ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 20, 1996 TAG: 9605210034
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER STAFF WRITER
Jenny Iseson's best friend weighs about 800 pounds. He never has to brush his teeth. He gets new shoes every six weeks.
When the two get all dressed up for a special event, it takes longer to braid his hair than it takes to do hers.
Jenny, 11, is the one who usually controls Christopher Robin, even though he's lot stronger than she is. You might say, she has Christopher eating out of the palm of her hand - really. And Jenny's friend loves to eat, especially peppermint candy.
Jenny, a pupil at North Cross in Roanoke County, and Christopher, her horse, are a great team. They move as if they were glued together. Sometimes, though, Christopher has a bad day and doesn't listen to Jenny very much.
Jenny and Christopher are getting ready for their lesson. It takes Jenny just a few minutes, but it takes Christopher about half an hour - with Jenny's help.
Jenny brushes Christopher - he's really dusty from playing out in the field with his friends - and checks to make sure he doesn't have any bumps or scrapes. She combs his hair - horsehair, that is. Then, she dresses him - with a saddle and bridle.
When they're finally ready, they go out to the riding ring to meet Kristen Oakes, the teacher at Centura Farms in Roanoke County.
``OK, walk,'' Oakes says. ``Now, reverse.'' Jenny and Christopher change direction.
``Trot. Keep your heels down. Take that first jump when you're ready.''
The two pals approach a bar about 2 feet off the ground. The pony, all 800 pounds, rises into the air as Jenny, on his back, leans forward. The two clear the bar and land gracefully on the other side. Oakes moves the bar up to 21/2 feet.
(Even though Christopher looks big enough to be called a horse, his size puts him in the medium to large pony category.)
Pony and rider take two jumps in a row. Christopher's hooves lightly scrape against the top of the second bar, but he and Jenny clear it and land solidly. They're having a good day. They continue round and round the ring, working together as a team, performing over and over again whatever commands the teacher gives.
It looks as if Christopher can read Jenny's mind and knows what to do before she asks him to do it. ``That's about right,'' Jenny says. ``He works so well with me. He's my best friend.''
After the lesson, there's work to be done. Jenny walks her pony around slowly, to cool him off. Then she wipes him down with a sponge and picks the mud and gravel out of his hooves with a special tool. Then, Christopher is put to bed for the night in his stall.
This was the first of Jenny's two lessons this week. When school is out, she'll ride every day. A big horse show is coming up.
Jenny rides in lots of horse shows, but the Roanoke Valley Horse Show is the biggest. More than 800 horses will be at the Salem Civic Center in June for the competition. More than 35,000 people will be watching. More than $200,000 in prize money will be awarded.
Jenny will be in five events in the show. Some will be judged on her ability to handle Christopher; others will be judged on how well he performs.
``Winning isn't the most important thing,'' Jenny said. ``I like to see how the judges like you compared to other horses and riders. This horse show has the highest rating. I have to make sure Christopher is ready.''
That means lots of practice, enough exercise and not too much peppermint candy.
Robyne Lorek, 14, of Goodview, has ridden in more horse shows than she can count. The Hidden Valley Junior High student has been riding for nine years and has competed in the Roanoke Valley Horse Show. She's not sure yet if she and her pony, Chico, will enter it again this year.
When she got Chico five years ago, he was ``very green.'' That wasn't his color - he's brown. It means, ``He was like a 2-year-old kid. I had to teach him everything,'' Robyne said.
It takes a lot of patience to train a horse. First, you have to get him or her to trust you.
``You have to make sure they realize you're not going to hurt them'' she said. Wouldn't it feel strange to you if someone wanted to ride on your back or lead you around by a rope?
``You have to spend a lot of time with them,'' Robyne said, ``and be really quiet with them.''
Robyne is a member of the 4-H Horse Lovers Club and takes lessons from her 4-H leader in combined training and dressage.
``Dressage is like a dance routine,'' she explained. ``The idea is to get the horse to listen to you. It's like an art form, with different movements and twists and turns.''
Combined training includes dressage and stadium jumping, taking jumps that are more colorful, decorated with ``scarier stuff,'' Robyne said, ``that might distract a horse or make it refuse to jump.'' The decorations may not be scary to people, but sometimes colorful objects, such as pumpkins or streamers, spook a horse.
Horses have to clear the jumps without scraping the bars with their hooves. Whether they look graceful doing it doesn't matter.
``Jumping is my favorite part,'' Robyne said. ``It's fast and it's kind of like flying. And it's something you taught the horse to do.''
When Robyne competes, she tries to remember to not take it too seriously. ``It's more important to have a good time than to win,'' she said. ``I try to learn something each time I compete.''
Robyne's first-place and championship ribbons hang on her wall. Others are stored away. There isn't space in her room for the more than 400 she's won. Besides the ribbons, there are model horses, horse blankets and other horse items in her room. ``I guess you could say I'm obsessed.''
The Roanoke Valley Horse Show will be at the Salem Civic Center June 17-22. About 150 children will compete in the children's events. For more information, call 375-3004 or (800) 288-2122.
LENGTH: Long : 119 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN Staff 1. Jenny Iseson, 11, takes herby CNBhorse, Christopher Robin, over a jump at Centura Farms in Roanoke
County.
2. After Jenny Iseson finishes riding Christopher Robin, she
walks him, wipes him down with a sponge and picks the mud and gravel
out of his hooves with a special tool. color.