Lewis and Clark Heritage Days 2009

May 16 and 17, 2009


One of my favorite places to visit in May is Old St. Charles in Missouri.  Each year, the third weekend in May is dedicated to the celebration of the Lewis and Clark Heritage Days.  This festival features an authentic reenactment of Lewis and Clark’s encampment in 1804 prior to their journey up the Missouri River.  Old Saint Charles exudes quaint, old world charm and is rich in its coffers of American history since 1769.
One of the most famous streets in Old St. Charles is Main Street.  Buildings reflecting the German/French heritage influence surround this brick paved road. There are novelty shops, gourmet restaurants, old ice cream and candy shops, as well as antique shops. Retailers dressed in authentic clothes for the time period of the early 1800’s inhabit many of these shops.
It is on this street that the grand parade commenced.  People line up on either side of the ancient cobblestone road to watch and cheer on the Lewis and Clark Fife and Drum Corps, carriages, a myriad of colorful foot soldiers with muskets and flags, carriages, peasants and of course those beautiful Morgan horses of the Show Me Morgan Horse Club. 
Old Saint Charles is such a fitting place to view these replicas of the horse called Justin Morgan.  After the parade, there was a Morgan Horse demonstration held on the waterfront. The tourists began showing up a half hour before the show and soon the stands were full.  Many of these people have a passion for this unique horse that played a key role in the building of America. 
The show began with a brief history of the Morgan horse, followed by a segment on what a Morgan stallion should look like. Mint Jacob was featured as the model for this.  One of the main features of the demonstration is a classical presentation by the archetypical, Lippitt Morgan stallion named Mint Jacob. The crowd seemed to thoroughly enjoy seeing the classical movements of dressage.  This type of dressage evolved from cavalry movements and training for the battlefield, and has since developed into a special art by adding classical music.
When dressage is done properly, the rider is in complete harmony with his horse.  You must have a correct seat with your body well balanced upon the horse’s center of gravity. Both horse and rider move as “one.”  You will see when young stallions play, when they fight, or when put themselves on display for a mare they will naturally collect themselves.  By collecting themselves they appear to be larger than life, and their movements appear as if they are floating on air.
When both horse and rider are “in sync,” the collection is a powerful tool enabling the horse to perform with beauty, grace plus speed and agility.
Jacob performed levade, piaffe, passage, extended trot, half-pass, canter pirouette, Spanish Walk, shoulder-in and renvers.
The Morgan demonstration closed with Jacob performing levade with Deborah Siegrist up.  The Lewis and Clark Heritage Days provides the opportunity to promote the breed and educate both breeders and owners of Morgan horses.
The Morgan horse was also shown ground driving as well as being ridden by their owners.
This festival always brings in a lot of people, both young and old.  The sights, sounds, and crowds are always a welcome to Jacob and so attests to the fact that many Morgans are of sound mind and good disposition.

Submitted by:
Deborah Siegrist, Peppercorn Morgans, home of Mint Jacob
www.peppercornmorgans.com