Young equestrienne holds the reins

By JOANN JONES

SUCCESSFUL SHOWMANSHIP

Once very shy, this 10-year-old now takes the demands of competition in stride.

From the time she was 2 years old and saw children riding on horseback, Madelynn Felgar of Beloit wanted her own horse. At age 4, she had one.

Now at the ripe old age of 10, she has to use her fingers and her toes to count how many horses she’s had.

“Let’s see,” she said as she held up her fingers, “Lucky, Candy Cane, Peanut, Captain …” Some were retired due to age, some had medical problems, and some just weren’t the right horses for Madelynn.

“She’d try them out, and they just didn’t work out,” her mother, Teresa Felgar, said.

Now she has three, all of which she trains and shows: Phantomic, nicknamed “Tommy,” who is a registered quarterhorse; Lightning, a gelding who is a “B” miniature; and Skittles, a Welsh Cross, who is her 4-H project.

“I had a horse I was going to show in the 2007 All-American Youth Show at the Columbus Fairgrounds,” she said, “and it went lame. A trainer had Phantomic for sale, and I only rode him once before the competition.”

“They clicked immediately,” her mother said, adding that a couple of days later, Madelynn and her horse won the English Equitation and the Hunter Under Saddle competitions. “She was first in her class, and it was great because we had no expectations.”

Raising and training the horses is a Felgar family affair. Lynn Felgar, Madelynn’s father, is the “financial backer,” according to Teresa.

“I’m the groom and the seamstress,” she said. “Lynn is building Madelynn some stalls, too, but I think it’s because he wants his garage [where the horses are currently housed] back.” Teresa, the owner of TLC Sewing, embroiders her Western shirts and the blankets she wins in competitions.

Competition and confidence

Madelynn, who rode Tommy in the age 9 and under division, competed in the All-American Youth Show at the Columbus Fairgrounds in May. She brought home a “stack of ribbons,” including one for a first place in Hunter Showmanship and one as a grand champion in English Equitation, according to her mother.

Showing her horses has given her a self-confidence she probably never would have had, her mother said.

“Omigosh, she used to be so, so shy,” Teresa said. “She didn’t talk to anybody. At her first show, she said, ‘I’m not showing. I’m not doing that.’ It’s taken a couple of years, but now she knows exactly where the judge is and how much he or she has looked at her already. Showmanship is her best event.”

“We have friends everywhere she shows,” she added. “She’s always helping everybody out if there are problems. One time she stayed an hour after a show to help somebody.”

Madelynn has been busy this summer going to shows at the Ohio State Fair and at 4-H competitions, but she’s gearing up to get her horse Skittles ready for the Canfield Fair during the first week in September.

“I’ll do the barrels and the contest classes,” Madelynn said. “I’ll be over there for about a week.”

Her goal, she said, is to compete someday in the National High School Rodeo.

To reach that goal, Madelynn relies on several organizations that are helping her hone her skills. She is a member of Horse and Rider 4-H, Ohio Quarter Horse Association, Northern Ohio Quarter Horse Association and the Western Reserve Pony Club, clubs that have been a big help in how she rides. She also trains under “the watchful eye of Mary Montgomery” through the Mahoning County 4-H.

Balancing horses with school

The Beloit Elementary fifth-grader has a lot of time during the summer to ride and lunge the horses, work on voice commands and groom them. But when school starts, Madelynn has to manage her time well.

“It’s very hard [to take care of them],” Madelynn said. “Mom feeds the horses in the mornings. Then I have a riding lesson once a week at 5:30 p.m. unless there’s a show, and when I get home between 8 and 8:30, I’m pounded with homework.” Madelynn gets all A’s and B’s, confessing that it takes her at least an hour every night to do math, her hardest subject.

Because she starts showing her horses in April, she needs to get her end-of-the-year school projects, such as the Wax Museum one she did in the spring, done as early as possible.

“I chose to be Caroline Harrison, President [William Henry] Harrison’s wife,” she said. “I had to dress like her, and I did a flip book about her life.”

“A lot of her horse friends are home-schooled,” her mother said. “That makes it easier on them.”

“The Youth Show is the third week in May, and I have to miss that much,” she said, holding up three fingers that indicate three days of school. “And then I have to catch up.”

What is it that makes Madelynn succeed as a 10-year-old equestrienne? “Persistence,” her mother said emphatically as she watched her daughter ride Skittles around the ring in their back yard. “She’ll work until she gets it.”

“And now I’m training a 5-year-old, Lightning,” Madelynn said.

Funny experiences

Madelynn’s experiences with horses have provided her with a lot of stories to tell, many of them comical.

“When I was 5, my dad put my chaps on backward,” she said. “I was walking funny, but at least he tried.”

One of her earlier horses, Candy Cane, liked to lie down after it had been clipped, she said. “We were at a show, and it had just rained. She found a mud puddle and lay down. I still got second in the ring, though. The judge was nice enough to give me a ribbon.”

Madelynn also took Candy Cane to a jumping show where the cross rails were bigger than the horse. “She put one foot on the jump, then the other, and then her hind legs, and climbed over. Then she lay down.”

At the Youth Show in Columbus in 2008, she and a friend wanted to explore the fairgrounds, but her friend didn’t want to walk. “She was riding her bike, and her pony, who does everything, was following behind,” Madelynn said. “She had the lead rope in her hand, and everyone was amazed that a pony could do that. I came home and tried it with Skittles, and it took a couple of days, but it worked.”

Persistent, isn’t she?