ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, October 7, 1996 TAG: 9610070027
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: & now this ...
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCHOLS
Chico and Jackson will be spending their weekends hanging out with other horses and watching sports events, their new owner said.
Dorothea Romano, the Galax woman who purchased the two orphan horses from Roanoke County last week, said she'll train them to ride in field trials with her bird dogs.
Romano raises Hungarian pointers, known as vizslas, for competition. Most of the weekend events involve about 50 horses and riders plus their dogs.
Romano said she needs horses that substitute what is known as a "running walk" for the more common trot, a bouncy gait that can get pretty unpleasant when she's in the saddle for 12 hours during field trials.
Chico is a Pasofino and Jackson a Tennessee walking horse, both breeds that prefer the running walk.
"They float a little smoother," Romano said.
So far, only Jackson has been moved to Galax from the Botetourt County pasture where the horses have been kept since their former owner was convicted of inhumane treatment of animals. Romano said she's waiting for the county employee who has been caring for the animals to return from her honeymoon and help coax the skittish Chico into a trailer.
Romano said it may take a while to train the two horses, because it's unclear whether they've ever been ridden.
"They look pretty green," she said.
LENGTH: Short : 35 linesby CNB