Extreme Cowboy nationals next for LaMothe

    The New England Regional Extreme Cowboy Challenge was held last month at Rocking S Ranch in Fort Fairfield, hosted by the Cowboy Heritage Trail Riders.     Fifteen horse and rider teams competed on an obstacle course of fourteen challenging obstacles.    Mounted archery shooting,  ground tying, reining, rollbacks, standing in the saddle to touch a tennis ball suspended overhead, and riding through a water sprinkler curtain were only a few of the obstacles challenging the riders’ horsemanship and their horse’s speed.
    The most intriguing horse and rider team was Peter Whitmore and his wild Mustang, Isaac. Whitmore is a trainer from Orange, Mass. and is competing in the Wild Mustang Challenge, whereby he has 100 days to train a wild Mustang before going to Tennessee in October to compete in the National Wild Mustang Competition. Whitmore worked with Isaac only 50 days before traveling to Maine to compete in the Extreme Cowboy Competition, placing third in the Pro Division.
    Placing first in the New England Regional in the Young Guns Division was Alysha Hardy of Orange, Mass. with 210 points. Madison Bagley placed second with 122 points.
    The Youth Division winner was Logan Craig of Fort Fairfield with 311  points.
    First place in the Novice Division went to Marie Hardy of Orange, Mass. with 344 points. Gloria Duncan of Caribou was next with 323 points and Fran Gustin of Fort Fairfield took third place with 255 points.
    The Non-Pro Division winner was Lance LaMothe of Caribou with 564 points. He was followed by Shaun Bagley of Chapman with 407 points and David White of Caribou with 365 points.  
    Taking the top spot in the Ride-Smart Division was Steve Ulman of Fort Fairfield with 513 points. In second place was Dave McCrea of Fort Fairfield with 407.5 points, while Jan Shepard of Etna was third with 309 points.
    Winning the Pro Division was Rob Fowler of Fort Fairfield with 508.5 points. Close behind and in second was White with 507.5 points, while Whitmore was third with 454 points.  
    Lance LaMothe won the title of New England  Extreme Cowboy with 564 points. The top three riders in each division qualified to compete in the National Extreme Cowboy Competition in Topeka, Kansas in November.