Granton equestrian team wins regional event

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Horsemanship Association (WIHA) District 6 Regional competition was held Oct. 1-2 at the Wood County Fairgrounds in Marshfield. School equestrian teams from all across northeast Wisconsin came to compete in a series of standardized classes consisting of showmanship (showing in a pattern in hand) equitation (showing in a riding pattern), reinsmanship (showing in a pattern driving a cart), and speed events (barrels, poles, etc.). Judges awarded points to each team based on their placings.

The equestrian team from the Granton Area School District competed in Division C (3-5 riders) and was represented by junior Abby Schoessow, riding RU Ready For This (Bubba); freshman Charlotte Hanna, riding AKA Invitational (Suri), and freshman Grace Verhalen, riding SS You Wish You Would Have (Emma). Granton competed against DC Everest and Marinette in the Division C class.

Granton ended the competition with 628 points and won Grand Champion for the second year in a row, followed by DC Everest with 484 points and Marinette with 369 points. Each rider from Granton competed in 8 out of 19 classes offered each day of the competition. During the competition, the riders from the Granton equestrian team were noted to have placed consistently well while also competing in new classes at this year’s WIHA district competition they had never competed in previously. Schoessow competed in Hunter Hack (jumping), Hanna competed in In-Hand Trail and Verhalen competed in Western Reining, winning each class respectively.

Granton will represent their school at the state WIHA competition in Madison from Oct. 28-30 at the Alliant Energy Center.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO