Mother Nature can’t stop this horse show

Steve Fangman laughed Sunday morning when asked about his family’s love for horses.“It’s an addiction,” the North Iowa Saddle Club Association Board of Directors member said. “Seriously, I’ve been around horses my whole life and I guess I’ve passed that love down.”Fangman wasn’t alone Sunday morning; instead, in and around the horse arena at the New Hampton Municipal Airport were plenty of folks who love horses.They came to New Hampton from all over northern Iowa to take part in the NISCA Horse Show, although it took a little work to get the arena ready.“It was a challenge,” NISCA Board President Mike Nehl said. “We were a little touch-and-go right up until this morning.”Blame Mother Nature and the inordinate amount of rain left plenty of standing water inside the arena.But with the help of numerous volunteers, the arena was ready to go by the time the first competitor took to the track so to speak.“It’s definitely runnable,” Nehl said, “but we’re going to put safety first for the competitors and the horses. You’d hate to see someone go down and get injured so that’s why we worked hard on it.”He paused and couldn’t help but chuckle.“Put it this way, dust isn’t going to be a problem today.”Fangman said New Hampton is lucky to have an arena like the one at the airport and pointed out that between 300 and 400 competitors took part in Sunday’s show that included games in the morning and “pleasure” classes in the morning.“It brings a ton of people to town and you’ve got a really nice arena here,” he said. “It’s a plus for the people like us who love horses and it’s a plus for the town, too.”