Equestrian Center takes road trip
DECATUR — Thanksgiving is always a time to get together with family and friends, eat turkey and watch football on the television. But one Decatur group decided to do something a little different this year. On Nov. 20, four days before Thanksgiving, the Legends Equestrian Center decided to participate in an event that would send riders on an eight mile round trip journey down a dusty road from its Decatur location to the Horses for Healing facility near Highfill.
The theme for the first annual Horses for Healing Turkey Trot Cross Country Fun Day was super- heroes. A few days before the ride, the group got together to decide what superhero they would portray. Their decision, a superhero made famous by Lynda Carter in 1975, Wonder Woman.
On a crisp 30 degree morning at around 9:30 a.m, 12 horses with 12 lady riders known as “The Wonder Women Brigade” left the Legends Equestrian Center down State Highway 102.
“We stopped a lot of traffic on the way over,” said Heather Swope, owner-operator of LEC. “Not too many people expected to see 12 wonder women riding down the road on a Sunday morning.”
The group of lady riders, some experienced and some novice rid- ers, ranged in ages from 40 all the way down to 8.
Once the LEC group arrived on site, it was time to practice jumping the varied obstacles Horses for Healing offered.
“They built new jumps this year which were fun to school,” Swope said.
The turkey trot event featured a series of four games, jumping, tandem turkey, turkey on the loose and a scavenger hunt. The jumping event consisted of a team of riders, matched according to their skill level, jumping over a set of predetermined obstacles. The group with the highest score won.
The tandem turkey event consisted of a team of riders completing a course of five predetermined obstacles geared to their rated riding level. The team jumped the first two obstacles with one person in the lead, then switched to another leader for the next two obstacles.
“The riders will jump in unison-tandem over the last obstacle. All levels are judged together. To be judged on form, tempo, pace and synchronicity” ( Turkey Trot Cross Country rules).
The turkey on the loose event was one of the most interesting events on the program. Each competitor was accompanied by a mounted timer-score keeper. The competitors had five minutes to jump as many obstacles as they chose. The winner was determined by secret condition drawn from several options after the last rider finished the course.
“After practice, the games began with the scavenger hunt,” said Swope. “Everyone had 15 minutes to walk or trot around the course and spy items that didn’t belong … like a baby in a high chair, a mailbox, an umbrella hanging in the trees, etc. Then teams were sent on course to jump five obstacles – our teams came in a three-way tie for first! We also had a great tailgate for superheroes!”