Fairgrounds hosts ranch horse showdown

Two Plains women were the only local competitors at the "Sparks Fly Showdown Show" at the Sanders County Fairgrounds last weekend.

Michele McGuigan of Plains and Lisa Wood of Thompson Falls took part in the two-day horsemanship event Friday and Saturday. A dozen men and women took part in Friday's activity, which was a clinic to help competitors prepare for the next day's competition. Twenty-seven riders took part in the show on Saturday. A dozen more were signed up, but dropped out due to the heat, said Kayla Ohm, vice president of the Bitterroot Stock Horse Association and one of the coordinators of the show. She said they took additional breaks during the day for people to cool down their horses and keep them watered because of the high temperature.

Riders traveled from around Montana and Idaho to participate in the event, put on by the Bitterroot Stock Horse Association of Corvallis, a branch of the American Stock Horse Association. This was the first time the organization had utilized the Sanders County Fairgrounds for their event.

"We're trying to grow our organization, so we're joining the North Idaho group of people with the Montana part of it and this was the perfect meeting point," said Post Falls, Idaho resident Torie Rodriguez, the club secretary and the show manager. Rodriguez was also a competitor and placed first in the cow working event and first in the trail event, and third overall in the limited non-pro class, one point behind McGuigan, who nabbed second. The competition included a novice class, limited open, limited non-pro, green horse, and youth, which ranged from 8-18 years old.

The competition included four events. The cow working event called for the rider to box a calf in an area and keep it there for a specific period of time. The reining event called for the rider to take a horse through various patterns. The pleasure event also used different patterns in the arena. In the trail event, the rider had to maneuver the horse through six obstacles. It began with seven, but strong winds blew over one, so officials eliminated it.

Each event cost $25 to enter, except for the cow working, which was an additional $60 to pay for the cows. Nearly all the participants signed up for all the events. McGuigan did the obstacle course three times. She won in the open class and in the limited open and took second in the limited non-pro class.

This was the first stock horse competition for the 60-year-old Wood, competing on "Jackie's Dually," though she has participated in penning and sorting competitions for about two years. "I was trying to get into some other kind of cow working competitions with my cutting horse," said Wood, who signed up for the cow working event only and placed second. She plans to enter other similar competitions.

McGuigan said she has competed in similar obstacle course events for about four years. Ohm said the trail event is supposed to have obstacles or functions that a person might encounter on a ranch, such as dragging a log, opening and closing a gate, getting something from a mailbox, or going over a bridge. Ohm said they change the obstacles a little at each show.

The 55-year-old McGuigan, a retired Thompson Falls High School teacher and owner of the Lazy A C Quarter Horse Ranch near Plains and competing on "Sneaker," was the reserve high point contestant with eight points in the limited non-pro class, going home with a plaque and a bucket of horse treats.

McGuigan has done competitions like this one, but it was her first with this association. Lately, she's participated in showing ranch class horses with the American Quarter Horse Association, mostly in Montana, but also in Washington and Oklahoma. She was the 2021 American Quarter Horse Association Rookie of the Year for the state of Montana.

"I got my first horses when I was 7. Been hooked ever since," said McGuigan. "I've always enjoyed showing horses and have competed since I was in high school in one show or another, in everything from O-Mok-Sees to open horse shows, to ranch horse competitions," said McGuigan, who opened up the Scrub Buddies Pet Grooming business in Plains last year.

McGuigan enjoyed the two-day event and plans to take part in the Bitterroot Stock Horse Association's clinic and show Sept. 20-21 at the fairgrounds. "I learned the different scoring format for this association, as well as guided instruction about what to expect from each class," she said. She said the cow working and reining events were the toughest part of the competition and that there was no easy part, although she liked the trail class the best.

McGuigan was the local 4-H horse leader for more than 30 years and the fair's horse barn superintendent for about 15 years and believes this clinic and show would be helpful for 4-H members. "Anytime you get a chance to practice your skills in front of a judge it lets you gauge where you and your horse are," said McGuigan. "Any time you can try something new it's good for you and your horse. You never know how well your horse is trained until you try new things. For those members enrolled in the ranch horse project, this would have been perfect," she added.

McGuigan was especially pleased with the group of people that were running last week's clinic and show. "This was a great group of people and horses. Very welcoming and helpful."

Ohm said the event was very successful for the club and hopes that more locals will sign up for the September gathering. The Bitterroot Stock Horse Association was formed four years ago. It has 50 members and is growing. "We have a lot of novice riders and a lot of them are going to the limited non-pro class," she said.