“… Like a grand poem for the eYes and ears. Cavalia is meant to be a hYmn to the beautY of nature1.” —Normand Latourelle, president and artistic director of Cavalia
by Denise Hearst photos by Lynne Glazer
T
he dazzling show Cavalia, a sort of Cirque du Soleil with horses, has enchanted nearly two million spectators throughout North America and Europe since its inception in 2003. It is by turns thrilling and serene; lighthearted and poignant. But always, the horse at its center is celebrated for what he is, rather than for what he can be made to do. Here, the horse can do no wrong even if he decides that today, he would prefer not to bow, or to assume his usual spot in the lineup. The show’s savvy creators get that, knowing that for the audience there is as much to be learned (and enjoyed) from these small missteps and how they are handled by the gymnasts, aerialists, and riders as there is from a flawless passage or the thrill of a trick rider’s pony dashing across the stage like a bullet.
2 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2011
“… Like a grand poem for the eYes and ears. Cavalia is meant to be a hYmn to the beautY of nature1.” —Normand Latourelle, president and artistic director of Cavalia
by Denise Hearst photos by Lynne Glazer
T
he dazzling show Cavalia, a sort of Cirque du Soleil with horses, has enchanted nearly two million spectators throughout North America and Europe since its inception in 2003. It is by turns thrilling and serene; lighthearted and poignant. But always, the horse at its center is celebrated for what he is, rather than for what he can be made to do. Here, the horse can do no wrong even if he decides that today, he would prefer not to bow, or to assume his usual spot in the lineup. The show’s savvy creators get that, knowing that for the audience there is as much to be learned (and enjoyed) from these small missteps and how they are handled by the gymnasts, aerialists, and riders as there is from a flawless passage or the thrill of a trick rider’s pony dashing across the stage like a bullet.
2 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2011
out their language if you decide to work with animals. We were taught to respect and honor the animals. “My grandfather always used to tell me that I was special, and say, ‘When Sylvia grows up, she’s going to be working with animals.’ Because my grandfather was always telling me that, I had no fear. And the animals sense this.” Sylvia started performing on the trapeze when she was ten, and over the years she won numerous awards for her trapeze act, even performing for Prince Rainier in Monte Carlo. But her specialty was always the horse. “We had a lot of draft horses growing up, Belgians and Percherons, and we had Lipizzans and Quarter Horses. When I was 14 I met my first Arabian and I totally fell in love with her. She was just so in tune with everything I did. The other horses didn’t pay so much attention to me; they were really reserved and I found it a little bit harder to connect with them. Ultimately the Arabian helped me understand how to connect with the rest of the horses.” By the time Sylvia was sixteen more Arabian horses joined the family circus, and Sylvia began turning them out together to observe their interactions. “Being able to mix horses together, like geldings and stallions, and watching how they behave with one
photo: guy deschenes
For years, there was only one thing wrong with the show: there were no Arabians in it. That changed in 2008, when Sylvia Zerbini arrived on the scene with her nine Arabian geldings and stallions, and a liberty act that has become the show’s centerpiece. After all the standing ovations and autograph-seekers who visit her backstage, many with tears in their eyes, Sylvia still doesn’t quite know what all the fuss is about. “I don’t know what moves the audience,” she says. “Sometimes I come back and I ask my husband (the show’s operations manager). When people come backstage, they grab me and hug me and start to cry. I don’t know what they’re feeling when they get to see the Arabians performing freely, because for me it’s a natural thing. This is how I know horses are. If they understand us, they’ll do anything for us.” But of course, that’s coming from a woman who grew up around horses and represents the ninth generation of a French performing family. Arabian Horse World visited Sylvia backstage after one of her performances in San Francisco last month, and we admit, we had tears in our eyes, too. Sylvia has a gift, and she’s had a lifetime in which to develop it. She shows us what is possible, and for anyone who has, or wishes for, a horse watching Sylvia’s herd tune into her and happily cavort, tails flagged, ears up, is soul-stirring. “My grandfather said that every animal has a favorite language, a silent language, and that whether it’s a cat, a dog, a horse, a cow you really have to pay attention. You have to figure
Facing page: Trainer and performer Sylvia Zerbini with her Arabians. Above: The Cavalia tents. “It’s just life as a nomad … for me and the horses,” says Sylvia. “They know the routine — traveling is normal for them and they are pros.” Left: Prior to Sylvia’s entrance onto the stage, the Arabians enter one by one, free to socialize with one another.
3 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2011
another really taught me a lot,” she says. “I love the natural way horses express themselves and that’s where I got the idea for my act. I realized that they are a show in themselves by just being themselves. I wanted the audience to be able to enjoy that. Of course there’ve been circuses for centuries, and horses have always been a big part of the entertainment. But I thought we were losing so much by having harnesses and tack on them.” In 2004, Syvia watched her first Cavalia show. “It was in San Francisco, and I thought, wow, what an amazing place to be able to present your horses. I was just in awe because I knew I could express my horses’ characters in that environment so well,” she says. “There is no other breed like Arabians. And they had no Arabians — I was shocked!” At the time, Sylvia was under contract with a different company, but in 2006 she got in touch with Cavalia’s president Normand Latourelle and invited him to come and see her work in New York at Lake Placid. “My horses were working free but it was in a small forty-foot ring. He said, ‘I really enjoy your work and the connection you have with your horses but I feel that the Arabians are just so small. We have Spanish horses, we have Lusitano horses, and all these big Canadian Warmbloods. The Arabians would seem too small on stage.’ I remember telling him, ‘Yes, but these Arabians will capture your audience. They have so much character. They come onstage and I don’t even need to do anything with them. They will do a show just by being themselves. They will get big!’ But I couldn’t convince him.” In 2007, Normand contacted Sylvia and asked if she would be interested in training some Spanish horses to do liberty, and then perhaps they would put her Arabians in some part of the show. “I thought, well yeah, I can train some Spanish horses. Then they invited Pictured from top: All nine Arabians gather at center stage to begin a circle sequence. “It’s just like in dance — we start with steps and then we progress.”
4 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2011
me to the Cavalia training center in Sutton, Quebec, where I did a demonstration with my Arabians in a big area. He had only seen me in a small ring before. When those horses came out, I had to say no more. The horses were like, ‘Here we are, pay attention.’ The tails went up in the air, they started snorting, and they just put on a show and that was it! We signed a contract and we had a deal. “When Normand came to see me I was sending the horses out onto the stage first and letting them play a little bit before I came onto the stage. I told Normand that for Cavalia it would be really nice to be able to let the horses go out and just let them be horses.” And he said, ‘That’s exactly what I want.’” So that’s how Sylvia’s act begins — one horse at a time comes onstage, free to do what they wish … until she walks onto the stage and they coalesce around her. Sylvia changes the sequence of horses depending on their characters and their moods that day. “I only know this right before they go onstage,” she says. “I warm them up in an area backstage where I let them roam around. Some days I’ll have two horses that just don’t want to see each other. To prevent any kind of conflict I’ll take that one horse who is causing the trouble and I’ll send him first, then I’ll put the other horse in the back of the line. The first one will start getting distracted by the other horses and then I come in right after the last one so there’s no chance of anything happening. So I have to read my horses really well, and I have to spend the time with them, a good half hour or 45 minutes just seeing what kind of moods they’re in. “I feel like I’m the protector of the herd. If there’s ever any
problem, let’s say there’s a noise backstage, for instance, you know how a horse will spook and jump and run? They will all jump and run right behind me. I can just walk in there and they’ll all come running around and they’ll stay in my area. They just know that I’m there to protect them. I’m the comfort zone and they know if they’re around me nothing’s going to happen. Let’s say, for instance, I have a gelding, and one stallion comes chasing after him, I will chase that stallion away and that gelding knows it. Sometimes, I have some really strong geldings in that group that think they’re stallions, and they’ll chase the stallions and I will intervene and chase that gelding off, and that stallion knows it. Actually, the geldings weren’t so strong before, but now they know they have me behind them so they’ve been emboldened. “My act can be different with every show. Sometimes I change my routine completely depending on what mood the horses are in, because I don’t want them to get sour or bored. Some of them will be good one day and then the next day they’re just in a different mood. The most challenging part is not knowing what to expect. To think on your feet and adapt. Because they can make me look like I don’t know what I’m doing so fast. Sometimes, when I’m not feeling too good and I’m a little bit slow, they know immediately. And it’s challenging to get them all to work without trying to bite or kick each other in an aggressive way. It’s not that they’re being aggressive but it will get aggressive if I don’t stop it. My timing has to be right on.” Sylvia refers to the foundation of her training as “levage.” “I’ve taught all of them how to come to me. They know how One of the most difficult parts of Sylvia’s act is to send four or five horses up around the back of the “hill” on the stage, and keep the others running around on the bottom.
5 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2011
Silvia interacts with the Arabians using hand and verbal cues to set the horses in motion. “Once they understand all my body movements, the rest just comes into place. It’s just body language, and it’s feeling or a sense, and it’s timing — those three things in one shot.”
to reverse, to stop, to get over, to wait. It’s just like in dance — we start with steps and then we progress. Once all my horses understand the levage, the base of what I call liberty, once they understand all my body movements, the rest just comes into place. It’s just body language, and it’s feeling or a sense, and it’s timing — those three things in one shot. If I’m a step behind, nothing’s going to happen.” One of the most difficult parts of Sylvia’s act is to send four or five horses up around the back of the “hill” on the stage, and keep the others running around on the bottom. Next she joins the second group behind the first set. “That one horse is leading five horses up the crest of the back of the hill and down the hill,” she explains. “We have eye contact as soon as he comes down. If I’m a little bit late and I don’t have eye contact on that horse, I can swear to you, he’s going to keep running. And if I don’t have contact with the horses on the bottom, to remind them to stay with me, they’re going to go and join the rest of the horses. And it’s off sometimes and it’s always my fault. I always correct myself before the horses. “When I train horses I teach them to have a partner. First I teach them alone how to be and how to understand all my cues. And I’ll teach them with a partner and then I’ll take that partner away and then I’ll make them come back to that partner. I keep
adding and subtracting. If I have a problem with the number four horse and I want to pull my number four horse, then the number five horse will follow number three. I’m able to change the numbers around. Once they understand that it’s OK if their partner’s not there, they still have to stay in their same place. They really are smart. “I think every horse owner, whatever the discipline, should have a base on their horse; the beginning of liberty. Owners should be able to longe their horses without a longe line. Have them come to you without a longe and reverse without a longe. Have them stop. Have them back up. Just with our energy, our bodies and our body movement. I train all my horses at liberty and then I can just jump on their back and they’ll accept it. “I use verbal cues with different tones and I think it’s very important for everybody to decide that whatever cues you use, your tones are different. I mimic the way horses act with one another. The squeals mean different things, so I’ll have different pitches for different things. To get their attention I have a different tone; to stop them I have a different tone, to go I have a different tone. To let them know it’s great and everything they’re doing is fine and everything’s good, is a different word. The vocabulary is very short. You have to keep it very short and clean so they’re right on with you.”
6 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2011
One of Sylvia’s more potent verbal cues is the French pronunciation of “brave” (it sounds like brrrahve), used if a horse is getting nervous. “‘Brrrahve’ is like saying ‘breathe.’ I will give him this word because in training, ‘brave’ will always be accompanied by a caress and a good energy and a good feeling. ‘Brave’ is always used if a horse is confused and not sure. If I give him ‘brave,’ that energy will just calm right back down and the horse will come in. When I’m doing eight abreast or something, and if I can see that a horse doesn’t want to come into his place in line, he’s a little bit nervous, like maybe somebody’s pushing on him, I use that word and that horse will be like, ‘Oh, OK,’ and he’ll just come in. And then there’s always that ‘oof,’ once he’s in with the rest of the horses. There’s no more pressure, and wow, everything’s great. “Another essential word is ‘ah,’ meaning ‘no.’ It’s just something that I’ve always used. If you are running around with a bunch of horses and you use it strong enough, it doesn’t sound like anything else. At feeding time, if some start to bite, and you say ‘ah,’ the ears go up and they stop. “I have one gelding, Tanner, that is half-Arabian and halfAndalusian and he is just such a character. He’s always annoying the rest of the horses — they don’t want to have anything to do with him. Of course I always blame the Andalusian in him! If
I look at him too strong, he’ll come walking over like, ‘What? What do you want me to do?’ And he’ll completely mess up the cue for the other horses. Sometimes if he falls out of place, he’ll jump over part of the stage to get back to his place instead of going all the way around. When he sees the crop he grabs it from me. Once when I was working nine horses in a show he grabbed it and wouldn’t give it back to me. And as I turned my back, he decided to go ahead and go. It was the part of the act where the horses are going in opposite directions and criss-cross each other. He ran on top of the hill, he did the pirouette, he did everything with that crop in his mouth and then when I stopped him at the very end, the audience, a full house of about 1,400 people, were just rolling on the floor laughing. I was cracking up, too. I couldn’t even pay attention to what I was doing. And he got a standing ovation. “My Polish Arabian stallion, Shagal, is another special one. Last year during my act I’d jump on one of the Arabians, no saddle or bridle, just totally free on this horse as he’s running full speed. Then the herd would exit but I would continue to ride up the hill and do a solo exit. As we were going around the last turn, I told him to slow down, which he did, but just as we went around the corner he lost his footing and went down. I just remember catching his eye, he was looking at me as we were sliding down
All nine Arabians running abreast.
7 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2011
“Alydar (foreground) is the strongest gelding of the herd and he keeps the peace between the other stallions and geldings,” says Sylvia. “Shagal (next to Sylvia) is a stallion who was imprinted and trained by me, and is one of the smallest yet strongest of the herd. He is also extremely smart!”
the hill. I gritted my teeth because I was so scared he was going to step all over me. But he got up so slowly it looked like he tip-toed his legs between my arms and legs. How he didn’t step on me, I have no idea. He carefully walked off of me, turned around and looked at me and I looked at him, and then he took his cue to exit. I just sat up and the curtain came down in front of my face and they had to carry me off the stage because I had broken my ankle. That was maybe the most
Syvia and Zjan running together.
8 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2011
meaningful thing. He was looking out for me. I imprint trained him and he’s so spoiled. He’s the strongest horse I have in the liberty act, he can do everything. He doesn’t like too many people. You have to be careful who goes into his stall, so when he did that, it was just like, wow.” All the performers in the Cavalia show, even the gymnasts, have moments with the horses during the show. “We feel it’s very important for each rider to have a relationship with their horse,” says Sylvia. They’ve got to know their horses; I think that comes across onstage. You can’t just show up and put makeup on and have somebody hand you your horse. It doesn’t work like that.” Sylvia occasionally troubleshoots training issues with the other horses in the production. “Sometimes people say, ‘Oh my horse doesn’t want to do this,’ or ‘He’s testing me.’ I don’t think horses are like that. I feel that they’re just not understanding. Because I know when my horses understand something, they enjoy giving us pleasure. They feel that energy, that positive energy, and I know they enjoy that. I know if I’m upset from anything else and I come around the horse upset, I have no connection with them. They turn off. “There was one girl in the show whose horse didn’t want to hold his bow on stage with her. She’d come backstage and her horse would hold his bow perfectly. I told her, ‘Go with your horse; go pet him, go in his stall,
give him a verbal cue like a “brave,” and just go in there and scratch him and give him a good feeling. Don’t do the bow when you come back offstage anymore; just leave it alone. Go onstage, ask him to bow, even when he doesn’t hold it, he’s going down, so praise him.’ So instead of her having that angry feeling of disappointment, she would caress him and say ‘brave.’ She would give him that feeling he related back to the stall when she would give him that good energy and feeling of the scratching. So then she started doing this and four days later she gave me a hug and said, ‘Sylvia I cannot believe it. He’s staying down just as if I was backstage.’ I don’t know if I have gift, I just find it really easy to communicate with them. The most important lesson I’ve learned is to have patience. A lot of patience. “I can’t imagine life without my Arabians. Even on Mondays when we have a dark day, I find myself going to the stables and checking on the horses. We have a great staff and I only have certain people who work around the Arabian horses. I have three permanent people who just take care of the Arabians so they can handle them the same way I do. These horses are really spoiled, so when they brush them they need to tie them because they’ll turn around and nip at them. And nobody’s allowed to get mad at them so they’re really big brats. But I can’t live without them. “I don’t know, they make me enjoy the stupidest things. They make me so happy. I can have like the worst day and
Alydar and Sylvia greet the media in Los Angeles prior to the show’s opening there in January 2011.
be so annoyed with something from life, and then I’ll go to the barn and just watch my horses. I just enjoy taking my horses to the wash rack and spending time with them. “I have a beautiful farm on the outskirts of Ocala, and someday I want to do clinics there, and teach people what I’ve learned about horses through the years. So many people tell me they wish to learn how to better communicate with their horses. I would love to help them. Yes, for people, but more so for the horses.”
photo: lynne glazer
Closing out the show, the Arabians line up, rest their heads on each other, and salute the audience.
9 b ARABIAN HORSE WORLD b FEBRUARY 2011