Cort Hughes, 2, tends to pig stalls at the Madison County Fair, just as he does at home. Cort is the youngest member of the Hughes Boys Show Pigs team and an honorary member of the Buckeye Rangers 4-H Club.Getting in some barn time at the Madison County Fair are the driving forces of Hughes Boys Show Pigs: (from left) Colt, 10, Cort, 2, and Cooper, 8.Still royal, Madison County Junior Fair Queen Olivia Rinesmith (right) and first attendant Lillian Marriott will hold onto their titles for another year. They won royalty status at the 2019 fair. The Madison County Senior Fair Board voted this year to freeze all titles for another year. In the fall, Marriott will return to Muskingum University and Rinesmith will return to The Ohio State University.Anna Drewes, 13, of Plain City gets advice from rabbit competition judge Jacinta Taulbee. Drewes scored her second blue ribbon of the morning with her senior buck; the other ribbon came in the senior doe class. Drewes is a student at Jonathan Alder Middle School and a member of the Beginners to Winners 4-H Club.Kaylee Stonerock rides hard and fast, weaving her way around the poles to take first place in the Western pole bending event at the equine show. The Exclusively Equine 4-H Club member placed in three of the four events she entered for 8- to 13-year-olds.Benjamin Shuler kept busy in the 14- to 18-year-olds Western equine classes, competing in eight events. The Starlight Riders 4-H Club member took third place in four of the events and a blue ribbon in ranch riding.During the Western equine competition, Gracie Mae Stingle rode her way to the top spot in one event and made the top three in another five events. She competed in classes for 8- to 13-year-olds. She is a member of the Crazy 4 Clovers 4-H Club.Kinsey Null, 15, got a little air time and had her hands full before her horse, “Nitro,” decided he had enough of the pole bending competition. The two went their separate ways for the rest of this run but returned in two more events. Null, a Madison-Plains student and member of the Mud Run Hustlers 4-H Club, placed in four of the seven events she entered in the Western competition.The Moore sisters were all smiles after finishing blue ribbon performances in the Madison County Fair equine show. Alli (front), 17, and her horse, “Chip,” took the top spot in the Western Pleasure class for 14- to 18-year-olds. Ellen (back), 15, claimed the top spots in the walk/trot class of Western Pleasure and in Western showmanship. Ellen and her horse, “Rosie,” also earned a blue ribbon in the Western horsemanship class. Alli has been riding for eight years and Ellen for two years. They are members of the Darby Riders 4-H Club.The Madison County Fair focused on the Western Equine classes on July 14, and in the 14- to 18-year-olds classes, Hope Fetherolf was the force to be reckoned with. Fetherolf took first place in five of the six classes in which she competed. The Exclusively Equine 4-H Club member is shown here charging hard to a first-place time of 10:34 seconds in the keyhole race, nearly two seconds ahead of the next rider.Brooke Bates, a Madison-Plains student and member of the Crazy 4 Clovers 4-H Club, was dominant in the Western equine competition for 8- to 13-year-olds. Bates took the top spot in five of eight classes and finished second in the other three. She is shown here atop “Bubbles,” cutting it close and heading for a blue ribbon in the stakes race.Brie Baker had a lot to be happy about during the 2020 Madison County Fair as she competed in the Western equine events. The Exclusively Equine 4-H Club member claimed a blue ribbon in all four of the novice events in which she competed.
