Last week, the Arcata City Council voted 4-1 to disallow Arcata residents from attending “The ‘World Famous’ Lipizzaner Stallions” extravaganza at the Redwood Acres Fairgrounds in Eureka. At first they tried to ban everyone in the county from attending, as well as any passing-through tourists, until the lone dissenting councilman persuaded the rest that that would be ridiculous. As it is, the council will post APD officers at all borders leading from Arcata into Eureka on the two days of the event, to check people’s wallets for Lipizzaner tickets. And even then, the officers won’t be able to legally detain ticket-bearing residents from continuing on to the show, but they will be authorized to offer them an anti-war pamphlet specially designed for the occasion (it features a drawing of a bold white unicorn with a severed horn, prancing on a battlefield, overlaid by a red circle-and-slash motif). And, the officer might ask them to sign a petition saying they’ll shun all war horses.

The anti-Lipizzaner campaign sprang up suddenly when a councilmember’s grandkid was reading aloud from a white stallion website one evening at home, and she blurted out the catchy slogan, “Horse of Battle, Horse of Ballet.” That was all it took. No horse of battle was going to flay its death hooves at our citizens, no matter how prettily!

The lone dissenting councilmember tried to make the case for grace and beauty, for historical relevance, for the fact that General Patton actually saved these perfected specimens of nimble, gentle power from an actual war by removing them from the bomb zone. He showed them a video of the intelligent white steeds and their skillful riders dancing, yes, dancing, to the lilting tunes of the masters. But no amount of levades, courbettes, caprioles or other fancy footwork could sway them. War was war, and these horses descended from war some, oh, 400-plus years ago. So what if they were just entertainers now.

Happily, the rest of us can enjoy these fabulous equine athletes with a clean conscience. The World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions gambol into the Redwood Acres Fairgrounds for two shows next Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 5 and 6. The shows start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $22.50 for adults, $20.50 for kids under 12 and adults over 60, and can be bought at Great Western Clothing, Carl Johnson Co. (where you can ride a plastic horse!), Tickets.com, or by phone at 1-800-882-8258. Info: 707-445-3037 and www.lipizzaner.com.

— Heidi Walters