Family tradition reins supreme

Clan of horse lovers continues custom of 4-H competition at the fair

Rene/ Caverly has been a horsewoman for as long as anyone can remember.

"Horses have been Rene/'s passion all her life," Caverly's sister, Kathy Morris, said. "She was jumping horses before she started school."

As soon as she was old enough, Caverly joined a 4-H horse club. She has been a member of the Rocky Mountain Riders Saddle Club since she was 8 years old.

Today, Caverly leads a 4-H horse club, Bit of Difference. She is the superintendent of the 4-H Horse Project at this year's Northwest Montana Fair and oversaw the 4-H and open-class horse shows Saturday and Sunday.

Caverly is also the matriarch of a family of horse lovers.

Her daughter, Jamie Olson, grew up around horses and 4-H. She has been Caverly's assistant superintendent at the fair each year since 1999.

Olson's 8-year-old daughter, Averie, is following in her mother's and grandmother's footsteps. She competed in showmanship and several riding events at Saturday's 4-H horse show.

Showmanship is Averie's least-favorite event, Jamie Olson said. It's understandable, she added - what kid wants to stand beside the horse when she could be riding it?

She said she felt the same way when she was in 4-H.

"None of the kids really like it," she said of showing. "They would rather be riding."

Caverly can see glimpses of herself when she watches Averie in the arena. During Saturday's pre-junior showmanship class, she pointed to her granddaughter, who was playing nervously with her horse's halter as the judge approached.

"Averie does what I do," she said. "I fidget with my horse."

The fidgeting didn't do much harm, however. Averie won a reserve champion ribbon in her class.

She politely thanked well-wishers after the event, then got ready for her next class: bareback equitation. In that class, she had to walk, trot and lope her bareback horse around the arena.

"I love bareback," she said with much more enthusiasm than she'd shown when talking about showmanship.

She said she prefers riding to standing, and said riding without a saddle is more fun than riding with one.

"You have to sit up and keep your knees bent" when riding with a saddle, Averie said. "Bareback, I get to lay down and stuff."

Caverly said she gets nervous for her granddaughter while she's in the arena. She's also nervous for her great-nieces, Kharysa and Addisyn Bucher - her sister's granddaughters.

Caverly's superintendent duties kept her in the barn during most of Saturday's show. As superintendent, she was in charge of finding judges and maintaining paperwork for the weekend's events. She kept track of all 95 4-H competitors Saturday and more than 100 open-class competitors Sunday.

But whenever she could get someone to fill in for her, Caverly snuck out to the arena to watch her young relatives in action.

"First and foremost, I'm a grandma and a great-aunt," she said.

Caverly was fortunate to have friends and family members around all weekend to help keep the shows running smoothly.

Although she doesn't share the rest of the family's equine enthusiasm, Caverly's sister was on hand to help where she could. Morris' daughter - and Kharysa and Addisyn's mother - Kaiellen Bucher, helped as best she could despite hobbling around on crutches. Bucher and Olson's husbands and other children were there as well.

"When it comes to all this stuff, it's good to have family, because you can depend on them," Caverly said. "I couldn't run this without them."

The family typically spends most of the summer together, traveling to horse shows and doing other horse-related activities, she said.

"It's something the kids will remember," she said. "A little while ago, I asked Averie what her favorite part of the summer was. She said, 'My horse and my family.' I thought that was pretty neat."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.