|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
On a recent Saturday in Portola Valley, in a shady and grassy corner of the Town Center, children were having a particularly good time. Particular in that they were celebrating the equestrian aspects of living in a town with a history of equestrian aspects.
What does the skeleton of a horse look like? Easy to answer at the 2018 Horse Fair, held this year on May 12. Almost as good as an X-ray, in a fenced-in area stood a white horse on whose left side the principal bones had been outlined in black and filled in with white paint, water-based of course.
Is horse manure a good thing or a bad thing? It’s definitely an amusing thing and a curiosity to kids of a certain age. A table set up to display it included samples of manure and various foods, including several that were fun to consider but that horses probably don’t eat, like Cheerios. And posters explaining it all.
What does it feel like to run through an obstacle course for a horse – to be like a horse for a few minutes? Opportunity knocked at the fair and the kids took it, whether leaping over a set of crossed poles or a raised 2-by-4. You could test your balance on a barrel meant to simulate standing on a real horse.
There were other activities not so demanding of physicality. Kids could listen to the heartbeat of a horse, could paint a horseshoe, could take a ride (as could the young-at-heart adults with a penchant for wagon rides).
The ponies could not have been more gracious to their young passengers, but the chickens and ducks, and definitely the rabbits, had probably had enough after the first few minutes inside a petting zoo with free-roaming children. The baby goats and baby pigs seemed to love it, though.
The town’s Trails & Paths Committee sponsored the fair.
By Dave Boyce
By Dave Boyce
By Dave Boyce
-
It would be interesting to try this with four legs, but humans have to make do with two. (Photo by Robert Most/The Almanac) -
The life of a stuffed animal is not to be envied. She picks one and leaves the other, despite its steady gaze. (Photo by Robert Most/The Almanac) -
He may be lost for the moment, but it looks as if he’s in for the duration. (Photo by Robert Most/The Almanac) -
The name of this game is balance, and arms outstretched is a well-known technique for maintaining it. (Photo by Robert Most/The Almanac) -
Some animals are just nice to be around and sometimes to ride on, as this little guy discovers. (Photo by Robert Most/The Almanac) -
Ponies are the humble and unsung intermediaries to the equestrian lifestyle. (Photo by Robert Most/The Almanac) -
Kids are still playing leapfrog today — and apparently enjoying the ageless game. (Photo by Robert Most/The Almanac) -
As it is with learning to do anything, practice is important when attempting to become proficient with a lariat. (Photo by Robert Most/The Almanac) -
A Clydesdale team in action is always something to behold, and this team was beheld by visitors, including many young ones, to the annual Portola Valley Horse Fair on May 12. (Photo by Robert Most/The Almanac)
Redwood City attorney sues ‘First Amendment auditors’ after Menlo Park disputeApril 2, 2026 11:31 am
In the 1960’s, my best friend lived off Dean Rd. In Woodside. I stayed with her family weekends, holidays and summers. We almost always rode horses thru Huddart, Woodside and PV. It was the joy of my life into the 1980’s. Then the bicyclists flooded in. They did not understand the bikes spooked the horses. The silent bicycles would approach from our rear and not visible to our horses, and suddenly become visible close to the horses. It really scared the horses so badly, we couldn’t ride anymore. Now you don’t see very many horses on the main roads. It’s too bad they didn’t establish paved trails for the bicyclists off the main roads. It also would have solved the auto vs. bicycle problem.
The young woman with her horse in the top photo are from Portola Valley Pony Club, which is based out of the Horse Park at Woodside. With over 50 members, we are one of the largest pony clubs in the US and, at 50 years old, we are also among the oldest pony clubs! Thank you to our members for supporting the Horse Fair and being such good ambassadors for Pony Club!