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Wednesday, November 29, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
OHSET coaches approaching second season
By Jodi Schneider McNamee
Correspondent
Sisters residents Julie
Vosberg and husband Kerry
Newell began their second
season as volunteer coaches
for the Oregon High School
Equestrian Team (OHSET)
Central District Sisters High
School last Sunday.
OHSET is a family and
team sport, and parental sup-
port is crucial and creates a
family-friendly atmosphere.
“The kids have to do a
lot of fundraising and have
to be dedicated to the team,”
Vosberg told The Nugget.
“And the parents are an
essential part of the meets
and are expected to help in
the transport of horses, set
up fundraising events, work
the time clock and gates.
There is a lot of dedication
involved.”
This year OHSET prac-
tices are held at an eques-
trian training center off Perit
Huntington Road.
Vosberg grew up west of
Corvallis and has loved horses
since she could toddle.
“I was eight years old and
in 4-H when I finally begged
my folks for a horse,” she
said.
Vosberg got her horse
and competed in shows with
her sister, Janie. She became
a successful reining horse
competitor and enjoys barrel
racing.
Newell, like Vosberg, had
a passion for horses and was a
4-H member in Kansas where
he grew up.
“Kerry’s family raised
some world-champion show
horses,” Vosberg said.
Newell owned horses
since 1963 and started show-
ing horses in the late 1960s.
Ironically enough the couple
met at a horse seminar at
Colorado State.
“We’ve both raised and
shown reining horses for
about 25 years now,” Newell
said.
“We own four horses and
board them at the equestrian
center where we coach,”
added Vosberg.
The couple lived in Kansas
for 30 years, moved to Central
Oregon in 2014 and to Sisters
last June.
“We started the season a
little early this year because
last season we were scheduled
to start in December and then
the snow storms hit,” Newell
said.
The team practices once a
week, has meets once a month
starting in February and a
final state meet in May for
teams who have qualified to
compete based on their plac-
ings during those previous
three events.
Vosberg’s goal is to mix
in sound horsemanship skills
while the team is having fun
and competing.
“Horsemanship never
ends, you’re always learn-
ing more,” Vosberg said.
“Horsemanship is putting the
horse first. You really need
to know your horse and take
care of him.”
Susan Robinson, managing
director of The Roundhouse
Foundation, is the new advi-
sor for OHSET.
“There wasn’t another par-
ent available to take the vol-
unteer position this season, so
I did,” Robinson explained.
“My son Jackson is a junior
at Sisters High School and
has been on the team for three
seasons.”
Mom Lori Kennedy
watched as her daughter
Hailey, a freshman at SHS,
rode her horse Indie around
the huge indoor area waiting
for practice to begin.
“She’s been riding for
about four years,” Kennedy
said. “Right now, her goal is
to learn how to train horses.”
The first practice was all
about meeting the athletes and
their parents.
“We did an evaluation of
the kids and their horses. Then
we mapped out how we’d like
to conduct practices and begin
to build a solid team,” said
Vosberg.
Unlike a lot of high school
sports, riding is an activ-
ity that many kids view as a
lifelong pursuit. As coaches,
the couple want to set up the
athletes to move forward to
compete successfully in col-
lege rodeo, equestrian teams,
or as skilled horsemen in the
discipline of their choice.
“It means a lot to us
because when we were kids
we didn’t really have an
organized system in which
to compete, we were just on
our own,” Vosberg explained.
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“And kids
at this age
develop the
habits that
they are
going to
have for a
lifetime. It’s
so much bet-
ter for these
kids to get
a solid
foundation
early on.”
To help
raise funds
for OHSET
the team
set up a
box outside
Ray’s Food
Place in the
bottle recy-
cling area. Donors
can redeem cans
and bottles, then
put their receipt
inside the box.
Julie Vosberg is
Sisters High School’s
equestrian coach.
PHOTO BY JODI SCHNEIDER MCNAMEE
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