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| 3 min | by Abbie-Jo Wilcox with Doug Marrin |

Driving down the dirt roads of Dexter, you may come across two teenage girls walking their miniature horses. Adelyn Wilcox, a senior at Milan High School, and her younger sister Nellie Wilcox, a sophomore at Milan High School, regularly exercise their show minis via walks along the road.

Both girls compete for the Milan High School Equestrian Team and specialize in showmanship-a class that judges the fitness of the horse and the presentation of a pattern by the handler while leading the horse.

Two things may have caught your attention already: 1) Dexter teens enrolled in Milan High School, and 2) miniature horses competing with their larger counterparts.

As far as how Adelyn and Nellie ended up in Milan, their mother, Abbie-Jo Wilcox, explains. “We wanted a rural high school education for our children. My husband and I researched high school options from as far away as Howell, to Westland, to Napoleon, and everywhere in between. We went to an orientation night at Milan High School and were sold when the principal, Aaron Shin, spoke of a high schooler’s order of priorities. They fit perfectly with our parental priorities.”

As far as being drawn to miniature horses, the girls love horses, but Adelyn had several bad experiences. A pony bit her thumb and wouldn’t let go until its mouth was pried open. A horse knocked her down and trampled her, complete with hoofprint on the back. She was bucked off, and a horse ran off with her still in the saddle. Not wanting to give up on horses, Adelyn learned about minis. The family got Cricket from a rescue, showed it at 4H, and completed with the Milan Equestrian Team along with her sister Nellie.

The girls helped their team earn a place at this year’s State Equestrian Meet by accumulating points throughout the season. Adelyn’s top placing of first place in Saddle Seat Showmanship and Nellie’s sixth place in Western Showmanship helped the Milan Team win 2nd place at regionals, earning them participation state meet on October 14-18 at the Midland County Fairgrounds.

At State, Milan’s team came in 8th place with Adelyn contributing a 7thplace in Saddle Seat Showmanship and Nellie contributing an Honorable Mention in Western Showmanship. A highlight for all involved was when Adelyn was given special permission to run the barrels class with her miniature horse Crickett. Though the time was not used to place the pair, they shaved 2 seconds off from their first run for a time of 28 seconds.

Just competing at the state level is an honor, but adding a miniature horse into the mix creates something of a novelty. Miniature horses are considered an “equine alternative” and compete against the much larger horses. Milan has never had a mini horse compete, and the girl’s horses were the only of their kind at the district, regional, and state levels.

“People look at the minis and think they are cute and don’t think we can compete at a high level. They usually ask if the mini is the team’s mascot.”, Adelyn explains.

Adelyn should know, as she has competed for all four years of high school with her mini, Mini Me Crickett. Her younger sister joined the team last year and has competed for two years with her mini, Regina Lucinda, aka “Luci.” This year, Sam Raasch, a senior from Milan, joined the team and showed Itsy Bitsy, another mini owned by the Wilcox family.

In addition to their equestrian team, the Wilcox girls show their minis at local shows and the Washtenaw County 4-H fair and State 4-H Fair. The three minis are initially from Horse’s Haven, a horse rescue in Howell, MI and now live in the backyard of the Wilcox home in Dexter.

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