Garman and 6 Jo’
MICHELLE RANCK
Lancaster Farming Staff
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.)
The one-week trip down South
proved to be a good one.
A great one, in fact, as on July
3, in Forth Worth, Texas, Noel
Carman, Ephrata, captured a
World Championship title at the
World Championship Paint
Horse Show, a competition of the
American Paint Horse Associa
tion (APHA).
Years of hard work paid off for
Carman and “Colonel Dakota
Jo,” an 11-year old Quarter
Horse gelding, as the pair turned
in the best time to win the Novice
Barrel Racing class.
Barrel racing is a timed event
as the competitors run a com
plete a cloverleaf pattern around
three barrets, “a right turn and
two left turns,” said Carman.
Approximately 2,000 entrants
competed at the show, which at
tracts competitors from the U.S.
Canada, Germany, and Austral
ia. Classes include Western, Eng
lish, cattle, driving, and speed
classes.
“There are people from all
over the country. I knew I was
competitive at home but didn’t
know where I stood there. I knew
we had to give everything we
had,” said Carman.
Noel received a saddle from a first-place finish in re
cent state competition. The ribbons are from the world
championship title.
Capturing the moment: Noel Carman rides back from
collecting her ribbons and belt buckle for a world champi
onship title in barrel racing at the World Championship
Paint Horse Show.
Mt’-rrf «*•* r i • * n « % W«r
In barrel racing horse and
rider either “blow wide” or
“wrap” the barrels, and Jo’s ex
pert wrapping of all three barrels
helped to win the title, according
to Carman. The pair competed in
seven classes in different levels of
competition. They also took
home a first in amateur pole
bending, another pattern class
where horses run weaving pat
tern around poles.
Growing up on a dairy farm in
Mount Joy, Garman enjoyed the
horses her family owned to enter
tain the family’s bed and break
fast guests. “I rode as soon as I
could,” she said although she
was pressed into service with
milking duties. “I just fell in love
with horses and that was it, they
(her family) had to make me get
off,” she said.
Her parents, Galen and Eileen
Benner, supported her horse af
finity, as her father would tack
up the horse she would bring to
him before she headed out on
long trail rides around the
120-acre Rocky Acre Farm.
When she was nine year old
she got into barrel racing with
her 4-H club. Saturday mornings
in the summertime would find
her riding along with one of her
four brothers to another show.
“Then when I turned 16 they
wondered which of their trucks I
Win World Championship
Noel’s husband, Jason, accompanied her to Texas, along with both of their parents,
her trainer, and the horse’s former owner.
wanted,” she said.
“I just did average, but I loved
to ride. As long as I was with my
horses, that was enough,” she
said. “It didn’t really matter to
me where I placed.”
When Garman turned 17 she
got in touch with a local lessons
and got lessons to improve her
competitiveness in the sport.
With the addition of a compet
itive horse, she made it to 4-H
states, her first big event in the
class. She took several years off
for college and married Jason
Garman, who was also interested
in horses and competes in reining
classes.
“At that point we started pur
suing a professional level of
horses,” she said. “We knew that
someday we wanted to get a well
bred, well-trained horse.”
Auction To Benefit Lebanon County 4-H
LEBANON (Lebanon Co.)
On Thursday, Aug. 2, the 20th
annual Lebanon County 4-H
Auction will be conducted to ben
efit 4-H youth and adult leader
education and leadership pro
grams. Featuring items sure to
appeal to the avid auction bidder,
sale items include farm toys,
handmade craft items, collecti
bles, movie passes, gift certifi
cates to area restaurants and
businesses, specialty gift baskets
and much more.
The auction is a successful
fund raiser for the county 4-H de
velopment fund and organizers
hope to raise more than $4,000
this year. The Lebanon County
4-H board of directors coordi
nates the event and contacts
more than 100 area businesses
and crafts persons for donations.
The auction includes special
theme gift baskets assembled by
the members of the county 4-H
clubs and Farm Women Socie
ties. Clubs have selected themes
based on their 4-H projects such
as dairy, horse, goat, or a more
general theme such as a, “Wel
come to the Community” or
“Pennsylvania Products” Basket.
The auction will be from 6 to 9
p.m. in the North Hall of the Leb
anon Area Fairgrounds, Corn-
s' £ I 1 . « .vrrr>"« • » ,~-rc s iv/: t■.v j r: ■> ssv. l l ft-'.'.** j r : vjfrt r<v/J
Moving to the next level placed
Garman at Evergreen- Farm,
Wrightsville, where she came
under the tutelage of trainers
Terry and Peg Helder. At Ever
green Farm she began taking les
sons on Jo. The trainers quickly
noticed a connection between
horse and rider.
“It has to be a team between
you and the horse. It's so compet
itive it takes a true connection be
tween you and the horse,” she
said, “when I sit on him I just
feel like I belong there.”
More training and victories in
the ring led Jo’s owner to offer
him for sale to Carman, who pur
chased the gelding in February.
Carman and Jo won a fourth
at Colonial Nationals in Lexing
ton, Virginia, out of 715 entries
and are planning to return this
Lebanon County 4-H summer assistants Nuria Rodri
quez, left, and Jessica Watson, right, preview some of the
items that will be up for bid on Thursday, Aug. 2 as part
of the Lebanon County 4-H Benefit Auction conducted at
the Lebanon Fairgrounds.
wall and Rocherty Roads, Leba- bers and 162 adult volunteer
non as part of the Lebanon Area leaders. For more information or
Fair The money raised helps to t 0 # donatioil) contact the
fund educational materials, , . _ „ „
member and leader activity fees, Lebanon Count y Extension Of
transportation costs, and awards fi ce a * (717) 270-4391 between
for the county’s 1,450 4-H mem- 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
year to the same event.
They also competed at the Na
tional Barrel Horse Association
(NBHA) state show in Dillsburg
in June. Their lowest time quali
fied them to take home the state
championship in the open ID
class.
At Evergreen Farm Garman
rides five of her own horses
three seasoned and two younger
animals which she is training for
future competition.
She hopes to continue to com
peting and is looking for bigger
shows to go to. Jo, 11, will race
another four years with Garman
keeping the schedule light and
saving him for the bigger compe
titions.
“He got tired but never quit on
me. He ran with his heart toward
the end.”