Mrs. Coester Enjoys European Equestrian Tour

Sat., 10/15/60-Iowa City Press Citizen

Eighteen months of planning and anticipation were culminated in August when Mrs. Fritz Coester, Rt. 2, joined 27 other persons at Idlewild airport in New York City for departure on the "Chronicle" Olympic Equestrian tour, first tour of its kind.

Sponsored by the "Chronicle," a weekly thoroughbred horse publication, the tour's main purpose was to visit horse breeding and training centers in several European countries and to attend the Olympic equestrian events in Rome. The majority of the tour members were thus riders, trainers and other equally interested in the equine world, although two person, including Mrs. Coester, went along solely to see Europe.

An ardent horsewoman since her childhood days in Maryland, Mrs. Coester fairly lives and breathes horses. An early afternoon visitor to the Coester farm home on Prairie du Chien road would probably find her taking advantage of this "free time," while Janet attends kindergarten and the three Coester pre-schoolers take naps, to train one of her "green" horses.

Twelve of her 32 horses are what would be termed "green", that is, just starting their basic schooling. There being only 24 hours in a day, however, Mrs. Coester is currently concentrating on only three horses of the 12, working with each horse approximately one hour every other day.

Of course, there is always the daily feeding, grooming and exercising which all 32 horses require, although she does have some help with this, for the first time this year, from a neighbor boy. This help allows her some time for her activities as Cardinal Council Girl Scout district chairman, and as state chairman and local alumnae president of Alpha Phi sorority.

So it was that on August 18 Mrs. Coester said goodbye to her husband, a University of Iowa physicist, the four children and 32 horses, three German shepherd and one basset hound.

One might call the tour a typical "busman's holiday" for Mrs. Coester, with its visits to breeding farms in Germany and France, to the thoroughbred training center at Chantilly and to the German Olympic training center.

When asked about the highlights of her trip, Mrs. Coester is quick to reply, "Visiting the stud farm of Baron von Nagel and seeing Monarchist, the foremost dressage horse in the world." Here she explains that dressage is the "basic schooling which emphasizes fluidity, grace, suppleness and obedience." They saw Monarchist perform, although he was not entered in the grand Prix de Dressage at Rome due to his rider's recent motherhood.

The von Nagel stud farm, also in Germany, was of interest to Mrs. Coester because of the type of horses bred there and "the rural setting, a lovely chateau-type home with moat and all the trimmings."

While in Europe, Mrs. Coester took 35 rolls of black and white photos. She will use them mainly for comparison and teaching purposes. She will use them in her capacity as instructor of the Rapid Creek Pony Club, a Saturday club of about 20 members. (as district commission of the club, she is the national representative of U.S. Pony Clubs, Inc.)