Families turn out in droves for Danada Fall Festival
Seven-year-old Elizabeth Kalafut had one birthday wish. The Lake Zurich girl wanted to see horses.
Lots of them.
"The white ones are my favorite," Elizabeth said Sunday while waiting in line to take tours of the horse stables at the Danada Equestrian Center in Wheaton. Elizabeth, her 10-year-old sister, Megan, and mother, Mary, spent a good chunk of their day in lines, either waiting to take hay rides, see some of the animals on display or just creating their own stick horses.
"The hay rides were pretty long to wait for, but everything else was fine," Elizabeth said.
Organizers estimated between 10,000 and 12,000 visitors came to Danada's 25th annual Fall Festival of the Horse. A sea of cars, SUV's and minivans spilled into overflow parking, taking up grass usually reserved for the horses living on site.
There were plenty of equine-centered events throughout the day. The main performance ring hosted several sessions that included jumping displays, a parade of horse breeds and a variety of horse-pulled carriages and carts.
Several trainers also gave demonstrations on how they tame rescued mustangs. But beyond the official demos, families essentially had the run of the place, poking their heads in stables and trying their hands at painting pumpkins and goofing off in the straw playpen.
Seven-year-old Benett Schreiner thought he'd try out the climbing rope. The Winfield boy spent nearly an hour in line before getting attached to the harness and pulling himself up to the top of a tree branch nearly 20 feet off the ground. Once he got there, though, the safety brake got stuck.
"It felt like I was up there 20 minutes," Benett said. "I don't think I'll do that again."
Among the breeds on display included Tennessee Walkers, Rocky Mountain horses, Missouri Foxtrotters, Icelandic horses, and American Saddlebreds.
It wasn't just the variety of horses three-year-old Danny Cerello of Naperville noticed while touring the stables with his dad, Kevin.
"Why is there so much poo on the ground?" Danny asked his dad.
"Well, when you're locked in a place and you gotta go," dad responded, "you gotta go."