APRIL 25, 2024 | THE WELLINGTON ADVERTISER | 19
Equine Real-life cowgirl: Ontario High School Rodeo Association competitor Amber Gregson By Lorie Black
Home on the range – Amber Gregson with Hoss and riding bareback on the family farm in Erin. The 17-year-old has been competing in rodeos since she was five. Photo by Lorie Black in a competition that involved a series of elements including horsemanship. Amber, a 17-year-old Grade 12 student at Erin District High School, has been a rodeo competitor since she was five. Of the ten events available to compete in with OHSRA, Amber focuses on barrel racing, goat tying, pole bending and breakaway roping. Amber joined the Junior OHSRA when she was in
Grade 6, and has continued on through to this, her final year. In the past few years, OHSRA has introduced Lil Buckaroos for students in kindergarten through Grade 4 and adjusted their Junior High School Rodeo program to begin in Grade 5 rather than Grade 6, and run through to Grade 8. The OHSRA is highly competitive,
so much so that “girls from New York have come up to join us,” Gregson said. Amber has had measurable success as a competitor including winning the title of champion on her horse Big Chief at the National Barrel Horse Association (NBHA) championship in 2019. “The sport has grown so much,” Gregson said from the stands at the
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It’s an amazing way to allow our next generation of cowboys and cowgirls to learn about rodeo...
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HILLSBURGH – Ontario High School Rodeo Association (OHSRA), a division of National High School Rodeo Association (NHSRA), held its first event of the season in Clinton last weekend. For some competitors, like Amber Gregson of Hillsburgh, the Clinton Spring Fling rodeo marks the beginning of their final season with OHSRA. NHSRA was created in 1947, and is an international non-profit organization “dedicated to the development of sportsmanship, horsemanship and the sport of rodeo,” officials state. The association has members from 42 states, five provinces and from Australia. OHSRA’s mission is to “promote the positive image of rodeo, preserve the western heritage and maintain the highest regard for livestock.” Popular shows like Paramount Network’s Yellowstone have spiked interest in the competitive equestrian sport of rodeo, specifically rough stock and timed events. But for Amber Gregson and her mother Victoria Gregson it has been a way of life. The Wellington Advertiser spent some time on the Gregson farm recently, where Amber said she has trained her horse Hoss “since he was a baby. This will be Hoss’s maturing year, his first year competing,” Amber said. Victoria explained that horses can run as four of five year olds in their maturity year. “He’s big and to build his confidence more we held him back. So, he is running as a five,” she said. Growing up in the renowned horse country of Erin, Victoria passes on her love of riding to her daughter. Victoria began barrel racing when she was 13, and still does today. At one time, she won the title of Ontario Rodeo Queen
- Olivia Jamieson
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