By Chris Barber

A local horse with eyes as blue as a mid-summer cornflower brought home first prize in the breed class competition at the prestigious Dressage at Devon competition last week.

To earn his ribbon, Mickey Blue Eyes, a black and white Nokota horse belonging to Dorrie Bettle, 60, of Cochranville, showed that he could walk and trot skillfully around a small course, all the while looking quite handsome.

The event in which he won was just one of many held there. In Mickey's case, his ability to perform with skill -- Bettle calls it "ballet for horses" -- involved showing off without a rider and traveling several triangular courses. Other events involve a rider.

Mickey was able to beat the other horses in his class mainly because of his intelligence, but also by his ability to trot by pushing off from his rear legs, a skill valued by the judges, Bettle said.

Mickey's trip to Devon was a short one compared with some of the other equine contestants. Bettle said Devon is the ultimate in dressage competition worldwide, and some people fly in their horse from as far away as Europe and Australia. Some of the people she has met there are Olympic riders, she said.

Mickey Blue Eyes is 11 years old. He is descended from the generations of ranch and Indian horses including horses confiscated from Sitting Bull's Lakota people in 1881. He is related to the wild horses of the northern plains but was bred in North Carolina.

Bettle, who moved to Cochranville from the Bryn Mawr area for the ambiance about 20 years ago, at some point acquired a mule. From there she began riding another Nakota horse named Leo and became fond of the breed and heritage.

About 10 years ago, she met Mickey when he was only a year old and was attracted to him. "He kept coming over to me, but [the owner] said he was not yet for sale," Bettle said. But two years later, she asked again and that time brought him home.

Bettle has trained Mickey to do dressage and jumping, but she has also taught him tricks.

He can count with his front hoof, shake hands, kiss, smile, shake his head "yes" and "no" and can "fetch" like a dog. Like other Nokotas, he is relatively small, angular and muscular. As a breed, Nokotas are known to form strong bonds with their owners and are brave, kind and reliable.

The Nokota Horse Conservancy was formed in 1999 to protect these last wild horses of North Dakota.

For more information about Nokota horses, go to www.nokotahorse.org.