4-H horse show highlights skills

The fair was canceled, but 4-H was able to put on their annual competition for its members, starting with the horse show last Saturday.

Ten 4-H'ers - half of last year's numbers - from three clubs demonstrated their horsemanship skills for the first show of the week last Saturday at the fairgrounds. The South Side Sparks had five participants, the Trout Creek Mavericks had four and the Whitepine Happy Workers had one. The competition took just over three hours with 21 classes, including showmanship for beginners, juniors, and seniors, and a string of performance-based competitions. The competitors, all girls this year, ranged in age from 10-17. The classes included such events as Western and English style horsemanship and bareback horsemanship with various patterns and difficulties for the horse and rider to perform. The horse show judge, Missy Miller of Missoula, said accuracy, not speed, was what she was looking for in forming her critiques.

Though all of the classes produced ribbons, only the beginner, junior, and senior showmanship contests gave the 4-H members reserve and grand champion titles, said Mindi Wilson, who coordinated the event with the help of Shannon Chojnacky. "We might have less, but the kids put on a better show. It's a higher quality event," said Lisa Read, who has served as the announcer for nine years.

The remaining 4-H competitions began Wednesday and will finish on Saturday. The horse show has the most classes and normally double the participants, but COVID-19 caused several to not participate. Juli Thurston, the MSU extension agent, had to get special permission from the Sanders County Board of Health to put on the week's competition. The shows were only open to 4-H members and their families. About 20 spectators were at the event at the start, but it dwindled to a handful toward the end. The 4-H'ers also didn't house their horses in the barn, but transported them to and from the fairgrounds before and after the show.

The competition began at 9 a.m. in the 4-H corral with Deriyan Sheehan taking the Grand Champion in the senior showmanship. The 17-year-old Sheehan, member of the South Side Sparks of Plains, has been competing with horses for eight years, mostly with 8-year-old "Duchess." She also took a purple ribbon in the Western Bareback Open Walk, Trot, Cantor class, a purple in the Two-Year-Old Level 2 class, and a blue ribbon in the Horsemanship Western Level 5 class. 

Sheehan, Sydnee Wilson of the Whitepine Happy Workers, and Carlie Wagoner of the South Side Sparks plan to compete at the state level in Livingston in September. Wagoner, 15, and a senior competitor, participated in four events, taking red ribbons in all of them with "Sunny." 

The 14-year-old Wilson was the only competitor to take part in the Hunter Hack contest, which was the only event that involved jumping. Hunter Hack is an English style class, complete with the more formal riding attire and saddle. Miller picked the pattern for the Hunter Hack. The rest of the performance class patterns were chosen by the horse show committee. Wilson and 13-year-old "Rain" have been practicing the jumps at home, going up to 24 inches, but Saturday's two jumps were set at 18 inches. Wilson has been competing in the horse show for six years, but this was her first time to take part in the Hunter Hack. In order to compete in this event, Wilson had to pass level three of the English style competitions. She took a red ribbon in the Hunter Hack event, a blue in Horsemanship Western Level 4, a red in the Yearling Colt Level 1, and the Grand Champion in the junior horse show.

"I've definitely seen some improvement from last year," said Miller, who has judged the Sanders County show for four years and has been a horse show judge for more than 20 years. "All of them have natural talents and are quality riders - they just need to fine tune their horsemanship skills," she added.

This year's competition didn't include the obstacle course, but it finished with an event that isn't officially part of the horse show competition - a costume contest. No ribbons were awarded and Miller said they were all winners. Brooklynn Crain of the South Side Sparks was a "Patriot," decked out with President Donald Trump paraphernalia. Sydnee Wilson was a "Junior Trumper." Marina Tulloch of the South Side Sparks made her horse, "Ellie" into a cow, and for those who didn't recognize the metamorphosis, she wrote on the animal's rump "Cow, not a horse." Her sister, Mackenzie Tulloch, dressed up as Dr. Seuss' "Thing 1" and her horse was "Thing 2."

Other 4-H members who competed included Sophia LaFriniere, Lillian Leisz, Isabella Pardee and Madison Chojnacky, all of the Trout Creek Mavericks.