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Above:
Kara Strait of Buckeye Buckaroos won the barrels championship
with her horse Sinica. Below: Lauren
Porter of Buckeye Buckaroos
bedazzles with her flashy outfit during the poles competition; Ten year
old Ava
Smith captured the hearts of the crowd with her miniature pony
Jack. CNO photos by Brandy Lewis
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Great Darke County Fair
Contesting brings home big wins for one
4-H’er and another steals the heart of the crowd
By Brandy Lewis
GREENVILLE-Kara Strait was elated to win not one big show of the day
but two! The 11th grader from Troy Christian rode her horse, Sinica, in
the Senior Poles Championship Friday morning. Her quarter horse made a
perfect run to take her to first place. Strait rides two to three hours
a day and said Covid-19 helped her spend more time with her horse.
The 17 year old said, "The hardest part of training him is getting him
to stand still. He just wants to take off and go but I make him wait
until I'm ready." Daughter to Doug and Dawn Strait of Greenville, this
girl does more than contesting. She has her sights set on English and
Western riding also. She is a veteran of the Darke County Jr. Fair
horse camp. Her parents help her and give her directions with her
contesting.
She has been in 4-H for 11 years but has only taken horses the last
three to four years. That's all it has taken because Friday afternoon
she placed first in the Senior Championship Barrels Competition as her
horse propelled her around the barrels toward victory. She thought of
what she liked most about barrels. Strait prefers barrels over poles
because she states, "I like the speed." This Buckeye Buckaroo 4-H
member has only begun her career in horses and we should all look for
her name as she becomes the newest and hottest thing.
The contesting show is run by senior horses running first down to
junior horses. There was a bit of sparkle and bang as Lauren Porter, an
intermediate, gave quite the show with her outfits and contesting runs
throughout the day. Porter placed first in her age group for poles and
gave a top showing in all the other contesting events.
Then there was the pony who stole the show and the girl who won their
hearts.
Jack and his rider Ava, Silver Hoofs 4H Club, gave the crowd quite a
lot to cheer about. Jack is a miniature pony ridden by Ava Smith a 10
year old 5th grader at Greenville. Smith puts in about six hours of
ride time on Jack per week. Her biggest problem with Jack is cantering
she states, "he just wants to roll in the dust," which he showed off to
the crowd on Friday. He started out in speed and control by not going
in the made up square. Despite how hard she tried he would not go
so she went on to weave thru the cones and come back to the box but he
still wouldn't go in. A little discouraging for the first class of the
day. Full of fire, Ava took him out to the poles race where she happily
took eighth place. Every time the pony would run in the right direction
you would hear cheers from the crowd. Ava bounced up and down on this
little pony and took control. She also placed eighth in the
barrel competition.
Ava did not like the Covid-19 outbreak because she was unable to see
Jack for a period of time. She has been in 4-H for two years and has
ridden horses for two years. She would like to thank Rob, Grandma, Mary
and Amber who have helped her this year. She is only showing horses
this year at the Darke County Fair.
Next year, she wants a big horse to ride on. She has attended in the
past, the Darke County Jr. Fair horse camp. The thing she loves most
about 4-H is riding her pony. She holds the Health and Safety officer
position in her 4-H club and is planning on doing Trash Bash scheduled
next month as a community service project. She rides a miniature pony
with a big attitude and was scared the first time he reared. Now she
pulls down towards her knees and he stops. She has taken control! Smith
has participated in almost all the contesting categories on Friday and
help us all if she gets a bigger horse. next year!
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