BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
First-time experience. First-place award.
Bradford County 4-H member Ryleigh Rhoden had qualified for the Southern Regional 4-H Horse Championships in Perry, Georgia, twice before, but didn’t get the chance to actually make the trip and compete. This year, she qualified again and did compete, winning the Breakaway Roping class and placing seventh in Boxing (Cow Work).
“I think I did pretty well for having my baby horse. He just turned 4,” Rhoden said. “I think he did well. We placed in only two of the five classes we did, but considering there were like 60, 70 people in our classes, I was pretty proud of him.”
Rhoden, a senior at Union County High School, said she felt she was “lucky” in that the Breakaway Roping class consisted of only 10 participants. The event isn’t part of the area and state events leading up to regionals, so not many people do it, she said,
Still, the fact that she and her horse, Snuff, came out on top was a surprise.
“It was crazy that we got first because my horse had never been in a box before, which is the chute you back your horse into beside the cow,” Rhoden said.
You could also say it’s crazy that Rhoden won after roping the cow in 18 seconds, which she said isn’t good when you compare it to the fact that some people do it in as little as 2 seconds. After her performance, she said her thought was, “Hopefully, I’ll place in the top three.”
“Then, I heard I got first,” Rhoden said. “I was like, ‘Wait.’ I couldn’t believe it. I was super happy.”
Rhoden’s younger sister, Saylor, who is in the junior level of 4-H, also participated, but she didn’t place. Rhoden in the Western Pleasure classes (in which riders and horses perform various gaits) her sister took part in are very competitive at the regional level.
“It was more of a learning experience for her,” Rhoden said, adding, “It definitely opened her eyes to see how much more she needs to be doing with her horse.”
The sisters qualified for the Aug. 2-6 event with their performances at the July 13-15 Florida 4-H State Horse Show at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. Rhoden competed in five classes, and though she didn’t win any of them, she placed fifth in Ranch Roping, ninth
in both Boxing and Ranch Trail and 10th in Ranch Riding.
“That’s all I was worried about — getting good-enough placing to make it to regionals,” she said.
Rhoden’s sister placed first in Speed Events Ground Handling, third in Western Pleasure, fourth in Keyhole Race and seventh in Ranch Trail. She was also seventh among juniors in the high-point awards.
“She showed as a junior, and only the top 10 juniors are picked to go to regionals,” Rhoden said. “I was super happy that she was one of the 10 who got picked.”
Bradford 4-H was also represented at the state show by junior-level members Raegan Luke and Mason Stone. Luke took second in Speed Events Ground Handling, while Stone placed third in Ranch Riding, fifth in Ranch Trail, seventh in Western Pleasure, eighth in Keyhole Race and 10th in Ranch Ground Handling.
The state event has grown to where there are 20, 30 and sometimes 40 competitors in a class, Rhoden said. She remembers a time when classes consisted of 10-12 competitors.
Rhoden wasn’t prepared for just how big of an event the Southern Regionals are — not only the numbers of competitors in each class, but how many states were represented. Besides Florida, participants came from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
“Very intimidating,” Rhoden said.
Her horse typically “spooks at everything,” Rhoden said, but Snuff must’ve not let the atmosphere intimidate him too much. He was rewarded greatly for the win in Breakaway Roping.
“He got a lot of treats,” Rhoden said.
When competing at a show, riders can never know for sure just how their horses are going to perform. Rhoden said she watched several horses in the practice pens at the Southern Regionals and came away thinking those horses and riders would win their classes. However, when they entered the show arena, they didn’t perform as they did in practice.
That’s why Rhoden said if a youth is interested in working with and performing with horses, it has to become a passion — such a passion to where you can put the disappointments behind you.
“You’ve got to make sure you love it and really stick with it because it can be a very physically and mentally draining sport,” she said. “Your horse can be great one day in the practice pen, and then you get to the show, and it completely doesn’t do what you ask.
“You put all of this time and effort into it. When they don’t perform how you want them to, it can get you down pretty bad.”
Snuff may be skittish at times, but he’s proven to be a good horse to work with. Rhoden said he’s smart and a fast learner.
“I love him,” she said. “I’m excited because he’s just newly 4, so, hopefully, I’ll have him for many, many more years.”
Rhoden sees herself working with horses her entire life, but she’s not sure specifically she wants to do career-wise. She said she has no idea of what’s to come after high school, though she does want to college and is considering attending Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia.
For now, though, she looks forward to making the most of her senior year at UCHS, which includes being involved in FFA. She’s already had memorable moments in FFA, such as being on the horse-judging team that won state and placed sixth at nationals when she was a sophomore. This year, Rhoden is an officer (parliamentarian) and plans on competing on the food-science and vet-science teams.
“I want to try to get as much stuff in as I can,” she said of her last year of high school.
She looks forward to more FFA accomplishments as well as more 4-H horse show accomplishments. Rhoden, who has one more year in which she can be a 4-H member, said her goals are to “hopefully win a lot more.”
“My horse should be a lot more seasoned,” she said.
