Wrangell Sentinel - the oldest continuously published paper in Alaska.

Wrangell hosts third annual horse show

Ryan Long

The third annual Wrangell Horse Show on July 25 proved to be one of the shortest and one of the most successful horse shows yet.

Lasting just a little under an hour and a half, this year’s horse show ran just half as long as last year’s horse show, and Ann Schnell said that it was even more fun for both the riders and the spectators.

“We ended up being a whole lot more organized and we had so many intermediate and advanced riders now that we just went right through the events,” said Schnell.

The horse show held events including the keyhole race – where riders race into a circle, come to a sliding stop, the horse whirls and then they race out – the flag race – where riders raced out, grabbed a flag and came back – and the cross country race for advanced riders with various obstacles, including bridge crossing and a log jump to finish.

This year 26 riders entered and competed in the horse show.

“They get better every year and it’s a work in progress. Last year it took a little longer than we wanted and this year it was a little too quick, so next year we’re going to try and get in the middle of those two by maybe adding a few new events,” said Schnell “The spectators were constantly entertained and there really weren’t any dead spaces.”

Schnell said that she made the decision to eliminate some of the less spectator-friendly events from this year’s horse show.

“We learned the first year not to have the equitation events because the gymkhana events are more fun for the riders and the spectators,” Schnell

Each rider went home with a prize.

The horse show is the biggest event of the summer for the Wrangell Horse Club, which kicks off its season on the first Monday in June and runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday every week right up until the first day of school

This year the Horse Club has enrolled nearly 50 riders.

Of those 50 riders nearly two thirds are working for their rides and lessons. This year, with a little help from First Bank, their work will also help bring in money for needed supplies.