N. Lima, Austintown teens taking animals to compete

By JOHN SKENDALL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
Two area teens and their barnyard companions are competing in the Ohio State Fair to try their luck in the big leagues.
Neither college-bound 18-year-old lives on a farm, and none of their human friends has a clue about animals. But they've been tough competition at the Canfield Fair since they were youngsters.
Their secret? Good mentors to pass on the horse sense and pig prowess and a desire to dig in their hooves, er, heels.
Robert "Hogie" Walley of North Lima and Lisa Briceland of Austintown are active 4-H members and said they have learned a lot about themselves and met many friends in their years of county fair experience.
For state competition, the teens said they have high hopes.
"It's going to be tough," Walley said, but "I should place."
"I know my pigs will compete well," Briceland said. "They're bred very, very well."
Briceland will enter two pigs in the fair to compete with pigs in the same weight class from all over Ohio. She will compete in the all-barrow (male pig) show with Big Dan, a cross-bred Yorkshire, and Chipper, a pure-bred Duroc. She's considering entering a third barrow named Artie.
The pigs will be tested on their showmanship and their confirmation. No, they won't be dancing and singing. But for a pig, showing you can follow your owner here and there, stop and start and all the time stay a set distance from the judge is quite a feat.
And then there's a kind of beauty contest that judges overall confirmation. Solid, well-proportioned pigs get the thumbs up. Who said pigs aren't beautiful?
Briceland treats her pigs like swine royalty, with sawdust bedding, automatic water fountains and frequent baths. She admits they would really rather be rolling in the mud, but it's the price you pay for good looks.
Briceland's pigs have placed in the top four of their weight class all seven years she has competed at the county level.
Swine care
These pigs aren't about to complain, though. Briceland drives to Ellsworth Township every morning and afternoon to walk Big Dan and the others. They also get a healthy dose of marshmallows -- a pig delicacy.
For Briceland, her oinking, mud-loving pets are just as compassionate as dogs. She said it is hard to leave them when fair time rolls around and the pigs are sent to slaughter. Market pigs are born around March and reach prime plumpness by summer's end, she said.
The graduate of Austintown Fitch High School said she got into 4-H activities like pig raising with help from a 4-H adviser at her church. Her father, Bruce, helped her get started. Ron and Marsha Knight of Knauf Road, Ellsworth, keep the pigs at their farm.
Horse events
Walley is good friends with his horse as well, but this animal has been around long enough to become part of the family. The Arabian, named Naborsaz (pronounced nah-BOOR-say), is 18 years old. The horse was passed down to him by his sister.
Walley will compete with his horse in the poles and the speed and competition event.
In speed and competition, Naborsaz' best event, a horse and rider burst out of the gate, weave around three cones and come to a sliding halt in a box made of easily collapsible piping. The event is timed and horses are disqualified if they touch the box.
To do well, a horse has to run fast and turn tight, he said.
Walley said he owes his success to his horse, qualifying this year for both events at the Canfield Fair. He said the amazing part about his going to the state fair is that he really doesn't practice with the horse very often.
Apparently, the veteran Naborsaz is bringing Walley to the fair, not visa versa.
The South Range High School graduate said his goal is simply to "go and win."