HIGH STEPPING, FAR REACHING.

Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard

CORRECTION (ran March 27, 2007): Shannon Connor's name was misspelled in a story on Page C1 Monday about equestrian competition.

Tim Arcuri climbed into a horse-drawn cart and, with a soft command, his champion stallion El-Toro started pulling him around an indoor arena.

Arcuri was exercising the horse, running him through his paces at the family stable east of Springfield. Like a track star, a horse expected to shine at competition must stay fit and limber during the periods in between.

Jean, Arcuri's wife, stood to the side and assessed the horse's gait: Was El-Toro stepping high? Was he balanced front and back? Was his head set at the right angle?

Would he catch a judge's eye?

"My specialty is groundwork," Jean Arcuri said, as El-Toro jogged past, pulling Tim Arcuri behind him. "I stand and watch and observe, and maybe critique where I see something that might be improved."

This husband-wife combination - Tim shaping a champion horse, Jean assessing the result - continues to carry the couple to award-winning success in the elite world of equestrian sport competition.

For more than 30 years, the Arcuris and their son, Ryan, have been in the business of breeding, training, buying, selling and showing Morgan and Saddlebred horses. They've won more than 150 world championships and multiple Horse of the Year awards.

Most recently, the Arcuris received the Golden Reins award from the American Morgan Horse Association, a Vermont-based group with 10,000 members. The award goes to trainers, breeders and instructors who have made their careers in Morgan horses.

Tim Arcuri, 52, likens it to entry in a horse hall of fame. "It means you've made a difference in the breed," he said.

The Arcuris travel the country to high-stakes competitions that test how their horses match up to the ideal for the breed in appearance and performance.

Horse and rider compete in numerous categories - some with the rider atop, in a saddle, others with the horse pulling the rider in a cart.

Over the years, Arcuri horses consistently have ended up with the blue ribbon. Tim Arcuri is one of just a handful of trainers with world championships in four professional divisions in which Morgan horses compete, the association said.

The Arcuris seem to handle it all - win, lose or draw - with grace, courtesy and a smile.

Cindy Mugnier is a professional horse judge in Massachusetts who has known the Arcuris and competed against them for more than 20 years.

The pressure for success in the sport is intense, Mugnier said, and clients determined to win blue ribbons move through trainers like an NFL owner trying out head coaches.

But the Arcuris buck the trend, forming lasting relationships with clients, Mugnier said.

"Tim and Jean are two of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet," she said. "They've developed very long-term relationships within the breed. They create a very nice atmosphere within their stable that encourages people to stay."

Met at the fairgrounds 

Horse lovers since they were kids, Tim and Jean met 30 years ago when both kept horses at the Lane County fairgrounds. They married, bought a farm and started training and breeding horses.

Ryan, their son, 29, is Tim's right hand, and he expects one day to take the business reins from his parents.

The family concentrates in part on Morgan horses, which they describe as versatile and even-keeled, eager to learn and suitable for all ages.

The Morgan horse was one of America's first breeds, a utilitarian animal that grew up in concert with - and in service to - a fledgling nation, according to the Morgan horse association.

Justin Morgan, a teacher and horseman, acquired a young, reddish-brown horse in 1789. The animal was compact but muscular, and word spread quickly that no horse could outrun or outpull him.

The "Justin Morgan" horse was put to stud, and his offspring cleared fields and forests for their owners, or pulled them throughout New England in stagecoaches. By the 1850s, Morgans were found throughout the country and commanded a high price.

That price is higher still today - a show horse can cost $10,000, and a breeding stallion as much as $500,000, Tim Arcuri said.

High-stepping horses

Equestrian competition is full of style, flair and more than a little bit of money.

Well-heeled horse lovers hire trainers and zip around in private jets in search of a world champion.

In the show arena, the horses parade past, their riders nattily dressed in suit, hat and gloves, the crowd giving spirited applause that spurs the horse on to high-step even more proudly.

The pressure can be overwhelming, Tim said, but there are also life lessons in competition that can turn the shyest of youngsters into a world champion.

Shannon Connor, a 23-year-old from Eugene, has ridden under the Arcuris for 12 years.

Conner has collected five world championships, and she credits the Arcuri family for helping her learn not just how to ride a horse, but how to work hard and deal with intense pressure.

"It totally changed who I was," Connor said. "It's really made me be able to stay calm in situations - I can really refer back to riding.

"The way they all work together is quite interesting," she added. "Jean can be very quiet but knows the one word to say, and Tim can be very vocal, and Ryan's kind of in the middle. It's quite an art what they do."

It's the growth in riders such as Connor that earned the Arcuris the lifetime achievement award from the horse association.

For Tim Arcuri, that growth is even better than a blue ribbon.

"The real perspective is seeing a young rider come on, and their achievements," he said. "Shannon started out, and she was young and shy. And now, man, she'll run a company. She can do whatever she wants - and it shows in her riding."

HORSE PEOPLE

Names: Tim and Jean Arcuri, and their son, Ryan, own Arcuri Stables, east of Springfield

Specialty: The training business specializes in Morgan and Saddlebred horses, and equestrian sport competition

Claim to fame: More than 150 world championships and multiple Horse of the Year awards

No gift horse: A show horse can cost $10,000 or more and a breeding stallion as much as $500,000

Special horse treat: Peppermints. "We don't overdo it," Tim Arcuri said, "because they'll get crazy for them."

Horsing around: When not working with horses, Jean makes necklaces and Tim enjoys motorboats. Ryan helps customize the trucks and trailers that transport Arcuri horses.

For more information: www.arcuristables.com