EOQHA Summer Sizzler a scorcher

CARP – The aptly named Eastern Ontario Quarter Horse Association (EOQHA) 2018 Summer Sizzler took over the Carp Agricultural Society fairgrounds last weekend (Aug. 2 to 5).

Nearly 100 horses and their owners battled the heat and each other in order to win the $1,000 Trail Challenge, the $500 Showmanship Challenge and more than $2,500 in prize money during the four-day event which included six American Quarter Horse Association shows.

EOQHA President Cheryl Norris was pleased with the turnout at the show and said the heat has been a bit of a challenge. Norris, who is not from the area, owns two quarter horses and said she also shows miniature horsed at many fall fairs.

“Our show was fantastic the heat was wild but we survived,” Norris told West Carleton Online the day after the show (Aug. 7). “Many of our exhibitors had an eight hour drive  home, but everyone made it home safe.”

The show includes presentation classes, flat classes (English and Western) and some obstacle course classed – all of which are judged.

Competitors came from all over Canada and the United States to compete. The Summer Sizzler debuted in 1981 and has called the Carp fairgrounds home for the last 18 years.

Locally, Laura Coburn and her quarter horse Fearlesness won the Three-Year-Old Halter Gelding Class.

“I have had quarter horses since 2012 and currently own two, and one is a riding horse,” Coburn told West Carleton Online via email.

Coburn keeps her horses on her home on Stonecrest Road and occasionally takes lessons at Quarry Park Farm.

EOQHA President Cheryl Norris was pleased with the turnout at the show and said the heat has been a bit of a challenge. Norris, who is not from the area, owns two quarter horses and said she also shows miniature horsed at many fall fairs.

Two of her six miniature horses were born in the Kinburn area and their show names are West Carleton Starchaser Cole and West Carleton Starchaser Smokey.