The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Miniature horses love the show
Oberlin trainer earns honors at state, county fairs
Miniature horses shine in the show ring for a Lorain County Fair participant with a passion for training the animals.
Rachel Bean, 18, of Oberlin, and her horses have been adding to their collection of awards during the 2017 Lorain County Fair.
Bean is the daughter of Jill and Francis Bean. An Oberlin High School graduate, Bean is in her last year participating in the fair as a member of the Northern Stars 4-H Club.
In school she already earned 51 college credits and this fall aims to get an associate’s degree on her path to become a large animal veterinarian.
This summer, she, her miniature horses and pony are back in the show arena for another round of competition at the fair.
Macho is a 4-year-old small pony gelding and Wild Child is a 5-year-old gelding in 4-H judging with Bean. She also will show Storm, a 3-year-old mare, in open judging.
“...you go out there and you get that state champion that I got — it just makes you feel so much better than if your horse was pretrained.”
— Rachel Bean of Oberlin
Bean’s longest stablemate is Dancer, a 10-year old mare.
“She wants to show,” Bean said.
This summer the pair captured four honors at the Ohio State Fair, including two state championships in the trail in hand and pleasure driving contests.
“I personally prefer to train my own horses,”
Bean said. “I’ve always loved to train my own minis just because you go out there and you get that state champion that I got — it just makes you feel so much better than if your horse was pre-trained.”
Years ago, Bean discovered there was a miniature horse at a barn down the road from her home. The owner offered Bean a chance to lease and train it, so she did.
As her skills improved, Bean’s parents suggested she get a horse.
“That’s when we found
Dancer,” Bean said. “I worked with her a couple of months to make sure she was a nice fit for me. And I took her to a show and I did really well.
“I’ve loved that mare ever since,” Bean said. “She surprises me every single day. You can expect the unexpected with her.”
With her horses, the training is different for each animal because each has a unique personality. But the work starts with trust, Bean said.
“You won’t be able to get anywhere with training a
horse if you don’t earn their trust,” she said. “So I like doing a lot of ground work. Before I even throw the harness on them, I do a lot of ground work first to make sure that they’re comfortable with me, comfortable with the whole training process.”
Every day at her family farm, Bean works on her barn chores while the horses go out “and just be horses.”
Many days include training, although Bean likes to alternate sessions for the mares and geldings, with
breaks after shows and the county fair.
They start with lunging, which involves keeping the horse on a long lead, but letting it walk, trot and canter around her. The horses shake off any nervous energy and become more responsive by settling into the practice sessions.
At the fair, Dancer and her fellow minis are ready to play in the bigs.
Wild Child captured second place in the gelding B class and reserve champion for the overall
gelding class. Macho was grand champion in small pony halter class.
Bean and Dancer placed third in showmanship.
“She works a lot different when she’s in that show ring from at home. She’s a completely different horse, it seems like,” Bean said. “That’s how most of my horses are: When they’re in that show ring, they know it’s time to show what they have.
“Compared to when I’m working at home, they’re like, alright, yeah, whatever,” she said with a laugh.