academic grades and citizenship. In 2010, the Lancer Platoon and Equestriennes were both part of the opening ceremonies at the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky. The entire troop, as well as the Equestriennes, participated in the inaugural parade. Horses for the troop are selected first based on color—they have to be black—and then on tempera- ment. “They have to be kid-safe,” Mark explains. “We try to get them between age seven and 17 and emphasize that they have to be kid- broke. We look for ads where people say the horses are well broke, and we also get donations of high-quality horses from people who are attached to the idea of the horses participat- ing; we’ve got some nice Friesians and Warmbloods, and the owners get a nice tax donation. If they seem suitable they go into training for a few weeks and then we put them in the program.”
He estimates that 90 percent of the boys in the program
haven’t ridden previously in their life and a considerable number of girls as well, so horses in the troop must be suit- able for beginners. While the Black Horse Troop requires very specific horses, the Equestriennes ride all sorts of horses. During an inaugural parade, they may be mounted on jump- ers or polo ponies—the only requirement being that the horses have the temperament to stay in formation and keep cool under pressure.
Preparation Riding in the inaugural parade is an honor to which many students aspire. Preparation for the big event began in the fall, with desensitizing the horses to noise and crowds a high priority. During this year’s parade, the Culver Academies’ troops were positioned between the Indianapolis Metropoli- tan Police motorcycle unit and the Columbus North High School marching band, which meant training to desensitize the horses to loud noises was crucial. “We started practicing in early October. We put them in
parade formation; the boys ride the black horses and the girls ride polo ponies and jumpers generally, and we’ll find out with training which horses are best,” Mark says. “The Equestri- ennes are an honor association, so they’re more than capable of handling the horses in the parade.” Practice took place three to four times a week as a group,
and riders also had mounted classes. If any horses needed a little extra attention with the flag or other spooky objects, they practiced that too, so some sort of training took place nearly every day. “We have lots and lots of desensitization during the week: we have the band march in front and behind, and we
The group held many practice sessions before the event like this one. The final practice parade went through parts of campus and the town of Culver the Sunday before.
also have a CD of band music to play loudly over the sound system,” Mark continues. “The alternates whoop and holler from the sidelines, and we blast a CD with applause sounds to get the horses used to that. We use a smoke machine to replicate steam coming out of the sewer grates, and there can be trash blowing around in the city so we set up a giant fan and blew trash around during our practice sessions. We took them on long Sunday rides carrying flags, and we used police sirens.”
Travel Logistics While spectators can hop on a bus or train or travel by air to the inaugural celebration, getting 80 students and their horses from Indiana to the District of Columbia was a logistical feat. The 56-student all male troop joined the 24 members of the Culver Girls Academy Equestriennes to ride in the parade and 12 alternates traveled with them to help with preparing the horses. The trip required five 18-wheeler trucks, as well as another smaller truck, to ship the horses and another two 18-wheelers to transport tack and other gear, as well as feed and wheelbarrows, etc. Three big coach buses transported the kids and chaperones. To keep the horses fed and watered, they packed 500 pounds of grain, 300 bales of hay and 160 buckets for feed and water. They traveled on Wednesday and returned home on Sunday, with time for some sightseeing around the capi- tol city. “We have a huge committee involved in the school that handles the financial side of it, programming and opera- tions,” Mark Waller says. “It’s a huge undertaking from the Alumni Association and the parents. It’s wonderful. We’re all friends and do our own piece; there are so many moving parts to put it together from start to finish. The academy coordinates communications and sends photos of the kids to their hometown newspapers. All told, it’s a huge undertaking.”
Warmbloods Today 37
Jan Garrison
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