WELLINGTON — Nearly twice as many contestants are vying for the title of Lorain County Horse King and Horse Queen this year as last, even with the months of hard work and a nerve-wracking public-speaking test.

“I don’t really like doing speeches, and I was really nervous,” said 14-year-old contestant Christina Lehane. The speech contest, held in May, is the first hurdle to clear in a bid for the crown.

Public speaking was mentioned a lot by the contestants, but all agreed it’s an important skill to master.

“A lot of my 4-H members urged me to do it,” said 14-year-old contestant Cheyanne Holt. “They think it’ll help because I’m not into the public speaking, so they’re trying to help me be more outgoing.”

Will she compete again next year knowing what to expect?

“Yeah, probably,” Cheyanne said. “It is definitely a lot of work, but I think it does help me with public speaking. I really am not into it. The more you do it, the easier it does get. Overall, I enjoyed the competition. The interview I thought was going to be scary, but it ended up being a lot of fun.”

The next hurdle was the written essay in June. The topic was easy for Christina to pick.

“I wrote about my experiences with horseback riding and how I learn from it,” she said. “I had two horses before Braid, and I wrote about them and I wrote about my experiences with her.”

A written test in July quizzed contestants about their motivation for seeking the crown as well as questions about the grooming and care of horses.

The contestants were then evaluated on etiquette during a dinner complete with more questions and the scores of those were added to the fifth category — showing — to determine the winner.

“It’s not based on popularity —you work hard for it,” said 17-year-old contestant Skye Reid.

The kids show their horses all summer and this competition was one way to get to know each other.

That camaraderie may be the most important thing the six Horse Queen contestants and Aaron Sterk, the lone Horseman contestant, take away from this experience.

“It’s been fun and a great experience,” said 15-year-old Bethany O’Connor. “It’s allowed me to get to know a lot of the people I show (horses) with better.”

All of the contestants are long-time 4-H Club members.

“It’s helping me with public speaking and interviews, just being more comfortable talking to people,” Skye said. “4-H helps with leadership, communication skills, responsibility. When you hold offices in your club and stuff like that, 4-H can do a lot of things for you down the road. It’s a good outside school activity to be involved in.”

Horse Queen and Horseman of the year will be crowned on Monday at the county fairgrounds and will march in the Junior Fair Parade on Thursday.

Horse Queen contestants

• Christine Lehane, 14. of Columbia Township, freshman at Columbia High School, daughter of Lauren and Mike Lehane.
• Cheyanne Holt, 14, of Columbia Township, freshman at Columbia High School, daughter of Chris and Ron Holt.
• Bethany O’Connor, 15, of Penfield Township, junior at Open Door Christian High School, daughter of Pat and Tony O’Connor.
• Cassie Lampe, 16, of Wakeman, junior at Firelands High School, daughter of Jeannie and Ed Lampe.
• Skye Reid, 17, of Wellington, senior at Keystone High School, daughter of Dawn and Rich Reid.
• Angela Gorka, 18, of Sheffield, graduate of Brookside High School, daughter of Karen and Mike Gorka.

Horseman contestant

• Aaron Sterk, 16, of Wakeman, junior at Firelands High School, son of Shelly and John Sterk.

Contact Alicia Castelli at 329-7144 or acastellI@chroniclet.com.