Horses

Steve Virgen Though he has retired from competitive rowing, Chip McKibben still manages to "make" the Olympics, but it's all for the horses. Horses? McKibben, who was a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic quadruple sculling team that finished eighth, serves as the General Manager for Blenheim Farms, which hosted the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials for equestrian. "I'm far more of a water baby," said McKibben, who won a world championship in 1994 on U.S. Rowing's leading boat.

Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" is shaping up to be a big hit for DreamWorks. The film tugs on our heartstrings by highlighting the love between a man, Albert, and his horse, Joey — a love so deep that Albert joins the service to get his horse back after it is sold to the cavalry. But "War Horse" does much more. It reminds us of the role these majestic animals have played in the history of war. Horses were first used in warfare 5,000 years ago, and the cavalry was a cornerstone of warfare during World War I, the war featured in "War Horse.

Young Chang When Gilles Ste-Croix looks into the eyes of a horse, he says he sees the history of man. Good, evil, war, peace, the importance of a decision made 3,000 years ago when man chose to ride a horse instead of eat it. They're emotional animals with sharp memories and distinct personalities, said the former director of creation for Cirque du Soleil. And because they carry a beauty and grace and sense of humanity, Ste-Croix has paired people with horses to showcase equestrian artistry.

A universal truth is that girls love animals. So when the girls from Orange County Troop 871 brainstormed ideas for their next service project, their leaders, Trish Anastos and Lori Miskell, knew the project must involve helping cute, cuddly animals with big brown eyes. Nearly 200 hours and several badges later, these 10 fifth-grade girls from Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Newport Coast, Irvine and Huntington Beach earned the Girl Scout Bronze Award after completing a project that could be considered a trifecta of service: Scouts support a therapeutic riding center, the riding center rescues horses with big brown eyes, and the horses provide a means for therapy for developmentally disabled children and adults.

The Orange County Fair board is discussing doing away with the equestrian center in order to make way for more parking spaces. The horse stabling and training facilities might have to leave the north end of the grounds to make room for the expansion needs of the complex as a whole, officials said. Since the center is surrounded on all sides by municipal buildings, houses and schools, the facility doesn’t have many other places to turn to satisfy its growing demand for space.

DON CANTRELL Out of World War II, prep football and horse racing, Joe Muniz has known triumph and trauma. He can write off the trauma from his memory bank, but he will always treasure the triumphs that have blessed him and his family over the years. Some of the high points include: Marrying the lovely queen of the 1944 Newport Harbor High junior-senior prom, the former Jerri Conner, which would lead to three wonderful children. Seeing one of his race horses, "Chicks Beduino," named the 1986 state champion in California.

Two teenagers who regularly ride at the Orange County Fairgrounds' equestrian center will take their competition to a new level internationally at the end of the month. Taylor McClung, 14, and Brittney Allyn, 15, have been chosen to ride in two prestigious equestrian show jumping competitions. Taylor, a student at Corona del Mar High School, will fly to Bogota, Columbia for the World Children's Championship. Brittney will travel to Calgary, Canada for the West Coast Active Riders Childrens Amateur Jumper Team competition.

Young Chang COSTA MESA -- Barely two days since the third annual Eclectic Orange Festival closed, the Philharmonic Society announced Tuesday that a gypsy-like team of horses, horsemen, actors and dancers will be the centerpiece of the fourth annual festival. Twenty-six horses will be flown in on 747 aircraft in October for Theatre Zingaro's national premiere of "Triptyk" -- a production described by philharmonic leaders as a "one-of-a-kind" show directed and choreographed by Bartabas.

The Washington family of Costa Mesa will be riding in the Rose Parade for their 11th year, bringing “curliest regards” to viewers along the spectacle’s six-mile route. Jim Washington, his daughter Tiffany, son Lawrence and extended family members comprise the Classic Curly Riders in the parade every year, astride the rare American Bashkir Curly breed, which has a unique, curly coat and paradoxically smooth temperament. Washington owns a ranch in the Antelope Valley, where he breeds and raises Curly horses.

Michele Ryan has lunch once a month at a dusty, makeshift restaurant with dining companions who have little understanding of table manners. She wouldn't have it any other way. Ryan, who owns two horses at the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center, is among the regulars every second Saturday at Have Lunch with Your Horse Day. The fundraiser, hosted by the nonprofit Red Bucket Equine Rescue, invites owners and other members of the public...

The Balboa Village Business Improvement District plans to offer horse-drawn carriage rides in June, continuing a program that it launched over the holidays and piloted again this spring. From 2 to 6 p.m. every Sunday from June 2 to 30, the district will host 10-minute carriage rides around the seaside neighborhood. During those hours, a steel drum band will also perform at the gazebo by the boardwalk at Main Street. According to Leslie Perovich, the marketing and development director for ExplorOcean and a volunteer with the district, the route begins at the flagpole by the pier and continues down Main, Bay Avenue and Palm Street.

Newport Beach officials told some Santa Ana Heights residents to hold their horses Thursday, after mistakenly sending out notices indicating that they might need a permit to house equine friends on their property. About 300 residents who received the notices this week can disregard them, city spokeswoman Tara Finnigan wrote in an email. She added that the notices were the result of a slip-up - the city wasn't trying to make hay of anyone's animals. "We made a mistake," she wrote.

Those who have seen Steven Spielberg's excellent cinematic version of "War Horse" and are planning to catch the stage production at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts may be wondering how on earth live theater can duplicate the splendor and throat-catching armed conflict of the movie. Very nicely, as a matter of fact. The theatrical version (which preceded the movie) is nothing less than awesome, particularly in its animation of the central character, a thoroughbred steed named Joey, sold into military service by a destitute English farmer and sought in the midst of World War I carnage by the man's heartbroken son. Never have special effects ruled a play so definitively as in "War Horse.

This week, Ellery Sever has been riding a black horse through frigid temperatures in Culver, Ind., while "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These)" blast on loudspeakers. Sever, 18, of Newport Beach, is preparing to ride in President Obama's inauguration parade Monday as part of his boarding school's storied horseback unit. For about three months, he and the Culver Military Academy Black Horse Troop have ridden in formation holding American flags while they desensitize their horses to marching in parade conditions.

Despite cries from equestrians and their supporters, the Newport Beach City Council voted this week to delay building a planned multiuse trail in Santa Ana Heights. Some homeowners on Mesa Drive on Tuesday protested the proposed trail, claiming it would devalue their property and that riders have enough trails already. The conflict stretches back years and stems from when the city annexed the area, inheriting a trail plan from the county. The trail's public right of way today is filled with landscaping and other encroachments from private estates overlooking Upper Newport Bay, which rides contend is unfair.

As county traffic planners study the proposed 19th Street Bridge, Newport Beach city officials are lobbying to win street improvements, in case the bridge idea is permanently scrapped. They recently requested that the county eliminate some roads originally envisioned for Banning Ranch, as the developer's current plan does not include them, according to a report for Tuesday's City Council meeting. Taking these streets out of the study, in addition to the bridge, would presumably increase traffic on other streets and bolster Newport's arguments.

At the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials, Sam Mikulak, a Corona del Mar High alum, gained more notoriety, especially scoring the highest in the all-around Thursday. Cheers for Mikulak could be heard throughout the HP Pavilion in San Jose, especially from Team Sam, a group of fans supporting Mikulak. Team Sam did not have many opportunities to cheer during the men's finals Saturday. Mikulak, who had been third in the overall standings, competed only in the pommel horse because of a sprained left ankle from his performance on Thursday.

Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" is shaping up to be a big hit for DreamWorks. The film tugs on our heartstrings by highlighting the love between a man, Albert, and his horse, Joey — a love so deep that Albert joins the service to get his horse back after it is sold to the cavalry. But "War Horse" does much more. It reminds us of the role these majestic animals have played in the history of war. Horses were first used in warfare 5,000 years ago, and the cavalry was a cornerstone of warfare during World War I, the war featured in "War Horse.

We've been lying low at my house, nursing our bitterness, and indulging in theatrical self-torment as we try to assuage our battered egos. We are UCLA fans. It's not easy being one these days, not since last weekend's shellacking of the Bruin football squad by that other college team from Los Angeles. It doesn't help that the enemy is everywhere in Newport Beach. Sometimes I wonder if the city is actually just an extension of the USC campus. Do residents get a break on their taxes when they fly those annoying flags?

Michele Ryan has lunch once a month at a dusty, makeshift restaurant with dining companions who have little understanding of table manners. She wouldn't have it any other way. Ryan, who owns two horses at the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center, is among the regulars every second Saturday at Have Lunch with Your Horse Day. The fundraiser, hosted by the nonprofit Red Bucket Equine Rescue, invites owners and other members of the public...