Putting on a show
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on October 6, 2017 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
William Tripp, 3, gives his donkey Jenny Mac, 13, a kiss before his first-ever show Thursday night at the Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Jolyn Tatum, right, and Walker Ruthven, 2, pet 3-month-old Pistol Annie before the Open Pony and Mule Show Thursday night at the Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair. The pony belongs to Scott Massey, 5, at left, who has been participating in shows almost all his life.
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Micah Davis, 5, walks his 30-year-old horse, Candy, around the competition area during the Open Pony and Mule Show Thursday night at the Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair. Micah has been showing horses for three years and plans to spend his winnings on rides.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Angela Paim holds her horse Blue Jay as she attempts to calm him before the Open Horse Show Thursday night before the show. New to the area, this is the first time Paim has competed in the Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair.
William Tripp stood beside Jenny Mac just outside the ring Thursday evening.
He looked around, stuck his thumbs in the belt loops of his jeans -- and then planted a quick kiss on Jenny's cheek.
The 6-year-old was about to compete in his first-ever children's class of the Open Pony and Mule show at the Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair.
Jenny, a 13-year-old mule, was at his side to help him make an entrance into the world of livestock shows.
Tripp said he was a little nervous but mostly excited.
He would occasionally nuzzle his head into Jenny's before looking back out at the livestock shelter.
Around him were other tiny competitors -- including 5-year-old Scott Massey's 3-month-old pony, Pistol Annie.
Pistol Annie was a quick crowd favorite because of her tiny size -- Massey, despite his age, was bigger than her.
Massey has been showing animals since he was less than 1-year-old, so the Seven Springs native had no trouble in the corral.
Many members of the crowd stopped to take photos with the tiny pony, and plenty of other children wanted to pet her.
But Massey and Tripp weren't the youngest competitors by a long shot -- 4-month old Remie Byrd showed off her mule, Margie, with a little help from her father, Grant Byrd, and Phil Massengill.
The men said showing livestock was a family thing, and Massengill hoisted Remie -- decked out in baby blue jeans -- onto the back of the mule during the show when they all got to the center of the corral.
"We've all done it, so she came along, and it was her turn to show," Byrd's father said.
The tiny tikes showing off their mules and ponies quickly won over the crowd, and the judges -- they all took home a blue ribbon.
Micah Davis, 5, was ecstatic when he discovered he had won money for the win in the show.
And he knew just what to do with it -- he was going to ride just about every ride he was tall enough to get on at the fair.
Looming behind the mules and ponies were greater beasts -- large horses warming and stretching their legs with their owners, waiting for their turn to be shown.
Angela Paim, originally from the Mount Airy area, recently moved to the area and was competing for the first time in the Open Horse Show.
She brought 2-year-old Blue Jay and 8-year-old Henry, two large horses who share the same father.
Blue Jay's mother was a Clydesdale, giving him the unique trait of having black legs that finished with a shock of white.
Paim said it was Blue Jay's first show, and he was having to grow accustomed to the motion of the lurching and swooping rides inside the fairgrounds.
She explained that motion -- not noise -- is what causes horses to become skittish, as they are prey animals and believe everything in motion is out to get them, imparting on them a natural flight response.
But, as the evening pressed on, the horses settled in and became more calm, ready to take their place in the ring.
"It's just experience," Paim said. "It's repetitive exposure to the motion that allows them to calm down."