Until Next Year

The exhilaration of the jumping is a great place to end the visit to Danada. I certainly intend to return in 2010, hopefully with the grandchildren. One of the best highlights of the fall season.
Next post moves on to another fall event revolving around horses. And a missing animal of another sort!

Another Jumper

As promised, here we see the second horse running through the paces at the jumps. As you see the horse standing still, then beginning to move into the jump and finally launching itself above and across the barrier, the power and grace are just phenomenal. After the horses warm up, the first jumps are low and narrow, but they become wider as well as higher as the demonstration continues.
The ease with which these wonderful animals jump and land, powering their massive bodies over the barriers along with their riders, was the most memorable moment of a fine Sunday afternoon at Danada. Our next post will be there for one more look.

Stars of the Show

While the entire Fall Festival at Danada was delightful, and while there were so many sights to see they cannot all be listed here, there was a clear star of the show to my eyes. My eyes including the lens of my Nikon, of course.
Finding the right location to sit or crouch or stand is the first basic in all pictures, of course, and steeplechase-style jumping is no exception. Once in position, though, the photographer is guaranteed action in a pre-determined location. Just be ready and the horses will show you exactly what you are looking for. At the Festival, two horses took turns doing their routines; one is shown here and the other will be featured in the next post.

Pulling a Cart

This powerful yet gentle animal was impressive, making it hard to take your eyes away from him, running through his paces pulling his cart. We tend to think of "cart horse" as a generic term, not particularly important, but if I owned a cart and intended to ride in it, I would want a reliable, gentle animal who could be entrusted with getting me safely home. This horse was clearly such an animal.
Wonder how well he would do pulling an open sleigh?

Another Strider & a Gaiter

Loved the look in the eyes of this horse, another of the striders we have seen in the previous post. With the tall neck posture, the horse looks so poised until something catches the eye.
The second photo is a gaiter, a horse with a gentle stride that even people with back pain are able to ride. Here the rider demonstrates the smooth gait by carting an egg around the arena on a spoon!
More Danada horses in the next post.

Majestic Striders

One of the demonstration events at the Danada Fall Festival was a variety of horses with different abilities in strides. Two horses in particular, showed a class and majesty that is worth a closer look. Today's photos show the proud neck and the precision movement of the legs in a performance quite easy to enjoy, whether horse and rider were crossing your vision or whether they were headed straight toward you.

Another majestic strider in the next post.

Cowpoke

Sights seen at the Danada Fall Festival included many decorations appropriate to the season, and one well-dressed old cowpoke, wide brim pulled low against the sun, leaning on a fence.

Next post will look at some horses famed for the strides they accomplish. Fascinating detail.

Visit the Stables

Visit the stables at the Danada Fall Festival and have the chance to see the horses up close. Many of the trainers and owners (often the same person) are present and more than willing to talk about the animals and their events. It is easy to see that these magnificent horses are loved and well cared-for.

More views of the horses in the next post.

Horses Everywhere at Danada

Horses everywhere. It was a wonderful afternoon, seeing show horses and draft horses and riding horses and cart horses. The grace and beauty of these animals, many large but other small or amazingly small, is clear. At an event such as the Danada Fall Festival, so much action of so many kinds is jam packed into an afternoon that the scope becomes truly awesome.

And one of the horses dominating the afternoon from me was not there physically but in spirit and in bronze-plaque-marker. Lucky Debonair, winner of the 1965 Kentucky Derby, was trained at Danada and owned by Ada Rice. I worked at a school about four miles from there from 1969 until 2007 and I never knew that until my visit to the Festival. Reminds me again of how young I can be as long as I still seek out new things and new information and new ideas.

More images from the festival in the next post.

Danada Fall Festival

Dan and Ada Rice have and had names as well known in DuPage County as most people, especially since their deaths have turned their Wheaton home into a Forest Preserve District feature. Their names are on public buildings, college facilities, and a major exhibition are at the Art Institute of Chicago. The couples moniker, Danada, is widespread in use in DuPage County. For several years, I have planned to see what their former home was all about. Last week, I did.

Planning to take the grandchildren to see the horses, I was forced to change plans when both Gianna and Joey had fevers and sniffles. But since the Fall Festival is only one day, I decided to check it out for future plans. The 2010 event is already on my calendar!

These two photos are a peek at some of the wonderful seasonal decorations at Danada, provided as a sort of introductory tease. The next post will get into the stars of the show: the horses.