Equestrian team takes WIHA state title
The Granton Area School District’s Equestrian Team trotted off with the grand champion placing in the state Wisconsin Interscholastic Horsemanship Association (WIHA) Division C competition that was held on Oct. 28-30 in Madison.
The WIHA State Horse Show included teams from all across Wisconsin. Each team competed in regional shows against other similarly sized teams in standardized classes consisting of showmanship (showing a pattern in hand), equitation (showing a pattern riding), reinsmanship (showing a pattern driving a cart), and speed events (barrels, poles,etc). Granton competed against 12 other teams from across Wisconsin that each had 3-5 riders from their school.
The team is comprised of Abby Schoessow (11th grade) riding RU Ready for This or “Bubba”; Charlotte Hanna (9th grade) riding AKA Invitational or “Suri”; and Grace Verhalen (9th grade) riding SSS YouWishYouWouldHave or “Emma”.
Granton’s placings at the 2021 WIHA State Horse Show: In Hand Trail - Charlotte, 1st Trail – Grace, 2nd place; Charlotte, 4th place; Abby 7th place Ranch Riding – Grace, 3rd; Charlotte, 8th and Abby placed 9th Western Showmanship – Abby placed 4th Saddle Seat Showmanship – Grace, 5th place Hunt Seat Showmanship – Grace, 10th Bareback Equitation/Horsemanship - Abby, 3rd place Walk/Trot Horsemanship – Abby, 6th place and Grace, 8th place Huntseat Equitation – Abby, 1st place; Charlotte, 2nd and Grace 7th Hunter Hack - Abby 3rd Western Horsemanship - Abby, 1st place and Charlotte 5th Reining - Grace, 6th place The team would like to thank everyone for their continued support and for buying pizzas during their Papa Murphy’s fundraisers. This year, all WIHA show fees were covered through fundraising efforts. The next Papa Murphy’s fundraiser is scheduled for Dec. 14.
The Granton Equestrian Club was established in 2017 to promote horsemanship education for all students in grades 6 through 12. This was Granton’s fourth year to compete in the WIHA regional competition and to also compete at state. The team is coached by Courtney Schoessow and Angela Schier.
