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Horsing around serious business for Ashland man Ed Miller of Ashland and his prize-winning Canadian Warmblood gelding Larkin. Contributed photo Thursday Dec 15, 2016 at 4:59 PM Dec 15, 2016 at 4:59 PM By Jim Flint for the Mail Tribune Ed Miller of Ashland likes horsing around. But for him it’s serious business, as well as a way to have fun. Miller, 74, competes in U.S. Dressage Federation competitions and recently won a 2016 national championship award with his Canadian Warmblood horse, Larkin, a 7-year-old gelding. “I won it for best average scores over the year in first-level competition for Canadian Warmbloods,” Miller said. “I won it for both the Adult Amateur and Vintage categories.” Adult Amateurs are riders age 20 or older, and Vintage includes riders 50 and older. Horses fit one of three classes — cold blood, warmblood and hot blood, all referring to temperament. The cold blood group includes quieter breeds such as draft horses. Hot bloods are more excitable, like Arabians. Warmbloods are in between, with a temperament found in typical carriage horses. Riders and horses compete at 10 levels, from the first up to Olympic. Some shows are breed specific, but most are for horses ranging from cow to plow horses, he said. “I’ve been showing Larkin for two years, and the goal is to move up levels. With my previous horse, Lord of the Rings, who died of cancer, we had advanced to two levels below Olympic,” Miller said. Some competitions are called eventing and include three equestrian phases — dressage, cross-country jumping and stadium jumping. “I compete now just in dressage. My body at this age can’t take the jumping,” he said. Dressage shows are conducted in an arena. The idea is to make the horse look light and responsive. “Normally a horse carries 70 percent of the weight on his front legs. In dressage, we shift that to the back legs, and the form is more beautiful,” Miller said. Dressage has its roots in the military when cavalry officers wanted their horses to be able to maneuver and turn quickly, which came in handy when an enemy on horseback charged with a sword swinging. Until 1952, dressage competition in the Olympics was restricted to military personnel. “Dressage is like ballet on horseback,” Miller said. “We do pirouettes, turn in a circle on hind legs, lateral movements, flying changes, piaffes, and a slow elevated trot.” Flying changes are when the horse canters in a way that almost looks like skipping. A piaffe is a trot in place. Miller said he got started with horses in a classic way. “I bought a horse for my daughter to keep her away from boys. She ran off with the boys, and I got stuck with the horse,” he laughed. He was in his mid-40s and decided if he was going to have to board a horse, he might as well learn something about horsemanship. “My first teacher was a young woman who was trying to qualify for the Olympics.” She really put him through his paces, and it wasn’t long after that he decided sticking to dressage was best for him. An ironic side note: Miller’s father died on horseback when Miller was a year old. He was struck by lightning. When Miller first started competing in eventing, he worked his way from the category of “Super Chicken” up to “Chicken,” which is what they called the beginners. “I won everything I entered because of my dressage skills, which made up for knocking a few rails down in the jumping,” Miller said. Miller competes mostly on the West Coast, from Sacramento to Seattle. He has ranked in the top 20 nationally for many years. One year he was 12th, with five Olympic riders ahead of him. He owns two other horses — a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood and a thoroughbred (a hot blood) in his 20s, both geldings. His typical daily routine with the horses takes place in the morning. “First thing, I go down to the barn to clean the stalls, feed them, and put out hay and clean water. Then I have breakfast and after that I go for a ride,” he said. Miller had a career as a public health service officer. During that time he was primarily a weekend rider. He and his wife, Molly Tinsley, moved to the Rogue Valley in 1997, five years after he retired. He started competing again in 2004. Miller is a member of the Oregon Dressage Society. He is vice president and a past president. The local chapter has about 50 members, he said. He and his wife live near Ashland on about four acres off the Old Siskiyou Highway. — Jim Flint is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected].