Stable View at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 21. The event consists of a concert given by a 30-piece orchestra while a variety of different horsemen perform assorted routines and demonstrations to the music. The musical instruments selected for the concert include violins, wind instruments and horns. Timpani drums, which might scare the horses, are being left behind. The musicians will be set up in a roped-off end of the arena, where there will also be tables for eight, a silent auction and a bar. The other half of the arena will be reserved for equestrian performers. These will include the Grand Prix dressage rider Charlotte Bayley, who will put on a musical freestyle aboard her Dutch Warmblood, Unlimited. There will be a mini horse and carriage drill team: They are called the Bumblebees and the plan is to dress the horses and drivers in black and yellow stripes and perform a routine to the strains of RimskyKorsakov’s the Flight of the Bumblebee. Katherine Gunter and Gina Salatino, both members of the Aiken Hounds, are planning to show off their off the track Thoroughbreds, which they have been retraining as part of the Retired Racehorse Program’s “America’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred” competition. And the Shae Rose Vaulters, a group from the Charlotte area, will demonstrate their athletic skills. There will be many other acts, including the “Happy Hour” drill team, which has a reputation for being amusing. David Stinson, a realtor at Meybohm and a well-known figure in Aiken’s equestrian and cultural circles, will act as the emcee. The idea to combine horses with music as a way to raise money came about through a conversation between Em Lignon (the three-time
president of the Aiken Symphony Guild and current fundraising chair) and Donald Portnoy, the symphony’s conductor. “We thought the idea was brilliant,” said Dave Tavernier who is the current Aiken Symphony Guild president. “It’s a unique blend of the equestrian and the symphonic community.” Horses and music have gone together since ancient times, according to various legends. One of the most interesting goes like this: the Sybarites who lived in southern Italy in the 5th century BCE, had trained their horses to dance to the music of a flute. When their enemies, the people of Croton, came to conquer the city, they pulled a dirty trick. Instead of using their usual trumpets to call their soldiers to the front lines, they sent a squadron of musicians to play dancing tunes on flutes. At the sound, the Sybarite war horses immediately threw their riders and began dancing. Croton won the battle. Musical accompaniment to equestrian pageantry continued for centuries. From the time of the Crusades through the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, equestrian events were a staple of royal life. European courts combined ceremony, horsemanship and music in festivals that included parades, jousts, tournaments, and equestrian ballets. In these events, noblemen rode horses that had been trained to step high and to execute various geometric figures. The routines were often similar to those performed by dancers in courtly ballets of the same era. Today’s musical freestyle classes at dressage shows are the direct descendants of the Renaissance horse ballets. There are also many different troupes of horses that dance to music, including the Lipizzaner in Austria, the royal horses in Spain, and a number of different traveling equestrian acts. Horses and Harmony is a modern rarity, however, since these days most horses that dance to music have to make do with recordings rather than live musicians. Tickets are $80 per person; go to www.symphonyguild.org to order or send in your check to the guild at P.O. Box 2801, Aiken 29802. Call 803-645-6545 for more information. Tables of eight may be reserved. by Diana Hunt
Extreme Mustang Redux
Nicola Bolt, a local horse trainer, has once again accepted the challenge to transform an American Mustang from ‘wild to mild’ in only 118 days for this year’s Extreme Mustang Makeover competition. The Mustang Heritage Foundation designed the EMM to showcase the trainability and versatility of mustangs in the hopes of increasing awareness about America’s native horses. The 2018 Extreme Mustang Makeover finals will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky on June 21. Mustangs that have been a part of the competition will be auctioned to approved homes immediately following the finals. Nicola was the reserve champion of the 2017 Extreme Mustang Makeover last year with a tractable mare named Coraline. This year, Nicola picked up two mustangs on February 23. Both horses were
No More Fire Ants! We offer a wide range of fencing, including equestrian properties and residential privacy fencing. Run in and storage sheds are also available.
Free estimates and design assistance Contact John at (803) 292-5161 30
The Aiken Horse
Green Solutions Pastures / Rangeland Satisfaction Guaranteed!! Call 803-649-9803 to learn more about our Fire Ant Treatment for Pastures. www.aikenpest.com
April-May 2018