Horses and riders conquer challenges

HANNAWA FALLS — The child hung halfway off his saddle to open the gate, just one of the obstacles he had to conquer before loping his horse across the finish line.

The bridge, water pit and log jump were some of the obstacles all 16 riders encountered at the Hannawa Falls Fire Department's Horsemanship Challenge. But 9-year-old Jared A. Pitts had even more to overcome because his arms and legs were too short to cue his horse the way the older riders did.

But it didn't stop him from taking third place in his second year in the competition.

"My dad had me up on a horse when I was 8 months old," the Potsdam Elementary student said. "I just ride at home and here. I have to practice a lot at home."

The village's fire department has been holding the shows as a fundraiser for two years at Hounds Haven Field. Riders complete an obstacle course to earn as many points per hurdle as possible.

"It was an idea a couple of years ago. We got into horses," said Richard J. Brown, third assistant chief at the fire department. "There's not much to do around here for this and we saw it on TV, some of the Western shows do things like this. The fire department said go for it and see how it works."

The event, a series of four horse shows during the summer, raises a few hundred dollars for the fire department after prizes are awarded to the winners. But it serves to bring the community, both with and without rides, together. People as young as Jared and others into their 60s and 70s enter, and their friends and families come to cheer them on.

Sometimes, family members compete against each other. Jared's father, Allen R. Pitts, took first place in Sunday's competition, the first of this year's series. Both will go on to the championship competition in September. Though Mr. Pitts won this year and last year, his son said he plans to take the blue ribbon from him in the future.

In the meantime, he rides his 17-year-old horse, Triton, for hours at a time, past dark sometimes, according to Mr. Pitts. Every year, his son improves a bit. Last year, his legs did not clear the saddle blanket and he was only allowed to walk around the course, rather than canter his horse for a better time. This year, he was allowed to pick up the pace.

"I like going fast to the finish line," Jared said. "But not when my stomach's full because then it hops up and down and it hurts."