Correspondent photos / Sean Barron Miranda Lattimer of Minerva, is all smiles after winning Thursday’s saddle horse competition’s pole bending class, with a time of 27.675, at the 178th annual Canfield Fair.

CANFIELD —

One of the main

lines in the 1964 Beach Boys hit song “Fun, Fun, Fun” also mentions “‘Till her daddy takes the T-bird away,” though Alexis Bayan, Shelly McKnight and Miranda Lattimer were fine merely with the “fun, fun, fun” part.

“For this event, I worked on it off and on for about two years,” Bayan, 24, of Youngstown, said.

She was referring to working with Dusty, her 18-year-old quarter-paint cross purebred horse to prepare for Thursday’s saddle horse contest, which was part of the 178th Canfield Fair.

The fair opened Wednesday and continues through Monday.

Not lost in the training and work, however, were the elements of fun and enjoyment that she carried through the competition’s pole bending class, the object of which was to complete the event in the shortest amount of time.

Fun also was a central traveling theme for Shelly McKnight, 24 of Canfield, who competed in the same class while riding Angel, her 16-year-old paint horse.

“I do this more for fun than the competition,” McKnight said, adding that she got Angel when the animal was about age 2.

Thursday also was the first time in five or six years that she took part in the contest, McKnight said, adding that her sister bought Angel from a friend.

The pole bending event, which had eight or nine riders, is one of five or six classes that make up the competition. Six poles are arranged in a straight line in the ring, then participants are challenged with riding between them without knocking over the poles, in a manner similar to an obstacle course, Emma Jarvis, who helped direct the competition, said.

Each pole a rider knocks over adds 5 seconds to the time, she said, adding that this competition is for adults who have aged out of 4-H clubs.

For their parts, Bayan and McKnight posted times of 38.465 and 36.63 seconds, respectively.

Fun also was front and center for Miranda Lattimer, 26, of Minerva, who took top honors with a time of 27.675.

“It was my second year in the event,” said Lattimer, who rode Sugar, her quarter pony.

In addition, Lattimer expressed gratitude to fair officials for having the saddle competition.

Have an interesting story? Email the newsroom at news@vindy.com