Horsefest at Clark

Sheriff Gabby LaO is inviting horse enthusiasts, cowpokes and Old West fans to join a fun round-up at the Clark Freeport Zone in Angeles City this long weekend – Nov. 28-30. It’s the first annual Clark Freeport Horse Festival and Sheriff Gabby promises three unforgettable days of rip-roaring action.

In case you didn’t know, Sheriff Gabby is the local version of Wyatt Earp, Matt Dillon, Clay Hollister and Pat Garrett. He’s the chief honcho at El Kabayo, the riding stable and cowboy layout at the Clark Freeport Zone. You can’t miss Sheriff Gabby when you “ride” into town. He wears a cowboy hat, a vest with a tin star pinned on it and a gunbelt with two six-guns.

Don’t make the mistake of challenging Sheriff Gabby to a gunfight. He’s quick on the draw but faster on his horse.

El Kabayo is Sheriff Gabby’s domain like Tombstone was for Hollister (portrayed by Pat Conway) in the TV series “Tombstone Territory – The Town Too Tough To Die” and Dodge City was for Dillon (portrayed by James Arness) in the TV series “Gunsmoke.”

What Sheriff Gabby has in store for horse lovers and families is a real treat. First, if you’re interested to join in the festivities, you’re invited to register this Friday. Guests and visitors will be attended to from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Paradise Ranch and Nayong Pilipino on the Clark grounds. To get things going, Sheriff Gabby has lined up carriage rides at the Stotsenburg parade field and frontier trail rides.

On Saturday, everything starts at the El Kabayo corral. The schedule includes an exhibition polo match, equestrian showjumping, rodeo events, barrel-raising, horse parades and a grand fireworks display. Trade and food booths will be open all day. On Sunday, the can’t miss events include an equestrian competition and the Tillbury race at the speedway venue. Tillbury or harness racing involves a horse pulling a two-wheeled carriage called a sulky. On Monday, the trade and food fair will end with a huge bang.

That’s not all. Throughout the three-day weekend, the festival will feature magic shows, puppet shows, free lessons on feeding and grooming horses, free lessons on the basics of horse riding (for kids only), a massive sale (starting Friday), carriage rides, frontier trail rides, cooking demonstrations, sampling of Pampanga’s sumptuous cuisine and lots of games.

And if you’re still not satisfied, you can bushwhack Sheriff Gabby when he’s not looking.

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Sheriff Gabby says the event wouldn’t be possible without the support of the Greater Clark Visitors Bureau, the Clark Development Corp. and the Clark Freeport Association in cooperation with the Manila North Tollways. The horsefest is endorsed by Sen. Lito Lapid, Sen. Miguel Zubiri and Asian Games equestrian gold medalist Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski.

“This annual event is a win-win situation for all and in particular, for Region III (Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, Bataan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Aurora), the Clark Freeport Zone and other contiguous areas,” says Sheriff Gabby. “The objective is to stage this event every year at the end of November in the magnitude of the hot-air balloon festival which is held every second week of February at Clark.”

Sheriff Gabby says the Clark Freeport Zone, formerly known as Clark Air Base, is a perfect place for the festival.

“With roughly 30,000 hectares of vast area complete with modern infrastructure facilities, professional support services, inviting amenities and high-end IT enabled industries, the Clark Freeport Zone is suitably an ideal venue for multi-faceted events most specifically horse-related events and activities,” adds Sheriff Gabby.

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The event is expected to assemble horse breeders, trainers, aficionados and enthusiasts who want to feel and experience, in Sheriff Gabby’s words, “the awe of a westernized atmosphere where everything is in parallel with horses.” First-class hotels are available for out-of-town weekenders.

For those coming to the event, Sheriff Gabby highly recommends the frontier trail ride, which takes about four hours going through the Sacobia River and its outlying hills and sprawling outbacks.

Sheriff Gabby also says watching Pinoy cowboys display their riding skills is a must. A rider who’ll surely draw attention is Sen. Zubiri who launched the Rodeo Cup in Cebu last year.

“Sen. Zubiri will unleash his rodeo and horseback riding talents at the horsefest,” says Sheriff Gabby. “He believes that the talents of Pinoy cowboys could go beyond the Rodeo Cup or other provinces in the country that host bull-riding, cattle and horse events. Sen. Zubiri is well-known for his horse-riding and he’s supporting our horsefest all the way.”