Quilting, horsemanship on display at Ag Expo

PORTALES — Horsemanship and quilt designs were among the demonstrations during the first day of the 14th annual New Mexico Ag Expo at the Roosevelt County Fairgrounds.

Orine Barnes and Beth Berggren of Orine Barnes Training of Canyon, Texas, shared tips with horseowners of all ages.

Barnes showed horseowners how important pressure points such as underneath the chin and other places on the head were to controlling a horse. Barnes also talked about rewarding the horse after the training with food or rest breaks.

“I learned more about the horse’s comfort zone,” said Kasha Wortham, 18, of Portales, who rides barrels and poles in Little Wranglers competitions.

In the Women’s Building, Marilyn Ford offered tips during a quilting seminar.

Ford, who is from Tucumcari, has been making quilts for 10 years. Ford makes quilts from anything she can find such as milk cartons, mesh, beads, yarn and hand-painted fabric.

“I’ve been quilting for several years, but she gave me a new insight for quilting,” Donna Stockard of Portales said. “I learned mainly about using different recyclable items for quilting. I use recyclable jeans, but she used items you would have never thought to design with.”

Ford shared her stories and explanations for coming up with her ideas. She showed the crowd one quilt with a moose with snow and green trees in the background and another with a dark fabric displaying the night sky in which she used rhinestones to give the illusion of stars. Stockard said she loved all of Ford’s quilts.

The Ag Expo continues at 9 a.m. today, featuring a working stock dog demonstration and talks on biofuels and energy cost 2006 milk prices.