Victory Equine Centre Appears in the Frederick News Post

Not horsing around
Originally published January 18, 2010

By Stephanie Mlot
News-Post Staff

Victory Equine Centre wasn't crowded on the rainy Sunday when Julie Lubin mounted a horse for the first time.

"What was I thinking?" Lubin joked from atop Buddy the horse, as she was led in circles around the indoor arena by Victory Equine co-owner Merrie Aiken.

Lubin came to the center as a surprise to celebrate her friend Pia Helve's birthday. "I wanted to mark her birthday with a lesson," she said.

Helve said it's been about 30 years since she was last near a horse, and though she was a little nervous before hopping up, she said it was a fun thing to try.

"I've ridden before, but it does not count," she told Aiken as she climbed onto Sarafina.

The friends recently moved to Frederick from New York City, and wanted to try things more akin to the rural lifestyle. Lubin said they think horses are beautiful and wanted the chance to be near and learn more about them.

"This will be a nice memory," she said.

While Helve and Lubin soaked in their experience, some other horse enthusiasts waited in the stable for their turn.

"I still get a little nervous. There is a huge animal underneath you," said Carissa Koontz-Graf. She and her husband, Greg, returned from Sterling, Va., for subsequent lessons at Victory Equine. Carissa and her sister, Desir?e Koontz-Nachtrieb, were there for a second lesson; Graf was on his fourth.

Koontz-Nachtrieb traveled from Bowie for the family affair. She said the Koontz's mother competed extensively when she was younger, so the girls thought horseback riding would give them more to talk about.

"(It) was something to close the generation gap," Koontz-Nachtrieb said.

Graf called the experience exhilarating, and said he and his wife went horseback riding on their honeymoon. He said this is something they would be interested in continuing in the long-term.

The center has two instructors who teach the balance seat, which Aiken said is the basic saddle. "If you have balance, you can ride anything else," she said.

Co-owner Ed Aiken said a student, when asked what she was hoping to accomplish in her lessons, said her goal was to not fall off the horse.

The Aikens opened Victory Equine in the fall of 2007 and have 13 horses.

"We want people to make a good decision and not sign up just because it's free," Merrie Aiken said.