Stawhorses are now sawcows

Entry starts as accident

GRANT COUNTY - It started with a motorcycle accident and a pair of bent handlebars, and it ended with a Yamooha.

The idea for Kortni Tanguay's entry into the Cattlewomen's Sawhorse Cow Competition started after her father Ron crashed in a competition. The bent handlebars triggered an idea.

"I was going to do Cow-a-saki, like Kawasaki," she said, "but my dad rides Yamahas."

Once she had the idea, she had to find the pieces. All she had to start was the handlebars and the chest plate. A family friend had a bike junkyard for them to scour through. The wheel guard, the body and the reflectors all came from there. Pioneer Muffler donated the tires. The tongue was a rear mud flap. Bridget Tanguay, her mother, said they spent a long time looking for something that would work.

"I found that at the dunes," she said.

Construction on the bike took about a week, with Kortni doing most of the work, Ron Tanguay said.

"She started sanding and wire brushing," he said. "All I did was drill the holes for the wheels … She raided my box of stickers."

When Kortni brought the Yahmooha to the fair, she stored it in the stall next to where she kept her horse. The stall belonged to Cassidy Goeden, whose Lawnmooer was stored in the stall as well.

"Kortni was really sweating the fact that she might be in the same age class," Bridget said.

Goeden's entry was in the 15- to 18-year-old class. She also saw Kortni 's entry prior to the contest. She felt the same way when she saw her competition.

Both Kortni and Goeden won their divisions and will receive $50. Goeden said she'll spend hers on shopping, and Kortni said she has to spend some of the money on hay.

As for the Yahmooha, it will get displayed for a couple of weeks before it gets taken apart and the parts get returned to the junkyard. And the sawhorse gets used as a sawhorse until next year.

For this year, the Yamooha is legendary, Ron said.