By ALEXANDER WEBSTER
alexander@readthereporter.com
Horses embody both the rugged demands of rural life and the refined elegance of showmanship. It’s no wonder they’re normally one of the biggest attractions at the 4-H Fair, but unfortunately at this year’s fair, horses are staying in the stable – at least for Opening Day.
When riders like Elizabeth Ambrose dropped off their horses at the fairgrounds Wednesday night, they noticed something off with the ground.
“[Wednesday] night when we dropped off horses, everybody noticed that the ground was super deep,” Ambrose said. “Because it’s so deep it’s really slick since it hasn’t settled in, since they just put the new sand in.”
This can be a big risk for both the riders’ and the horses’ safety while on the course. As anyone familiar with horses knows, it doesn’t take much to injure a horse’s leg, and once it happens there’s little chance of a good outcome.
“[Thursday] morning, one of my friends was lunging her horse and he slid and fell in the main arena,” Ambrose said. “She decided to pull him from all of his classes. My horses are sliding as well; it’s just not safe to go any faster than a walk, let alone a trot. Even within halter and showmanship where I’m on the ground, I was sliding next to my horse.”
The issue hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Fair Council whose members have been working to figure out what the best action is for both the safety of the riders and horses.
“We’re just making sure that we keep our 4-H’ers and their horses safe with our footing,” said Kathleen Bohde, Hamilton County 4-H Youth Development Extension Educator. “Making sure that the footing that we have in our horse show arena is to the best of our ability. It was deemed that we need to keep our level of speed on the horses to a walk trot.”
The ruling is still out for all of the remaining events at this year’s fair, but no matter what, this year’s fair is still going to be excellent.
“We are working on figuring out what shows can continue, what can be adapted, and what just needs to be canceled for this 2025 Hamilton County 4-H Fair,” Bohde said. “We do have horse shows daily here – the horses are here in the stalls, so the public can still come out and view our great exhibits and talk to our 4-H’ers about their passion in the horse equestrian industry. We will still have a great Hamilton County 4-H Fair.”