For 100th Time
The Spottswood Raphine Ruritan Club is holding its 100th annual horse show this Saturday, July 11, at the Spottswood Community Center, 797 Spottswood Rd, Steeles Tavern, with competitions beginning at 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Rain date is July 18.
Dozens of horses and their riders will be competing in English, western, youth and gaited categories. Novice and experienced riders are welcome. Barbecue chicken will be served beginning at 11 a.m.
Bill Heizer, one of the exhibitors who said he’s been coming to the show for nearly 70 years, or most of his life, says he looks forward to this summertime event, year after year. “It’s one of the few shows of its kind that’s still left,” he said of the local open breed show.
He represents Heizer Stables in Middlebrook. It’s a generational endeavor for him and his family. His father trained and exhibited horses before him so the Heizers have been attending the show for most of its existence.
He has many happy memories associated with the show. He can remember a time when the horses were jumping so high that they had to add wooden Coca-Cola crates to the obstacles to increase their height. A personal memory he alluded to happened when he was 8 or 9 years old. He was being pulled in a buggy but a wheel got hooked on a gate, causing a bit of embarrassment for his young self and his pony.
While the barbecue chicken continues to be a big draw for the show, Heizer can remember when the food fare was a veritable feast, prepared in the kitchen of the old schoolhouse, now the community center. “Those were great suppers back when I was a kid,” he said.
He said he’s glad the horse show is still going on after all of these years and is hopeful that some younger folks will step forward in the future and keep the tradition alive into a second century.
