Friday was check-in day for what may be the best-kept secret of the Shawano County Fair, though it’s a secret that participants would like more people to know about.
Three days of equestrian activities begin Saturday at the Crawford Center horse arena, starting with Open Class competitions.
“It’s always been part of the fair and nobody knows there’s horses here,” said John Arens of the Shawano County Agricultural Society Board of Directors.
There have been some efforts this year to get the word out.
“The 4-H kids have scattered horses throughout the fairgrounds reminding people there are horses here on the east side of the fairgrounds,” Arens said.
Other draws have also been added to the Crawford Center venue to attract fairgoers, including antique tractors and farm equipment on display and a craft fair inside the center Saturday and Sunday.
In addition, St. James Lutheran School is running a food stand inside the Crawford Center, with a full menu and six flavors of ice cream.
Fairgoers who don’t feel like hoofing it to the Crawford Center can always take the tractor-driven shuttles that make the trip on a regular basis be tween the center and the north side of the fair.
Those who make the trip today will be treated to “the biggest Open Class horse show in years,” Arens said.
Some 30 different exhibitors with some 40 different horses — everything from minis to 17-hand-high quarter horses — will be strutting their stuff in various halter and showmanship exhibits.
“It’s going to be a great show,” Arens said. “A lot of these folks haven’t shown at the Shawano County Fair for years, but they’ve decided to come back to our fair again, which makes it really exciting.”
Saturday’s events start at 9 a.m. with the Halter Class and will continue with a variety of classes throughout the day.
“We’re probably looking at a seven-hour horse show,” Arens said.
About 11:30 a.m., or around lunchtime, there will be a performance by the Cantering Clovers — the new name chosen for the Shawano County 4-H Drill Team.
The drill team won this year’s Door County Stock Horse of Wisconsin Drill Team Competition
“The folks are going to get to see their winning routine this year,” Arens said. “There are 14 girls in the group and they did extremely well.”
The team will give a repeat performance at 10:30 a.m. Monday.
Sunday is Junior Class day, starting again at 9 a.m. with halter and working into riding classes in the afternoon.
“It ends in the evening with the trail class, where the kids are navigating around different obstacles around the arena,” Arens said. “That always seems to be a very popular class.
Riders are back in the saddle again at 8 a.m. Monday for the dressage competition.
“The horses are riding a pattern called out by the judges as they go on the fly,” Arens said.
That will be followed by show-jumping and the encore Cantering Clovers performance.
Then it’s the Fun Day Horse Show “where the kids do different speed events and fun games and stuff like that,” Arens said, to wrap up the last day of the fair.
Friday was a busy day around the arena as horses were checked in for the weekend.
“The kids are pretty excited because they’re at the fair finally with their horses,” Arens said.
Among them were Alyssa and Annalise Splan, both of whom have quarter horses in the Junior Fair competition and Shetland ponies in today’s Open Class.
Alyssa has been showing horses for five years and inspired the same interest in her sister, who has been involved for about four years.
Both perform Western Pleasure-style, in which the judges will be looking for “how well the horse moves and how well you trained it to move,” Alyssa said.
The summer has been devoted to training for this weekend.
“Training is the big part,” Alyssa said. “It’s every morning, every night.”
The Open Class competition is drawing a wide variety of riders, including Wesley Jahnke, who owns a boarding facility in Shawano and is bringing a group of his clients to the fair.
“We have 13 horses from my barn that are competing,” Jahnke said. “It’s nice because it gives my clients a chance to get out and hit something local, get their horses out. It gives them something to look forward to all summer.
The youngest of Jahnke’s riders is 4 years old.
“It’s good to get them involved when they’re young,” Jahnke said.
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