Laura Zeigler walks with Victor recently outside of the stables near Tippecanoe Lake.Photo by GARY NIETER, Times-Union

LEESBURG - Laura Zeigler was thumbing through Spur magazine last winter when a story caught her eye.

As she read the article, it explained that horses were needed for the Paralympics, which would be held August 1996 in Atlanta. Intrigued by the idea, Zeigler, who lives on Tippecanoe Lake, thought of Victor.

"It said that they needed some horses to be loaned out for the Paralympics," she recalled. "It said that they needed a few good horses, 'bomb-free spook-in-place' horses. That meant if anything scared them they wouldn't go tearing off. Instead, they would be scared in place and not go anywhere.

"That's Victor for you."

So Zeigler decided to enter 11-year-old Victor, a registered half-Arabian horse she has owned for 2 1/2 years. The equestrian event was going to be part of the Paralympics for the first time, and horses who had training in dressage were needed. Victor had taken dressage courses and had competed in world championships, so he qualified.

"It's a discipline of riding," Zeigler said, explaining dressage. "Dressage is to riding what ballet is to dancing. The horse is walking, trotting, cantering. They do lateral movements, in which they are going sideways and forward at the same time. Kind of like dance steps."

Victor arrived in Atlanta on Aug. 9, two weeks before the competition began. He was one of 60 to 70 horses that had been loaned to compete in the Paralympics.

"They had eight horsemasters who would get on them and ride them, evaluate them, see how they could do, see how nice they were," Zeigler said.

Victor survived the cut, meaning he was officially a "bomb-free, spook-in-place" horse. The next step by the horsemasters was to find a rider that matched up with Victor.

"They had to make the decision which horse is the best for which rider," Zeigler said. "These riders' disabilities went from being blind to having no legs. They were riding better than anybody I'd ever seen."

Victor was paired with Anne Cecille Ore, a 17-year-old girl from Norway. Ore began to go blind at age 8, and it was a slow, progressive process that continued until her eyesight vanished. Undaunted, Ore began riding horses as an 8-year-old.

Ore would ride Victor one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon leading up to the competition. Finally, the moment for Ore and Victor arrived.

And Victor rose to the occasion.

"As soon as he went into the show arena and saw the judges at the end, he started strutting his stuff and minding his manners," Zeigler said.

Ore and Victor were flawless. They won two gold medals.

"One was in the championship ride, where they judge how well the horse executed the commands the rider gave him," Zeigler said. "The second was in the musical kurs. They ride the horse to music, so the horse has music he canters to, trots to, walks to. The judge sees how well the horse fits the music.

"She (Ore) told me she was thrilled with Victor and thanked me for bringing him. I thought it was an honor."

Victor wasn't the only Indiana horse who did well. Zeigler's trainer, who lives in South Bend, took two horses. One of her horses won three gold medals. Indiana horses won five of the eight gold medals.

"That says a lot about Indiana horses," Zeigler.

Life soon returned to normal for Victor back home in his stable near Tippecanoe Lake. Zeigler rides him nearly every day, and their trainer comes from South Bend to work with them. Victor will do a show here, do a show there, eat hay in between. Zeigler usually puts him in three or four a season.

Zeigler enjoyed the Paralympics experience and plans to keep her eyes open for such events in the future for Victor.

"It's just something I read," Zeigler said. "I thought, 'Wow, it would neat to be in Atlanta and be involved in the Paralympics.

"If anything comes up, yeah, I'd be glad to do it. It was wonderful." [[In-content Ad]]