Untacked

C H R O N O F H O R S E . C O M FA L L 2 014 23 MOLLIE BAILEY PHOTO Get Thee To A Gallery Equine art aficionados will want to mark their calendars for two impressive gallery exhibitions this fall. e American Academy of Equine Art Open Juried Exhibition will begin on Sept. 13 and run through Oct. 25 at the Scott County Arts and Cultural Center in Georgetown, Ky. To learn more about the group, membership, shows and upcoming workshops, visit aaea.net, or head to the artists' recep- tion, which is open to the public, the evening of Sept. 12 from 6-8 p.m. On Oct. 18, the New Jersey Equine Artists' Association will kick off its NJEAA Art of the Horse national juried exhibit and sale. e show will take place at the Farmstead Arts Center in Basking Ridge, N.J., through Nov. 29. All are invited to the opening recep- tion on Oct. 19 from 2-4 p.m. Contact NJEAA Director Sheila Barnes at xochitlb@comcast.net or (908) 284-9751 for more information. Many a trainer occasionally wonders if there's any monkey business going on back at the barn when they're not around, but Sarah Scheiring doesn't have to. She knows it for a fact. Scheiring's mischievous 8-month-old marmoset, Talula, is always stirring up trouble back at the Chester Riding Club in Chester, N.J. She picked up the petite primate in Florida during last winter's circuit. "Riley Newsome, one of the kids who rides with us, and a bunch of her friends got a wallaby, so it got us kind of on an ex- otic pet kick this year in Wellington," Scheiring, 26, explained. "We saw a picture of [Talula], and she was just so cute I had to have her." Talula has since wasted no time adjusting to barn life. "I have one dog that loves her," Scheiring said. "They play all the time, all day long, and she's starting to ride around on him. She jumps around as fast as she can, and the dog chases her with his nose, and then she'll grab his whiskers and bop him on the nose and then run away, and he'll chase her again." Scheiring says Talula tries a similar move on the horses, but they're less appreciative of her playfulness. "She'll grab at their noses, and then it scares them, and it scares her a little," Scheiring explained. "But she likes riding." That's right, riding. Talula the marmoset does not just sit on the sidelines when her owner goes for a hack. "She walk, trot, canters and jumps with me. She really Talula the marmoset was a hit at the Devon Horse Show on the arm of owner Sarah Scheiring. Sarah Scheiring Has A Monkey On Her Back—Literally enjoys it," Scheiring said. "She'll grab the hair on the back of my neck, and she'll just hang on. She actually has great balance at the canter." Talula attends shows as well, and Scheiring said she can hardly walk 15 feet without a curious on-looker asking about her monkey. Luckily Talula has a sitter who doesn't mind the extra attention. "There's a little boy who rides with us named Sam Ethelson, and he's like her caretaker at every horse show," Scheiring said. "He's a little 11-year-old boy, and all the little girls stop him and talk to him about it. He's milking that." —Ann Glavan

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