EUGENE – Think you could take care of a horse?
Many horses have their own chiropractors, their own team of doctors, their own dentists. Many wear braces. They need to be fed around the clock, groomed, exercised, cared for … and basically welcomed into the family.
“We would be having dinner, and my girls would be telling a story, and my husband and I would be like, ‘Is that a person? No, that’s a horse,” said Springfield’s Melissa Cole, whose daughter Anna, 17, was one of the dominant competitors during the weekend’s Oregon High Schools Equestrian Teams (OHSET) meet at the Oregon Horse Center. “It’s all horses all the time for us.”
Melissa’s other daughter, Nic, was on hand after being named the 2026 Miss Eugene Pro Rodeo Queen in January, with a winning speech, interview, and modeling competition.
“It was a very fun pageant. I get to raise awareness for agriculture and the Western way of life,” Nic said.
Nic, 19, won a lot of top honors when she was riding in high school, too.
“Anna might have me beat by a little bit, but we were pretty much neck-and-neck,” Nic said.
Ninety-six athletes representing 23 schools – including Springfield, Thurston, Pleasant Hill, Creswell, and Cottage Grove – were at the OHSET meet this past weekend. The next event is the state meet on Mother’s Day weekend, May 8-10, in Redmond, Ore.
Carsyn Fox, who goes to Willamette High School, is on Springfield’s team, and was chosen to carry the American flag on Sunday during Senior Night.
“It’s really a big honor to carry the American flag as all 93 athletes carry their team flags or sponsorship flags as everyone rides their horses out into the main arena,” Cole said. “The person with the American flag circles the arena like five times and there’s a book with all of their bios that they read out.”
Friday night was prom night.
“Some kids might miss their high school prom to come here,” Cole said. “It’s very rarely couples … it’s a social thing.
“They also do a prom at state, and you see girls in full gown with their boots and cowboy hats – big, huge full princess gowns – and then they have to go clean their stalls – and you’d think they’d change their dress. Nope. It’s just funny.”
Major Defoe founded the 275-acre facility in 2001 and has been hosting horse shows ever since. The Eugene Pro Rodeo attracts about 40,000 every year during Fourth of July weekend.
“This whole arena turns into a simulated bridges, campfires, trees, mountain trail area,” Cole said. “The owners sponsor our booth – boarders arena – each barn has 22 stalls – and my girls have three horses so we board here.”
“In the horse world, you can go to a full-care barn or a partial-care barn – this is a partial-care.
There are morning feeders – a.m. feeders who feed around 6 o’clock – so you just have to set up your horses’ food and they literally just throw it in. But you’re responsible for dinner and obtaining all of your hay and your other grain and other supplements. My kids are out here every day of their life – during Covid they got their first horse – they were around 11 and 13 – so they shared a horse at first.
“This is your barn family – they all become part of the barn life.”
Cole said her family had been very fortunate with their horses. While many folks refinance their homes and spend a pretty penny on their ponies, Cole said they have gotten off comparatively easy.
“Nic’s horse is Coco, and we bought her for $1,700,” Cole said. “Now she’s worth $20,000.
“Anna did all the online legwork for her and competed on her today.”
Creswell assistant basketball coach Daniel Layman didn’t show up to play a game of H-O-R-S-E. He was there to support the Bulldogs. After all, his wife, Hannah Layman, and mother-in-law, Lori Thomas, are two of the team’s five coaches.
“It’s a cool activity that they’re already interested in,” Layman said. “That’s the big thing, it teaches them some lifelong skills and things to be accountable for. It’s not like playing basketball where if you don’t make it to college, you’re done with it.
“Our son is big into the horses. It’s a cool thing. In late May they go to state and they say it’s always a fun time over there.”
Pleasant Hill was also strongly supported, and appears to be building a powerhouse program. The Billies sent 11 of 13 athletes to state this year – most of them sophomores – led by Reagan Dockery and Eva Aguilera, who both “kicked in the door” and went to state as freshmen last year, along with fellow freshman standout Wylie Blake.
“They were impromptu line-dancing out in the arena,” said Jennifer Dockery, Reagan’s mother. “They’re a really close group.”
