OHSET team gallops into season

The Sisters High School equestrian team (OHSET) galloped off to a good start at the first Central District meet last weekend. Twelve teams from central and eastern Oregon braved the wind and snow to test their mettle in an array of performance and gaming events at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center.

The Sisters team is small but mighty, with seven highly competitive athletes. The team has been working hard on their horsemanship skills in the lead-up to the meet, and Coach Julie Vosberg said it's paying off.

"After watching their performances, we were excited to see they are very competitive with any school in the district, even the much larger ones. They're having fun yet taking the competition seriously," she said.

Team captain Rebecca Rubbert placed in the top 10 in each of her performance classes. In-hand trail, showmanship, Western horsemanship and trail tested the versatility of Rubbert and her horse.

Hailee Kennedy, Rebecca Rubbert, Sara Rubbert, Madi Larabee, Jackson Robinson are running the Sisters colors in the gaming events this year.

Kennedy, Larabee and Robinson worked together in team penning, and according to Vosberg are working on finding their groove in the event. Battling wind and weather proved challenging for all the competitors, and the cattle.

Top 10 finishes in the gaming events were as follows: Kennedy was third in pole bending, Rebecca Rubbert and Kennedy were ninth in birangle and Kennedy took sixth in keyhole.

Vosberg said, "This meet gave the team a benchmark, and they're committed to working hard heading into the March meet."