OXFORD — On Education Day at the Oxford County Fair, in a paddock reserved for showmanship, four young children are “riding” wooden horses. Talking through a microphone, Mary Fernald of Poland, is directing them around the course that they will eventually navigate on real horses.

Fernald said this exercise is for children, “to be at ease in the show ring, to be at ease with the judge, to be at ease with learning your patterns. So when they come in and they have a horse they can concentrate on the horse because they have the rest of it down.”

The Oxford County Fair started Sept. 13 and ran through Sept. 16. On the morning of the first day children and parents buzzed around the grounds.

Retired Lewiston police officer, Jane Huffman, of Poland, is standing on the side of the showmanship paddock watching as her horse, Orlando Jazz, is led around the perimeter by Ava Bartlett, 7.

“I have more fun letting other people ride him,” said Huffman. She recalled that when she was 17 or 18 years old, Harley Stevens, asked her to help with the fair, then let her ride whenever she wanted. “One day, he said, ‘get in the truck we’re going to a show.'”

Huffman competed for four or so years after that, and while she no longer competes, she still owns three horses. “It’s great to have had that opportunity [as a teenager] and I like doing that for other kids [now],” she said.

On the microphone, Fernald is saying, “We have one late entry, Ava Bartlett and Orlando Jazz. She is a seven year old, so doesn’t hit the junior quite yet so we’re doing an in-hand pee-wee.”

Huffman is beaming.

More education

In the meantime,  Amy Henley, of Newry, learned that it’s better to have an odd number of kids in your charge so they can make a decision on where they want to go. The Flying dogs would likely be the next stop for Henley, her son Eliot, 7, and two other Crescent Park second graders from Bethel.

Jeanette Fernstrom, of Scarborough, was not being educated but instead was the educator, answering continuous questions about a three-year old cow. The African Watusi had oversized horns. “The blood flows through his horns and it keeps him cool when it’s hot out and it warms him during the wintertime,” said Fernstrom.

West Paris Firefighter Craig Martin and his colleagues taught fair-goers how to hold a hose and “knock down” a fire on a wooden cutout of a house.

Pine Tree Society clients, Shane Kimball, of Minot, and Alan Huckaby of Lewiston, with help from Martin, sprayed the hose. Kimball said he wanted to be a firefighter. Deb Cote accompanied the three special needs men. The third, David DesRochers, of Turner only wanted to watch. Cote reminded them of other safety tips like, “stop, drop and roll.” In another part of the fair they learned CPR.

Foster Crockett, 8, of Bethel was filling a bucket with water with his father’s friend, Toby Buckingham, of NH. Asked what he learned today, Crockett said, “nothing yet, I have animals to take care of.” Then he went off to water his lambs.

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