NEWELL—Horses, kids and plenty of energy filled the arena on June 15 as the Newell Family Summer Playday Series got underway. The series is a summer staple in the small community, bringing families from across the area together for a day of fun in the arena.
The Newell Community Club is dedicated to ensuring all kids have the chance to participate in the events if they want. The age divisions start with the youngest among us and include events focused on practicing and participating without horses.
For ages 0-3 there is stick horse barrel racing, stick horse flag race, stick horse pole bending and wildcard. Age division 4-6 also has stick horse barrels, poles, flag race and adds in goat tail untying and dummy roping. These are all events that they will do on horseback when they get a little older.
In the 7 to 10 age division contestants compete in barrels, poles, flag race, goat tail untying on horse, dummy roping and dummy team roping.
The next division is for ages 11 to 14. The events for them are barrels, poles, flag race, girls goat tying, boys goat tying, breakaway roping and dummy team roping.
The last division is for the older group, ages 15 to 19. They compete in barrels, poles, goat tying, breakaway roping and steer daubing.
All event registration is done online and the deadline is 1 p.m. on the day of each playday. Anyone can compete in the series. You don’t have to be a member. Although being a member has its perks, all members receive a T-shirt and if they compete in at least three of the playdays, they are then eligible for year-end awards.
To accommodate all of the kids, the rodeo committee has created two arenas out of one large main one. There is a larger one set up for barrel racing and flag race for all divisions and a smaller arena for pole bending, goat tying and breakaway roping. All of the stick horse events and dummy roping competition take place outside of the arena.
The Summer Series is a good place to go for young competitors just starting out. You will find little kids on horseback working in the arena at the pace they choose. Kids on horseback with moms or dads leading them through the pattern. And sometimes a horseback rider will lead the horse and child through the pattern. The whole series is laid back, fun and allows for learning experiences for all levels of ability.
The playdays are held on Mondays and this year they have added two extra playdays to the series. In the past there were only four different dates, this year there are six, so there is more time to be involved, more time to learn, more time to rack up points for year-end prizes and more opportunities to meet the attendance requirements to be eligible for year-end awards.
The remaining dates are: June 29, July 6, July 13 and July 20 with the potluck and awards on July 27.
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