Horses a key component at Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show

Hannah Panjer of Woodstock was the 0.75-meter class champion aboard her horse Westley on Thursday at the Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show in Simcoe.

Article content

Her win at the Jumper Horse Show came after completing what she described as a challenging course.

“But it was good and a lot of fun,” the 23-year-old rider shared. “I like coming out to this show and supporting the community. I come here every year and win some sort of thing.”

Panjer and her mother run Millside Stables just outside of Woodstock with a stable of about 95 horses. While she has been riding horses her whole life, Panjer has been riding Westley for about three years and said it takes years of training to compete.

“The goal is to make it look easy, even though it’s not.”

Shellie Coppin of Halton sat in a wooden booth beside the course to judge each competitor.

“These guys play against the clock,” she said of participants in the Jumper Horse Show. “They leave the poles up and run around as fast as they can.”

Article content

The judge explained that horses and riders in the Hunter Horse Show on Wednesday did fewer jumps and the focus is on smoothness and the horse’s jumping style.

“These guys aren’t necessarily as pretty over the top of the jump but they’re efficient and they’re fast,” Coppin said of the jumpers. “There’s a difference in the style of the riding too. The Hunter riders are a little quieter in their bodies, and smoother. It’s actually hard to do.”

The judge said that the Norfolk County Fair and Horse show was the last fair to hold a national date – that ceased about eight years ago – where riders could qualify for the Royal Winter Fair.

“In its day it was a really prestigious show.”

Coppin said she enjoys seeing both adults and children compete at shows such as this.

Article content

“I like to do these because it’s what I call backyardigans,” she explained. “A lot of these people never rode or aspire to ride at the Royal. They’re just good, honest people who have nice horses and want to play. It’s great for the community to bring everyone out and build some camaraderie.”

Esther Penders of Woodstock walked her team of Percherons – Laura and Image – onto the track at the fairgrounds to take part in the Chore Team event.

Competitors were required to walk the team to a wagon, hook onto it, do a lap of the competition area, back the team up into a dock delineated by bales of hay, followed by a figure-eight around two pylons, fanning in two directions , then treading into a curved alley path.

“Every year we come back here and do Chore Team on Thursday, then line classes and hitting on Friday and Saturday,” she said, noting that she will also take part in barrel racing at the fair on Saturday.

Article content

“I just came for a good time,” Penders shared. “It’s a bunch of people who like the same thing. This is challenging our driving skills, which are not commonly used anymore. But they’re fun to do.”

Inside the poultry building, Amanda Law-Logan of Brantford and her nine-year-old daughter Emma wandered up and down aisles of pens containing a variety of chickens, geese, and pigeons.

“We come every year with friends and family to see the horse show and for the kids to go on the rides,” she said. “When I was young, I used to barrel race and now my daughter is learning how to jump. She hopes to be jumping at the horse show sometime soon.”

Law-Logan said she feels the agricultural component of fall fairs are important to show people livestock, the process of how they are handled, and how food gets to the table.

“It brings a lot of knowledge for kids to see, hands on, cattle, the avian and equestrian world.”

[email protected]

Article content