REACH Centre

By Jemima Harms

There is seldom a weekend that passes in Clinton without REACH Huron hosting an event at their agricultural arena. Located near the Clinton Racetrack and plenty of horse paddocks, REACH is a major hub of agricultural events, particularly those of the equine variety.

Upon entering their main building, you will be greeted by a spacious lobby. On most days, it will be sparsely populated. You might find a couple of students studying between classes or the occasional visitor, but not much else. The atmosphere is silent and waiting. This is changed, however, on event days. On event days, while still quiet overall, the announcer's voices and the music from the speakers echo through the lobby and fill the space with a breath of life. The noise pulls you through the glass doors until you stand on the edge of the indoor arena.

A large rectangle of sand may not seem that impressive to a casual viewer, but REACH puts a lot of time and effort into maintaining the space to pristine levels. This is incredibly important, since different disciplines require different depths and compositions of sand, which means that before any event, lots of planning and preparation are required.

The equestrian events held at REACH range from barrel racing, to mounted shooting, to reining, to musical rides to cow sorting to vaulting to horsemanship shows. You can view these events from the barricade or in one of the 500 bleacher seats that line the far side of the arena. Both spaces offer their unique advantage. The barricade half walls allow for an up-close view but also increase the likelihood of being met with the spray of dark sand clumps, particularly during reining and barrel racing events. The bleachers, on the other hand, let you view the whole operation, behind and in front of the scene, while having a comfortable (and heated) sitting spot. However, it also means that you are less able to admire the near-impossible angles that horses and riders contort themselves into to complete their athletic challenges.

It is the sort of set-up that invites you to move between different positions to gain the most from the experience. It is an added bonus, and perhaps a not-insignificant surprise, that most of these events cost no entrance fee for spectators.

Considering REACH’s main values, of offering social and educational learning opportunities for Huron County, it makes sense. After all, what are these events and competitions if not learning opportunities?

If that is not enough, REACH also partners with other educational institutions, such as the University of Guelph, to house part of the Equine Care and Management Diploma, as well as offering learning spaces for Fanshawe College’s Huron/Bruce Campus and the relatively new Cornerstone Schoolhouse.

While the above-mentioned educational aspects of REACH are less accessible for the casual visitor, they do highlight how much REACH cares about providing fertile ground for knowledge acquisition at all ages. 

If you want to learn more about REACH and the events and programs offered in their facilities, visit their website at www.reachhuron.ca. 169 Beech St, Clinton