The Craft: Laura Amandis and Acierto
enabled us to accomplish this going to make him a star.’ Graciously,
in such a short time frame. It Dawn smiled. Several years passed
had never happened before. before we met again and with that
Of course, as I cannot say same smile we shared pride in what
enough, ‘The training never we had done.”
ends.’ We still had a long jour- Pride in performance started early
ney ahead of us.” for Laura. Being in the right place at
The Circus Life the right time set her on her path as a
The journey began when professional equine performer. “I was
Laura was born to circus life. an aerialist and dancer at a thrill spec-
Her parents were top-notch tacular show at the Epcot Center at
performers who demonstrated Disney World in Florida. The show
By Kris Garrett
their talent all across the U.S. closed shortly after I got there. We
Her father brought his unique skills happened to be across the street from
Rhinestones flash to the sultry
from Denmark, where he learned his a new project being built, which was
music under the spotlight as the two-
craft through the traditions of the trav- the Arabian Nights Dinner Theater. At
and four-legged dancers twirl and
eling gypsies. Her mother, born in that point I had been on the road all
entwine. The audience holds its
America to a family of horsemen, rode my life, and I really wanted a more
breath when the glowing white stal-
with the White Horse Troupe, where stationary job. So I marched across
lion without any tack charges, then
she fearlessly stood Roman style on the street and filled out an applica-
slides to a stop, inches from his
the backs of a team of four horses as tion.. I had a lot of horse experience as
human partner. She doesn’t move,
they jumped huge obstacles, delight- well as performance experience, so
demonstrating a well-established trust
ing fans across the country. As a pre- they hired me on. It was a great move
that fetches a palpable sigh from the
cocious 4-year-old, Laura rode her for me. Through Arabian Nights and
spectators. Cheers explode when the
first pony in a circus parade; the sweet their training program, I had the
powerful Andalusian stallion suddenly
smell of horse sweat and the cheering opportunity to work with some of the
raises himself up to his full height and
crowd engraving a love of equestrian great horse trainers of all time.
walks on hind legs in response to her
theatrics in her soul. She was hooked. Reining horse trainers, trick horse
almost invisible request. No tack of
”I believe my mother was preg- trainers, movie trainers. . . people like
any kind connects the two. Only the
nant with me while she was perform- Glen Randall, the trainer for Trigger,
bond of familiarity and respect holds
ing,” she shares with a laugh. “It’s The Black Stallions ,and the Ben Hur
them together.
hard to get the sawdust out of your chariot racers. Then there was Corky
It all looks so easy, like a loving
veins.” [Randall] and Gaylord Maynard,
dance between friends. What the
Laura has honed and improved Frederic Pignon and Magali Delgado,
audience does not see are the hours
her craft by riding with, and learning who would later create Cavalia… I’ve
and hours of tedious work, the suc-
from, some of the top trainers in the been very fortunate.”
cesses and failures, the long sessions
business. She was a resident per- The work is an honorable profes-
in freezing arenas, the months of train-
former and trainer for the Arabian sion that encompasses not only an
ing, training, and more training. The
Nights Dinner Theater in Florida for understanding of the horse, but also
liberty act they share has made eques-
many years before heading out on her the psyche of a human audience.
trian performer Laura Amandis and
own to travel the country with her own Making it look easy is a big part of the
her beautiful Andalusian stallion,
equine friend and partner, Acierto. craft. The audience wants to be
Acierto, famous.
A Performance Partnership amazed, entertained, thrilled and
“I have trained several liberty
“Acierto came to me from impressed. Mistakes are not easily
horses during my career,” Laura says.
Glorioso Farms in Celina, Texas, as a forgiven or forgotten. The stakes are
“When the time came for Acierto to
2-year-old colt. I wanted to find a spe- high, the pay can be low, but the
join me in the dance, the training start-
cial horse and build my dream. I rewards are generous.
ed in early summer of 2002. To my
remember saying to Acierto’s breeder, “Going into larger arenas and
surprise, four months later, he was
Dawn Griggs, just before he climbed developing more intricate movements,
ready. I think we both had the experi-
on to my beat-up old truck and trailer, somewhere along the road Acierto and
ence and trust in each other that
and me with a baby on my hip, ‘I’m I became partners,” notes Amandis.
22 ANDALUSIAN Issue 2, 2009
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