Michigan 4-H youth work hard to qualify for national equine events

Taylor Fabus, Michigan State University Extension - May 24, 2012

Through participation in the Michigan 4-H Horse Jamboree, youth can qualify to represent Michigan in prestigious national equine events

While many teens may be more interested in spending a weekend relaxing on the couch, Michigan 4-H’ers are much different. Nearly 300 4-H youth from the four corners of Michigan spent a weekend in April demonstrating their equine expertise in a variety of contest areas at the 2012 State 4-H Horse Jamboree. Youth had the opportunity to exhibit their equine knowledge through competing in public speaking, presentations, horse bowl, hippology and horse judging. Through these contests youth show their competencies in equine care and management, reproduction, welfare, physiology and other science-related areas. It was a great event and the participants all did a fantastic job challenging themselves.

The top winners in each of these contest areas are then eligible to represent Michigan 4-H Horse Programs at one of three national contests. Each year Michigan 4-H helps send qualified youth to Louisville, Ky. for the Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup, Columbus, OH for the All-American Quarter Horse Congress and Tulsa, Okala. for the Arabian/Half-Arabian Nationals. Over 30 youth representing 10 counties throughout Michigan have qualified to compete in these prestigious events, and we wish them the best of luck!

2012 Qualifiers

Horse Bowl Teams: Leelanau County, Calhoun County, Genesee County
Hippology Teams: Berrien Team A, Calhoun County, Berrien Team B
Horse Judging Teams: Oakland County, Ottawa County, Kent County
Public Speaking Teams: Shannon Ervin (Oakland), Samantha Ludlam (Allegan), Andrew Turner (Cass)
Individual Demonstration: Emma Johnson (Oakland), Alyssa Tomei (Oakland), Santana Mosher (Cass)

For a list of complete results, visit the Michigan State University Department of Animal Science’s Horse Youth Programs website. If you are interested in any of these contest areas, talk with your 4-H club leader and get a team of your peers together and start brushing up on your equine knowledge. Haven’t joined 4-H yet, not a problem, just visit the Michigan 4-H Youth Development’s Join 4-H page to discover how you can become a 4-H member. Contact your local MSU County Extension Office about opportunities throughout Michigan.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).