The number of horses and riders competing in the Rainy River Valley Agricultural Society Fall Fair has been increasing for the past few years and this year that has organizers scrambling to find room to house all of the participants.
“We have about 18 horses more than we have stalls,” noted RRVAS first vice-president Angela Halvorsen. “We are going to be very busy.”
She explained they have been trying to construct some temporary stalls in one of the barns, as well as potentially putting some trailers in so some participants could work off of the trailer as opposed to a stall.
“That’s pretty much all our options,” she expressed. “So we’re looking at a very good turnout for the horse part of the fair this year for sure.”
Last year, there were about 80 participants at the fair and this year 110 have registered.
Halvorsen indicated there are several new riders participating this time around, adding people who have been returning each year seem to be bringing more horses.
She explained they may be bringing different breeds to display during the fair, while others participate solely in the games or the performance portion of the horse show.
“Just depending on where people’s interests are—we kind of do everything at the fair, from driving to performance to gymkhana to parade, so it appeals to a lot of different types of people,” she said about the increase in participants.
She noted the new barn, as well as the new horse arena which was first used at last year’s fall fair, may have added to the increased interest in participating in the fair.
“These aspects, put together with good prizes, I think becomes a really nice event for people to go to,” Halvorsen expressed, citing riders are coming from across the region with groups coming from both Dryden and Thunder Bay.
“But the rest are from within our area,” she said. “I think more people are starting to ride. Also, more people have their horses trained well enough to go places . . . There’s lots of things you can do with horses and I think more people are getting into taking them out of the pasture and into different events.”
She explained the new horse arena has been working well for the competitions. And although there was still some work to do after last year’s fair, Halvorsen noted they’re ready to go for this year.
“It’s all stabilized now, secured to the posts,” she said. “We also moved the announcer’s booth from where it was over to the new arena and have added more speakers so people can hear what’s going on.”
And she stressed they are going to continue to work on improving the new site, such as installing more seating.
“Of course more horses means more family members that come to watch their loved ones,” she added, citing people can expect to see minis, drafts, and light horses at this year’s fair.
Besides the horse show at the fair, there will also be the “Parade of Breeds” in front of the grandstand following the parade.
The “Parade of Breeds” was first held last year to bring awareness to the variety of types of horses in Rainy River District, but they are making just one small change this time around.
“In front of the grandstand at the end of the parade, we had the best dressed, groomed, and manner team and this year we’ve chosen to do that before the parade,” Halvorsen said, citing there wasn’t enough room for those teams to get turned around in front of the grandstand.
It will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday in the horse arena.
“I think a lot of people didn’t really know that there was that much of a difference in the breeds that we have in this area,” she stressed.
The schedule for the Miniature, Draft & Light Horse Show at the fair goes as follows:
Friday, August 17, 2007 beginning at 9 a.m. at the Horse Arena
•Class 1–Horses at Halter (judging the horse)
•Class 2–Showmanship at Halter (judging the exhibitor)
•Class 3–Horse Hitch and/or Team in Harness
•Class 4–Trail Class (obstacles to be posted at the show)
Saturday, August 18, 2007 beginning at 8 a.m. at the Horse Arena
•8 a.m.—Class 5–Open Performance / Pleasure Class
•10:30 a.m.—Class 6–Best Dressed, Groomed & Mannered Team
•12 noon—Parade followed by the Parade of Horse Breeds
•1 p.m. (following the parade)—Class 7–Open Gymkhana (speed events)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
