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Nearly 800 riders competed in random teams of three in 84 different events for a chance to win electric scooters and earn points toward national awards Saturday and Sunday, said show manager Melissa Baus. Six judges were looking at both the integrity of the horse and the handler’s skills in events including showmanship, reining, halter, and Western and English riding styles.
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Erica Johnson, from Becker, Minn., bands her horse's mane Sunday at the Summer Sizzler Paint Horse show at the Minnesota Equestrian Center in Winona. Johnson said the banding holds the mane down and gives it a crisp presentation. (Photo by Paul Solberg/Winona Daily News) |
Each rider earned individual points, and the team with the most combined points at the end of the weekend won the scooters. A bonus scooter was awarded to the rider with the most individual points accumulated through the two days of competition. Single event winners also received grooming kits as prizes. As of press time, the winners had not yet been named.
This was the first year for the Summer Sizzler and required a “small army” to coordinate, Baus said. She said she hopes the event will become an annual staple in the MPHA’s lineup of events.
Only nationally registered American Paint Horses were allowed to participate, Baus said. To be a bona fide Paint Horse, the horse must have a certain amount of white hair on its legs, back and face, she said. Eligible horses from Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Missouri made the trek to Winona this weekend.
Paige Heinke, 19, brought two horses, Skylar and Lilly, to the show from her hometown of Rockford, Ill. She said she started riding when she was 5 or 6 years old, started showing horses in 4H and now goes to horse shows every weekend.
“It’s, like, my life,” she said.
Sunday around noon, Heinke said she had competed well so far and may be in the running for the individual high score. A half hour later, she was even closer, having won first place in the Hunter Under Saddle event against 19 other riders.
“I’m really excited!” she said.
But the Summer Sizzler is more than just a competition. It’s a social event where families, friends and horse enthusiasts gather in one place for two days of horse-related activities.
Jill and Mike Koch from Cottage Grove, Wis., were there supporting their 34-year-old daughter Bobbie Lynn Stach, who was riding 3-year-old Captain Solution.
“It’s a family-gathering kind of thing,” Jill Koch said. “We like to get out here together.”
Heinke described the horse show as “a whole other world.”
“You have your normal friends and your horse show friends,” she said.
And with horses coming from all over the Midwest, it’s easy to make friends with people all over the country, Heinke said.
The horse show also provides a valuable outlet for horse enthusiasts to pursue their (expensive) hobby.
In the Western riding events, riders don outfits that go for as much as $1,000, Jill Koch said. Her husband added that the riders are also sitting on top of a $50,000 horse.
“People on the river buy boats and Jet Skis as a hobby,” Mike Koch said. “We put our money in horses.”
Kevin Behr can be reached at (507) 453-3524 or at kevin.behr@lee.net.
