Youth exhibitors impress in WSF performance horse shows

Each year, the early days of the Wyoming State Fair (WSF) are set aside for youth horse exhibitors to showcase their talent and hard work across performance, halter and showmanship classes. 

WSF youth horse shows kicked off on Aug. 12, running well into the following day, and multiple showmen saw their hard work pay off. 

Senior performance horse events

Performance horse shows featured everything from hunter, Western, ranch riding, trail riding and gymkhana events, split into divisions based on exhibitor age. 

In the senior division, Breanna Brower of Riverton took first place in hunter under saddle, followed by Kaitlyn Snyder of Gillette in second. 

Snyder also finished second in hunt seat equitation, following Cheznee Mackey of Evanston who earned top honors in the event. 

Senior hunt hack was won by Sam Wahl of Lander, and Snyder saw her third second-place finish of the day. 

Snyder kept her winning streak rolling, taking home first-place honors in the senior ranch riding event, followed by Jordan Christensen of Green River in second. 

The two continued sweeping the competition through the next five classes, with Christensen winning senior Western pleasure, Western horsemanship, Western riding, reining and trail. Snyder finished in second in senior Western pleasure, Western horsemanship, Western riding and trail.

Mackey was the second-place rider in reining, then went on to win the barrel racing in the senior division, followed by Remington Prince of Shoshoni in second. 

Prince made the leaderboard again in the pole bending, earning second-place honors behind Laramie’s Stacy Ruggles.

Anna Grant of Glenrock was crowned Senior Working Cow Horse Champion, with Taylor Hernandez of Green River following close behind in second place. 

Jordon Peter of Lander finished out the senior division events strong, winning both the senior breakaway roping and goat tying. Paisley Chadwell of Wheatland was second-place in the goat tying.

Intermediate performance horse events

Lexi Free of Jackson Hole impressed in the intermediate performance horse events, winning hunter under saddle, hunt seat equitation, hunter hack and Western horsemanship.

Taebyn McGinley of Rozet finished behind Free in hunter hack and Western horsemanship. 

Teagin Savage of Cheyenne claimed the second-place position in hunter under saddle, and Tra Bauder of Glendo finished second in hunt seat equitation.

Quinn Schneider of Cheyenne ended the 2024 WSF first in intermediate Western pleasure, followed by Peyton Unrein of Wheatland in second. 

Abbi Talbott and McGinley swept the next three performance events in the intermediate division. Talbott won intermediate ranch riding and Western riding and took second in reining, while McGinley won the reining and took second in ranch and Western riding. 

McGinley had another second-place finish in intermediate trail behind first-place finisher Izabelle Pedri of Rock Springs. 

In the intermediate barrel racing competition, Teigen Derner of Burns came out on top, followed by Madyson Dupuis of Sheridan in second. 

Dupuis also finished in second place in pole bending behind Emma Martin of Lander.

Rounding out the intermediate competition, Kayden Light of Buffalo won the goat tying and Derner claimed second place. 

Junior performance horse events

The junior division was last up in the arena, and Mikah Raley of Sheridan started the competition off strong, winning both the junior hunter under saddle and hunt seat equitation. 

Kendra Bauder of Glendo was the second-place winner of hunter under saddle, while Sienna Roaque of Laramie finished second in hunt seat equitation.

In junior ranch riding, Will Kruse of Lance Creek was named champion, followed by Darcy Martin of Morrill, Neb. in second. 

The Nebraska cowgirl also topped the leaderboard to win junior Western riding.

Deklan McGinley of Rozet made a strong showing in the arena, winning junior Western pleasure, followed by Jade Davis of Laramie, and taking second in Western horsemanship behind Emily Kruse of Lance Creek.

Will continued the family’s winning streak, taking home second-place honors in junior reining behind Callia Scribner of Lander and first place in junior trail, followed by Sage Derner of Burns. 

Sage showed up in the last two events of the junior division, claiming the second-place position in both barrels and poles, behind respective event winners Kyla Torrence of Sheridan and Lauren Martin of Lander. 

Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.