Royal Horses amaze VCC crowd

Published 12:10 am Saturday, March 7, 2015

Rene Gasser stands alongside Ringo Friday as he performs a jump during preparation for the Gala of the Royal Horses at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

Rene Gasser stands alongside Ringo Friday as he performs a jump during preparation for the Gala of the Royal Horses at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

As the house lights dimmed and the announcer took the microphone, the sound of horses stomping behind the curtain drew the curiosity of the audience.

As the curtains pulled back, a magnificent black Andalusian and a white Lippizzaner with riders carrying the American and European flags burst into in the arena. The nearly packed audience at the Vicksburg Convention Center rose to their feet for the National Anthem.

What followed was an introduction of the breeds of horses, their origins and their performances. Skilled horsemen directed their steeds around the arena as a small ensemble of musicians performed.

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The program provides people an opportunity to see some of the most celebrated horses in history give the same performances given at riding academies in Vienna, Austria, and Spain.

The star of the show is a seventh generation from a family of horse masters from Switzerland and Germany, who grew up around horses “and pretty much began riding before I could walk,” said show creator and producer Rene Gasser.

Gasser trains the horses himself, adding the work begins when the horses are young.

He looked at his Lippizzaner, Ringo. “He’s 16. He’s at his peak,” he said.

Rene Gasser walks one of his horses to a stable Friday in preparation for the Gala of the Royal Horses at the Vicksburg Convention Center. (Justin Sellers/The Vicksburg Post)

Rene Gasser walks one of his horses to a stable Friday in preparation for the Gala of the Royal Horses at the Vicksburg Convention Center. (Justin Sellers/The Vicksburg Post)

Katharina Gasser tells Mozart, a 15-year-old Lipsiana, to rear on his hind legs Friday during preparation for the Gala of the Royal Horses at the Vicksburg Convention Center. (Justin Sellers/The Vicksburg Post)

Katharina Gasser tells Mozart, a 15-year-old Lipsiana, to rear on his hind legs Friday during preparation for the Gala of the Royal Horses at the Vicksburg Convention Center. (Justin Sellers/The Vicksburg Post)

Katharina Gasser tells Mozart, a 15-year-old Lipsiana, to rear on his hind legs Friday during preparation for the Gala of the Royal Horses at the Vicksburg Convention Center. (Justin Sellers/The Vicksburg Post)

Katharina Gasser tells Mozart, a 15-year-old Lipsiana, to rear on his hind legs Friday during preparation for the Gala of the Royal Horses at the Vicksburg Convention Center. (Justin Sellers/The Vicksburg Post)

Katharina Gasser, left, watches as Christine Drentwett sits atop Coco, an 18-year-old Andalusian, Friday in preparation for the Gala of the Royal Horses at the Vicksburg Convention Center. (Justin Sellers/The Vicksburg Post)

Katharina Gasser, left, watches as Christine Drentwett sits atop Coco, an 18-year-old Andalusian, Friday in preparation for the Gala of the Royal Horses at the Vicksburg Convention Center. (Justin Sellers/The Vicksburg Post)

“We start them at age 3 with basic instruction — how to lie down and different things,” he said. “Then we find out the talents of the horse, and have it going through heavier movements.”

“The horses are introduced into performance when they are five years old,” he said, “but we sometimes now start them younger. We give them a small job just to see how they go with the audience.”

“Sometimes, you practice, practice, with a horse and then they’re unwilling to perform for the audience,” he said. “Sometimes we perform before 10,000 people, and if the horse can’t take that pressure, it’s not good for us and it’s not good for the horse. It’s a long process.”

The show was divided into two parts and the first half featured horses performing intricate steps to music and prancing around the arena as their riders expertly guided them. The Andalusian horses performed Spanish dance routines, other horses danced on their back legs.”

Christine Drentwett, another performer, has been riding since she was nine, and has been performing for 20 years.

She rides an Andalusian horse performing a Spanish riding style called grraocha, which portrays how the Spanish herd their fighting bulls and how they pick their bulls for the arena, using a lance to poke at the bull. “And if the bull chases the stick, it’s worth putting in the arena,” she said.

The performances were followed with Lipizzaner stallions doing the “airs above the ground,” an old battle movement.

Gasser is joined on the tour by his daughter, Katharina, 16, who represents the family’s eighth generation.

“The first time I was on a horse was the day I came home from the hospital,” she said. “I’ve been around horses all my life.”

Katharina has been performing since she was 10, starting first as a stunt rider and now performs a horse whispering act with her Lipizzaner, Mozart.

“Basically, it’s a trust act, where I lay down with him and we basically play in the arena,” she said. “I whisper to the horse. I will get him to lay down and I will lay on top of him, and then we do different things in the arena.”

The Gala of the Royal Horses has been in operation for 15 years, and last year it finished a tour of Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. The troupe is making its first American tour.

“That was amazing,” Vicksburg Convention Center executive director Annette Kirklin said after the show. “And it was right here in Vicksburg.”

The Thursday show was postponed to Saturday due to inclement weather that battered the area.

Tickets for the Thursday show will be accepted Saturday.

About John Surratt

John Surratt is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in general studies. He has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post staff since 2011 and covers city government. He and his wife attend St. Paul Catholic Church and he is a member of the Port City Kiwanis Club.

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