Local girls perform in Central Park Horse Show
By Edie Johnson
GOSHEN — What do four horse-crazy girls do when they hear a once-in-a lifetime horse show is going to be held at Central Park in New York City, with Olympic gold medal riders and famous horses like Ravel? Well, they pack up their horses and race off to join the competition.
The Camo Queens — Heather Perry of Goshen with her horse Shotzie, Lexie Falkena from Warwick with her horse Hot Shot, Camille Lieberman from Warwick with her rescue pony Quest4Camelot, and Rebecca Guerrera from Goshen, who was loaned a horse from the other team — got together with the local Pony Club District commissioner, Scott Perry (who is also vice president at Atlas Security Services in Goshen), and Assistant District Pony Club Commissioner Ellen Guerrera. They now have a seven-year contract to repeat the "funtabulous" event.
A weekend of exciting news
Ellen Guerrera is an accomplished rider at Nina Lieberman's Whisper Wind Farm in Warwick and the proud mother of Rebecca Guerrera. She wrote the a synopsis of the girls' adventures at the show in late September, while the rest of the Orange County equestrian community anxiously awaited news flashes from the girls like "Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm standing next to Olympic medal horse Ravel!" The news was reported nearly hourly over the exciting weekend.
From Ellen Guerrera:
"At about 5 a.m. on Saturday morning are unloading horses and ponies from trailers by the light of New York City street lamps. It's the Central Park Horse Show and Pony Club is here to show the crowd a taste of Mounted Games.
"By 6 a.m.. dawn is breaking and the ponies are settled in their stalls after a middle of the night drive down from upstate NY. They don't seem to be bothered by the fact that towering skyscrapers have replaced the oaks and maples that surround their usual pastures.
"Team No Brakes No Problem made up of members from the New York/Upper Connecticut, Metropolitan and the Central New England regions and Team Camo Queens from the New Jersey Region are here by invitation, representing Pony Club in the inaugural Central Park Horse Show. During the four matinee performances they competed in a series of mounted games as part of a showcase that included demos of vaulting, pony steeplechasing, polo, dressage and a liberty performance by Guy McLean.
"The mounted games were a real crowd pleaser. They included the Balloon Race, Mug Shuffle, Old Sock, Bending Race and Five Flags among others. The audience really got into the spirit, cheering and clapping for their favorite pony and rider combination. The teams were made up of members that ran the gamut from being very experienced in Games competition, having competed in the International Games in Australia in June, to one member who had only practiced for three weeks on a pony borrowed from the opposing team. Now that's Pony Club camaraderie!
"After their performances the members were able to mingle in the stabling area with such renown horsemen as Steffen Peters and Guy McLean. Due to city regulations prohibiting the overnight stabling of horses in Central Park, the horses had to be loaded up at 9 p.m. each night only to be back at the park by 5:30 the next morning. Needless to say, there were some sleepy ponies and riders on Sunday morning.
"The members spent their spare time enjoying their new found celebrity status as some of the younger members of the audience came up and asked for their autographs and pictures. Let's hope these aspiring riders look to joining Pony Club to hone their skills!
"Next stop for these teams will be the games competition of the President's Cup to be held in Fair Hill, Maryland. Let's hope they bring home the Cup, but the fun and excitement of showing in Central Park will be hard to beat!"