Competition was heating up at the 2015 Fayette County Junior Fair Horse Show Tuesday and Abbie Noble was named the Overall Horse Showman.
The horse show began at 9 a.m., complete with beautiful clear skies. The first classes of the day were the showmanship classes. Competitors took turns completing patterns and inspections between seven classes. The work from late night practices could be seen in each participant’s steps and movements as they all fought for the blue ribbon and shiny trophy.
Eight competitors, who placed either first or second in the preceding classes, then faced off to be named the Overall Horse Showman.
“This is my fourth year being named horse showman,” Noble, the 2015 Fayette County Fair Queen, said. “After becoming fair queen and now winning this title, it is like icing on the cake. I have been pushing for this all year long and it was a real toss-up during the competition. It feels awesome to finish on a big note. To all the younger 4-Hers, remember to have fun, don’t stress out about your competition and come back stronger than before.”
“First, I looked at how well they completed the pattern, and it was not an easy one,” judge Kay Tracy said. “I looked at who would flow with their horse, who had nice straight lines. There was a lot of backing in the pattern, so they had to turn a 180 and back up to me, another turn and more backing. Let me tell you, my top two were very close and it was just the smallest details that made a big difference.”
The rest of the day the riding classes were held with many tight classes and plenty of tough competition. The Fayette Horse Program invites the community to watch the other competitions this week. On Wednesday beginning at 10 a.m., the horse contest events will be held and on Thursday the horse and rider costume contest will take place at 6 p.m.
Finally, Friday at 10 a.m. the Horse Versatility competition will occur and the Horse and Rider Fun Day will be held at 4 p.m. All of these events will be held at the horse arena on the fairgrounds.
