That isn’t as impossible as it sounds. Although curly hair is a hallmark of the breed, a recessive gene produces straight hair on some horses. There is no effort to breed out this gene because some buyers like all other features of the breed except the curly coat. Those other features include an extremely calm and gentle disposition, slightly slanted eyes which enable greater rear vision, and tough black hooves which rarely need shoeing. Some people who are allergic to most horses are not allergic to Curlies.

Curliness of the hair varies and extends to eyelashes, mane, fetlocks and even the hair in the ears. Some manes split down the middle leaving ringlets on both sides of the neck.

Laroux rode horses as a child, so she had no qualms about getting into the saddle when she bought Storm in December 1999. Three weeks later, however, she fell from her horse and sustained a concussion. That meant six weeks of not riding and even longer before she rode Storm again.

Laroux’s husband, Greg, suggested that she practice on Spectacular Event, a 17-year-old appaloosa mare they had recently bought. In July, however, she retrieved a news article that had appeared months before and contacted Ann Liesman of rural Lincoln. Laroux moved Storm to Liesman’s stable and began lessons.

At first her goal was to master trail riding. That changed at the end of October when she received an e-mail from the couple who had sold her Storm. Sue and Jeff Davis of Lebanon, Ill., were organizing a breed horse show and asked Laroux to enter.

Liesman surveyed the list of planned classes and said, “Well, OK. Let’s get you ready.” From that point on, according to Laroux, her lessons concentrated on acquiring the finesse needed to show. She had to fine-tune her posture and practice hand positions and other techniques that weren’t important while riding in the pasture.

Storm is a gaited horse, but Laroux explained that she had been riding “strung out, not collected gait.” Another way of explaining it is that she had to switch from riding as she would a quarter horse to gaited riding. In the process she had to change from Aussie to Western and English saddles for different events. She also learned halter presentation ― where and how the exhibitor and horse must stand and how to present the horse to a judge. In January Jan Davis helped her perfect moves specific to Curlies.

The Egg and Spoon class and Ride-a-Buck class, both of which she won at the show, required careful practice. In Egg and Spoon the rider must balance a raw egg on a plastic spoon, without touching the egg, while the horse walks, trots and canters, or ― for gaited horses ― walks, slow gaits and fast gaits. Laroux said she practiced with a plastic Easter egg containing Hershey’s kisses to simulate the size and weight of an egg. At the show she was the last rider with an intact egg.

The Ride-a-Buck class is performed bareback with a play dollar bill tucked under the back of the rider’s leg. Again, three gaits are performed without the rider’s touching or losing the bill. In practice Laroux, the bookkeeper for Steak ’n Shake, sometimes used real dollar bills and sometimes bills she had traced on paper. Whenever one fell out, she substituted another, then picked them all up afterward.

When it came time for the show, “Ann [Liesman] said I was ready, and I didn’t know any better,” Laroux admitted. “As far as I was concerned, I was as ready as I was going to get. I had no illusions; I went to have fun and meet Curly owners.” Because she didn’t expect to win, Laroux was overwhelmed when her name was called again and again.

Of the 35 classes offered, she entered 10 and won trophies in four: Egg and Spoon, Ride-a-Buck, Jack Benny Pleasure for adults over 39, and Gaited Country Pleasure Stake for both adult and junior exhibitors. In addition, she won ribbons in the six other classes she entered: second in Open Halter; third in Gaited Country Pleasure, English Walk-Trot/Favorite Gait for Adults and Western Walk-Trot/Favorite Gait for Adults; fourth in Adult Showmanship; and sixth in Best Color Halter.

For some events, such as Gaited Country Pleasure Stake, she wore English attire, consisting of bowler hat, gloves, dress shirt, man’s tie, and saddle seat suit with tails and flared pants. For others, such as Ride-a-Buck, her Western dress included Western shirt and hat, chaps, jeans and optional gloves.

The Open Halter judging is primarily on the horse’s appearance and behavior, while in Adult Showmanship the presenter is judged as he or she leads the horse through a prescribed pattern of moves.

Laroux commented that she thought the sixth place for Best Color was awarded only because her horse behaved so well. Although “any color of any horse shows up in Curlies,” her horse is not very colorful, she said. He is a blue roan, meaning a mixture of light and dark gray, but in winter only the dark gray shows.

A class that Laroux did not enter was Best Curly Coat Halter, judged on thickness, curliness and consistency of the coat. The show must be held in winter because Curlies lose some or most of their curl as they shed.

Laroux met Curly owners from Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Oklahoma. She hopes that the American Bashkir Curly Show will become an annual event, so she can renew acquaintances every year. Curly owners also keep in touch through their newsletter, “Curly Cues.”

At the show Laroux and her husband purchased a second Curly, a yearling with curly hair, named WWW Proud Prince.

[Lynn Spellman]

"I didn’t know how involved I would get, or how much I would care," said Bobbie Fults of her work for her uncle Don Fults’ campaign in the Republican primary for mayor. She is completing a six-credit-hour internship at Western Illinois University working as his campaign secretary.

Emily Davis, daughter of opposing Republican mayoral candidate Beth Davis, is involved in her mother’s campaign while doing a 12-credit-hour internship in the office of Illinois 50th District Sen. Larry Bomke. Both women are junior political science majors at Western.

The two "see each other every single night," according to Fults. They compare notes generally but are careful not to talk too specifically about the campaign. The outcome of the primary will not be a problem, however, because each says she will be able to give sincere congratulations if the other side wins. "I think Beth Davis is a wonderful person, and nothing can come between Emily’s and my friendship," Fults affirms.

Davis, who has worked for Bomke for three summers, hopes her internship will also include work in the Springfield office of U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald this summer.

She said the local campaign has held few surprises. "However, politics isn’t an exact field," she added. "You have to be always on your toes when you run for office. Be alert and ready for anything and everything. Stick up for what you believe in. Above all, keep it positive."

Fults said she knew she would attend campaign events but not every event. She has been surprised by the number of activities and demands on the candidates’ — and their campaign workers’ — time.

Both Fults and Davis have spent time delivering campaign literature, posting signs in yards, making phone calls and meeting the public. They have also made suggestions regarding statements to the media.

Both have used information from college class work to advise their respective candidates. Davis said the book "How to Run a Local Election," read for a Campaigns and Elections course, was especially helpful. Using insights from the course and book, she became a consultant to her mother.

Fults also mentioned a particular book, an autobiography of the legendary Chicago mayor Richard Daley. She said she shared some of Daley’s positive accomplishments and the issues he addressed with Don Fults, who appreciates having a political science major to give "a different spin" on the campaign. She acts as a sounding board for him and said, "I get so excited every time he takes my advice. He treats me as an equal."

The two women studied three courses together last semester, but Campaigns and Elections was not one of them. Fults said her most relevant course should have been Illinois Politics, but that dealt primarily with Chicago politics. In fact, she is devoting much of the 18-page paper required for her internship to contrasting small-town politics and what she learned about Chicago. For her required journal she is saving all news articles about the campaign and excerpts from the lincolnil.com message board to show the variety of reports and opinions.

While Bobbie Fults is taking two online classes to complete her semester’s load, Emily Davis is earning a full 12 credit hours for her internship and therefore must write a paper twice as long. Her paper, however, will be devoted to comparing her classroom learning with the realities of Bomke’s legislative office. His 50th District includes Sangamon, Cass and Menard counties.

Davis completed plans for her internship in November. Fults decided one week into the spring semester. "I heard Emily, and I really got into the idea of an internship," she said.

Fults termed the Lincoln mayoral campaign "a relatively clean race, compared to what it could be." She noted that, while there have been subtle allusions to character, out-and-out attacks have been avoided. Also, the number of candidates has precluded debates or one-on-one comments on candidates’ stands on issues.

Noting that the Beth Davis campaign has done no polling, Emily Davis said that "sometimes it’s better not to do it" because respondents may disguise their true opinions or change their minds and because a poll can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Among the many connections between Davis and Fults is the fact that they lived in the same dormitory as freshmen. Though they had participated together in soccer, choir and school plays at Lincoln Community High School, they did not belong to the same social group. Independently they decided to attend Western Illinois University.

Then, while moving in, they discovered that out of 10 dormitories with 14 or more floors each, they had been assigned to the same floor of the same dormitory.

Without consulting each other about their preferences, they pledged the same sorority, Alpha Sigma Alpha. The sorority and their shared studies have brought them closer together, Davis said.

Both now live in the sorority house while on campus. Each is spending this semester in Lincoln, living with her mother. Their similarities even extend to both working as waitresses at Al’s Main Event.

However, the similarities do not include life goals. Davis plans to make politics her career. She dreams of becoming a full-time Republican staffer at the state Senate. Barring that, she expects to start out running for local office, with a "wishful thinking" goal of becoming the first woman president.

Fults plans to enter law school and has selected college courses with that goal in mind, following the advice of her mentor Ted Mills. She hopes to practice law in Lincoln and eventually to become a judge. As far as her career allows, she says, she will continue to be involved in politics and expects to work on campaigns for Emily Davis someday.

Competitors now, Bobbie Fults and Emily Davis expect to remain friends for life.

[Lynn Spellman]