Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Tim Ryan Harmony Riemer, of the Caroline Aces, takes part in a trail riding competition Friday afternoon at the Crawford Center during the Shawano County Fair.
Leader Photo by Tim Ryan Isabella Hintz makes friends with Taylor Przybylski’s horse Tango in one of the stalls of the horse barn outside the Crawford Center on Friday morning.
Friday was moving day for the Shawano County 4-H Horse Group.
The young equine enthusiasts began arriving around 9 a.m. to board their horses in their temporary home for a weekend’s worth of shows and competitions.
“There’s a lot of excitement with the kids today,” said John Arens, a member of the Shawano County Fair Board who has been actively involved with the 4-H Horse Key Committee for nearly 10 years. “It’s a big day for them.”
Boarding the horses — a few of which weren’t happy with their new lodgings — was only the first step.
A lot of time and effort were put into decorating the stalls, each designed to be a unique representation of horse and rider.
Many of this year’s 42 riders are competing at the Shawano County Fair for the first time.
“Our project is young again, which actually is a good thing,” Arens said. “You get the turnover in the program and it’s very nice to see young kids starting and new families, fresh faces.”
Some of the older riders were still on hand to lend some guidance to the next generation.
The riders have already gotten a little experience elsewhere.
“The kids competed well this year up in Door County for the Door County Fair,” Arens said. “So I’m looking forward to a good show this year.”
The weekend schedule includes an open class show starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, including junior dressage and jumping competitions, and a junior class show starting at 9 a.m. Sunday.
The drill team will perform Saturday about noon with an encore performance at 10:30 a.m. Monday
All shows are held at the Crawford Center.
The location was a bit of a drawback for the first few years of the horse shows. Located on the other side of the fairgrounds, beyond the racetrack, not everyone was aware the shows were going on.
That has greatly improved as other events have been added to the Crawford Center, like this weekend’s classic car show, and more effort was put into publicizing the horse group.
“The crowds have been getting better over the years,” Arens said.
In fact, larger bleachers have been brought in this year to accommodate the expected crowds.
“It was very nice of the fair board to extend that to us,” Arens said.
Though the main equine events take place this weekend, riders gave a preview Friday afternoon with a trail riding competition.
Riders were scored on how well they moved their horses through obstacles and carried out tasks while opening and riding through a gate or picking up the mail while on horseback. In other words, “a lot of things these kids don’t normally ask of their horses,” Arens said.
Diane Schnell, chairman of the 4-H Horse Key Committee, said the many of the kids have been preparing for this year’s show since pretty much the end of last year’s county fair.
“A lot of kids put a whole entire year’s worth into it,” she said.
“We put on a good show, and we have a great group of parents that help out,” Schnell said. “Hopefully we’re teaching the kids some life skills.”