After months of early mornings, practice rides and hard work, 11 Erie County 4-H members are heading to Harrisburg for the Pennsylvania State Horse Show.
The riders earned their spots after qualifying at the district competition last month, and now they’re preparing to show off their skills against some of the best young riders in Pennsylvania.
“Every year it’s a different set of competitors they’re going against at the district show, and that determines what the competition looks like and what they have to reach in order to get there,” said Kate King, Erie County 4-H educator.
But getting to this point hasn’t been easy, with countless hours spent training, caring for their horses and preparing for competition.
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“Practicing, just knowing your abilities and your disadvantages, like you just have to notice what you did wrong and notice what you’ve done right and work on your wrongs,” said Laurel Gray, a 4-H member.
“Definitely the competition. I’m very excited to go in there and see all the competition and see if I can learn something new from all them,” said Bella Cannata, a 4-H member.
Besides just horse-running day in and out, the 4-H members have learned life-long skills along the way.
“4-H is all about the life skills development, so they are learning about the confidence so self esteem, the determination, the responsibility of taking care of a huge animal usually,” King said.
The 11 Erie County riders will compete at the Pennsylvania State Horse Show in Harrisburg from October 22 through the 25th, representing their county and everything they’ve worked towards.