Youngsters learn about harness racing

VW independent/submitted information

Members of the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association’s Harness Horse Youth Foundation (HHYF) provided a hands-on workshop on horsemanship to a number of area youngsters Thursday and Friday at the Van Wert County Fairgrounds.

Linda Taylor of the HHYF and her entourage were welcomed to the fairgrounds by Van Wert County Fair Board Speed Committee members Roger Wilkin and Aaron Knittle, who made the five-pony group comfortable with donated straw and hay from the Chad Williamson and  Dennis Putnam Stable while setting up the group in one of the fairgrounds’ horse barns.

Although a smaller group had attended a workshop on Thursday, Friday’s group was definitely a full house — so much so that the youngsters had to be grouped into “stables” that were assigned the name of a famous harness racing horse from the past five years.

Stable names included such champions as Wiggle It Jiggleit, 2015 Little Brown Jug winner with earnings of more than $3.9 million; Always B Miki, fastest Standardbred horse of all time with a time of 1:46 for the mile and earnings of more than $2.7 million; and What The Hill, a multiple stakes winning trotter with more than $1.2 million in winnings.

Kids had an especially fun time yelling out “What The Hill” during that stable’s activities.

The HHYF provided a morning of workshops as participants learned about basic horsemanship and equipment, as well as question-and-answer sessions with Delphos veterinarian Dr. Amanda Durand and local farrier/blacksmith Mike Schmidt, who has more than 40 years experience.

Pizza was served during a lunch break, followed by an opportunity for youngsters to ride sulkies and jog the horses on ride-alongs with volunteer trainers Ben Thatcher, Rex Davis, and Dennis Putnam.

An added bonus for local youngsters was when Van Wert native and veteran harness racing driver Brandon Bates came in to help out with the program.

Bates, 44, a driver with more than 860 wins and $6.8 million in earnings, had his breakout years in 2017 and 2018 when his mounts tallied more than $1.6 million in each of those racing seasons.

Bates spoke to the kids, noting: “I grew up in that barn right over there … I won my first race here, too.”