Horses rule at Fall Festival at Danada

The name - Fall Festival at Danada - is a little misleading.

Yes, it's a festival held in the fall at the Danada Equestrian Center in Wheaton.

And, yes, the thousands of visitors who arrived Sunday could participate in hayrides and pumpkin painting and enjoy the first traces of autumn color in the nearby woods.

But the real star of this show is, has been and always will be, the horse.

Actually dozens of horses of all types that showed their stuff in demonstrations, trick riding performances and a parade of breeds at the facility that once served as Dan and Ada Rice's racehorse training estate and was the home of 1965 Kentucky Derby winner Lucky Debonair.

Visitors could visit the barn that once was home to Lucky Debonair and now houses lots of other lucky equines. They also could ride ponies and decorate paper hobby horses.

They could even meet Danada's own Nick the Painting Horse and buy his artwork.