Riders and horses enjoy ‘Trick-or-Trot’

Halloween costumes aren’t just for children. At Thursday night’s “Trick-or-Trot” event in the Sutherland Livestock and Equine Arena at the Georgia National Fairgrounds, spectators got a chance to see horses and their riders at their creative best dressed in various costumes, including Minnie Mouse, Wizard of Oz, Wonder Woman, Ghostbusters and many others.

The National Barrel Horse Association (NBHA) hosts this fun event along with its annual barrel racing competitions in October.

For 25 years, the organization has been offering a chance for horse riders to compete in barrel racing. Headquartered in Augusta, NBHA is the largest barrel racing organization in the world. It has more than 23,000 members of all ages across the United States and affiliates in 12 countries — Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Renee Jenkins, NBHA events coordinator, said riders are competing for Open World and Senior World Championships this weekend. She said they began hosting the competitions in Perry about three years ago.

This year, they have more than 1,000 participants. With the competitions being held the weekend before Halloween, Jenkins said “Trick-or-Trot” is a way for some of the riders to just relax and have fun. She said they usually have about 30 to 40 riders who participate, and they were expecting about 800 spectators that night.

“Some of them you won’t even be able to tell it’s a horse,” she said. “A lot of them spend months on these costumes. Everybody is out here to have a good time.”

Three cash prizes were given away to the riders with the best costumes. First place for $300 was Dana Padgett and John Sparks from Perry, Florida (Wizard of Oz); second place for $200 was Katherine Effinger from Birmingham, Alabama (turkey and the butcher); and third place for $100 was April Kennington from Panama City, Florida (Revenge of the Nerds).

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