What does football season mean for University students and fans? Tailgating, “The Good Old Song,” guys in ties, girls in pearls, the Sea of Orange? What about Sabre, Virginia football fans’ favorite horse? She gallops onto the field at each home game, eliciting cheers and chills from her adoring fans.
“Sabre,” whose real name is Trinda, is owned and ridden by Charlottesville local Kim Kirschnick. At their little plot on Stadium Road where Kirschnick and Trinda get ready for the game, a steady stream of Cavalier fans, both young and old, attempt to get a closer look at the horse.
“The cavalier on horseback leading the team out onto the field is an integral part of the game day environment at Virginia home football games,” said Rich Murray, associate athletics director for public relations. The mounted cavalier and his steed, however, were not always involved in University football games. The tradition of the mounted cavalier goes back to 1947 when University student Francis Bell first rode onto the field for the Virginia versus Harvard game. But Trinda has only had the job for the past five years, while Kirschnick has held the position of the mounted cavalier for seven.
Kirschnick said he used to wear a more traditional cavalier uniform, complete with white riding breeches, but Sports Promotions and Marketing eventually decided to alter the traditional garb to more closely resemble CavMan’s.
Both longtime polo players, Kirschnick said he and Trinda love their job with the University.
Kirschnick claimed that he only plays a small role in this traditional display of school pride. Fans are always asking about the horse, which, he said, is truly the star of the show.
A 15-year-old thoroughbred mare, Trinda is even-tempered and a hard worker, Kirschnick said. “Once she learns her job, she knows it,” he added.
Thoroughbreds are stereotypically skittish, but Trinda usually manages to stay calm when faced with screaming fans, fireworks and pompoms. Kirschnick explained that horses are creatures of habit, and so long as there are no changes in her routine, the sensible mare can handle the excitement relatively well.
“If they change the logo on the field she will notice every time and spook at that,” Kirschnick said.
At home on Kirschnick’s small farm in Ivy, Trinda lives with eight other horses. Despite her calm temperament, she is more or less the leader of the pack.
“She’s the boss,” Kirschnick said. “She doesn’t have to bite or kick, she can just pin back her ears.” And while she may bully her equine friends at home, Trinda absolutely loves people — and carrots, he said. After football season ends, she will enjoy a long winter break until she is ridden again in April.
In her career as the cavalier’s mount, Trinda has become quite the local celebrity. Kirschnick said he had a fan come up to him and say she had taken a picture of the duo, only to cut out his face, replace it with her husband’s and use it for her Christmas cards.
Students and fans are always eager to pose for pictures with Trinda and Kirschnick as they ride among tailgaters in the parking lot outside Scott Stadium. Trinda is so well-behaved that Kirschnick said he really only has one worry when it comes to interacting with the fans: “Most of the girls always have sandals on and you have to tell them to watch their toes.”
While the horse is very well-traveled because of her polo career, various logistical issues make it difficult for her and Kirschnick to attend away games. Kirschnick said Virginia fans were upset when Texas Tech brought its horse to the Gator Bowl last year and Trinda was not able to make the trip.
At home games, however, Trinda and Kirschnick’s act can be a crowd motivator.
“Nothing gets me excited and ready to cheer hard like when the [mounted cavalier] rides onto the field,” fourth-year College student Joe O’Brien said.
When reflecting on the fans’ overall reaction to Trinda, Kirschnick said, “Everybody loves it!”
Future Wahoos have taken a particular liking to the horse. Before the Virginia versus Miami game, children could be seen tentatively approaching Trinda and then grinning after Kirschnick invited them to pat her thick brown coat for good luck.
“When the kids come by, the girls say, ‘Aw she’s so pretty!’, and the boys always want to know if the sword is real,” Kirschnick said. He does not mind the horse getting all of the attention, though, and said that is how it should be.
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