County fairs mean a lot of things to many different people: some visitors just come for the funnel cakes and cotton candy, other for the derbies and tractor pulls, and many come to put a year's worth of hard work up for display to the public for a week. To me, my county fair means so much more than any of those things. It means the love I received and gave to two very special ponies, a responsibility to those animals, and a week of sweat, tears, and hoping for blue ribbons.
Over the past week I have visited the Butler County fair to watch my horse compete with a girl who has fallen in love with him just as much as I have in the few months she's been riding him. It makes me so sad to see him running his heart out without me guiding him around the arena, but the happiness I get from knowing that someone else gets to have the same experience I've had at the fair makes up for that loss. So instead of feeling my stomach twist and my heart pound on top of my nervous horse, I stand at the fence of the arena and feel those same things while cheering on the young girl following in my footsteps riding the best friend I ever had.
For the last 10 years at the end of July I would pack up my horse and leave him at the old fairgrounds for a week. I'd wear that special wristband only 4-H kids would get and I'd spend a week walking around in my dirty cowboy boots feeling like a part of something bigger than myself. But, this year was much different. I didn't get a wristband and I felt like an imposter in my boots. For the first time ever I had to pay to enter the fair and instead of showing a plastic wristband at the gate I held up my hand to show the faded stamp that proved I was allowed in. For the first time ever, I was a visitor at the Butler County Fair, not an exhibitor.
Maybe for a minute or two I didn't feel entirely like I belonged there, but as I saw my horse and his new rider I realized I did. My time in 4-H and competing at the fair gave me many mentors to look up to. Growing up I idolized the older girls who helped teach me to ride, but seeing my horse carrying a new girl who he loves just as much as me, I realized I have become a mentor for the younger girls to look up to. Now I can coach new riders and give them the confidence and skills they need to succeed. As my pony's newest cowgirl sits upon his back she'll become a better rider, but in turn she'll become a better mentor to the girls who are already starting to look up to her. For that, I will always be thankful for 4-H and the Butler County Fair.
