Horse clinics and antique tractors are just a few of the many attractions at the Four States Agricultural Exposition Friday through Sunday at the Montezuma County Fairgrounds.
Karen Hebert of Cortez took her palomino, Jay, to get some groundwork lessons in with clinician Brandy Stevenson of Last Frontier Ranch of Texas.
“I wanted to get back to the basics,” Hebert said. “He’s kind of nervous, and this helps calm him. Groundwork is working with your horse out of the saddle on skills you eventually do when you are in the saddle.”
Stevenson hosted a clinic in the main arena with students who brought horses for some training. Stevenson gave one-on-one instruction then rode the student’s horse to show proper technique.
“She has been teaching clinics for 10 years and enjoys sharing with riders how to develop a partnership with their horse,” said her husband and clinic partner, Caleb. It is the couple’s first clinic for the expo.
Stevenson’s clinic at 1:45 p.m. Friday would teach how to get off the ground and in the saddle. On Saturday at 11:15 a.m., she’ll teach building confidence through ranch work, and on Sunday at 10:45 a.m. the lessons will be on dressage for the ranch horse.
Mike Olander, of the Four Corners Antique Power Association, showed off early tractor models at the expo.
“We’re trying to preserve the early mechanized history of agriculture,” he said.
He restored a 1938 Farmall F-20 that worked the bean and wheat farms of the White family in Pleasant View for decades.
Harrison White bought it new, and it was delivered to Dolores by train on the Rio Grande Southern narrow gauge railroad, Olander said.
The family farmed with the Farmall tractor on land homesteaded in 1918, in the Ruin Canyon of Pleasant View. The land is still farmed by family members, but nowadays the tractor is retired and tours fairs and events in the Four Corners.
The Four Corners Antique Power Association is a branch of the national Early Day Gas Engine and Tractor Association. In late September, the local club gathers at the Farmington Museum to display their antique tractors, many of which helped to establish the region’s agricultural economy.
“We’re always looking for new members. You don’t need an antique tractor to join. Our members have a common interest in keeping this early history of agriculture alive,” Olander said.
For a schedule of the Four States Agricultural Exposition, check out The Journal website.
