[playful instrumental music]
- All right, cheers.
[lively music]
- Villa Louis is the largest pleasure carriage driving show
in the country.
So this is, you know, the cream of the crop are here
and competitors from all over.
My children, Luke and Beth Dahlberg
are both driving this weekend.
- Luke: What we try and do is reenact
what they did years ago.
And we dress up and we look nice and we go out
in our top hats and our fancy clothes
with our carriages polished up.
- Julie: Brass will be polished and gleaming.
The harness will have the best shine,
the horse will be brushed.
[lively music]
- The people come to see the horses,
but also to see a way of life
that really doesn't exist much anymore.
I mean, the horses and the vehicles they see
would have been used every day
up to probably the First World War.
They can see the horses, they can hear them, they can smell.
They can hear the churning of the wheels,
which used to be a very everyday occurrence.
- Luke: So we do a walk and a trot,
and we do different speeds
at the walk.
- Announcer: Demonstrating a slow trot...
- Luke: We do a slow trot and a fast trot.
- Julie: You're kind of on the hot seat there,
right in front of the judge,
on what looks the best,
what horse is moving the best,
what harness and cart are the nicest.
- Everybody wants a little bit of a challenge.
So, it's always fun to see
if you're as good as the next person.
We want to get on the road.
We want to find out what's new, what's next,
'cause they enjoy it,
or put up with it.
My parents were into it,
so I was basically driving since I was three.
It's as much fun to watch them compete
as it is to do it myself.
- Julie: I'm just thrilled that they fell in love with horses.
And I didn't have to, you know, run off to the ballet
and pretend that I like that. [laughs]
So, it's been great.
[lively classical music]
- Woman: The people who enter the picnic class are set up
on the Villa Louie lawn.
- Man: It has urchin bars, which are these spikes,
so the street children wouldn't grab a hold
and go for a ride. [laughter]
- Julie: They come with their horses and rigs,
and then they stop and they spread out a picnic.
- Man: Tomatoes, boiled eggs, which would have been
a typical picnic food at the time.
- Julie: They are going to be judged not only
by their horses and the rigs,
and also, the food that they offer.
[driving classical music]
Obstacle courses were going on today.
Different obstacles set up with a point value.
It's a big mind game and a memory game
for folks trying to remember those courses
because there's no roadmap in front of you
once you get out there.
- Luke: You can't go in a straight line very fast
but you can turn really sharp, really quick.
But after the time that we've spent together,
we basically know each other in and out.
- Horses are kind of the glue that keeps us together.
This is just kind of our special opportunity
to share with not only the spectators here about our sport,
but just to, you know,
kind of celebrate all the hard work that we've done at home,
and the bond with our horse.
It just is our opportunity to shine.
Just kind of makes your heart swell.
- All right, ponies. - Julie: Have fun, kids.
- Walk on.
Thank you.