FARMINGTON – Under sun and clouds with a bit of a fall nip in the air, the 174th Farmington Fair opened on Sunday with a new barrel racing event, steer shows, steer pulling and vegetable awards.
A good-sized crowd in the stands at the show ring cheered on the riders and their steads in the first barrel racing competition to be held at the fair. As the country music played, participants were introduced before they raced into the arena, rounded cans set up in various formations and raced back out again. Times were called out and the audience applauded.
Rider Melissa Bourgoin of Greene and her horse, Gambling For Cash, were competing in their 10th show in Maine of the summer season. The Maine Barrel Racing Association promotes the sport by hosting events at fairs and other horse show events.
Bourgoin said to compete, a horse needs to be both athletic and responsive to accelerate and maneuver around a series of barrels or poles as quickly as possible. She travels around Maine competing because “I like the adrenaline rush,” she said smiling before urging Gambling For Cash to giddy-up on over to compete.
Outside one of the barns, Lauren Robinson, 10, of Litchfield, was hard at work getting young Mossy ready for the 4-H working steer show at 11 a.m. After a shampoo and blow dry, Robinson took a soft moist wipe to Mossy’s ears. The steer’s hooves will be sanded and buffed to a nice shine and its hair clipped to a perfect uniformity before it will be ready for show.
“They have to be really clean,” Robinson said. She and her twin brother Logan, have been 4-H club members since they were 5 and showing steer over the last two years.
Over in the Exhibition Hall, Judge Eda Tripp of Minot, with assistance by Joan Farrington of Wilton, affixed the yellow, red and blue ribbons to the winning vegetables on display Sunday morning. The growers’ names were covered until after the awards are decided and carefully listed in a big record book Farrington carried.
Coming to a pair of bright green and neatly clipped kohlrabi Debbie Morse of Chesterville had grown, Tripp quietly said, “those look really nice” before attaching a blue ribbon to them. They moved onto the cabbage heads next.
The action at the fair continues this week through Saturday, Sept. 20.
Nice pictures of the first day of fair!