4-H and Minis

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Michelle@wescofarms

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I know this is a bit stupid as I'm sure there are a gaggle of people that are or have been involved with 4-H. I'm trying to get my daughter involved and was wondering if anyone had any insight/tips on doing a Miniature Horse project or showing in 4H, etc.

It's a totally unknown area for me so any advice would be appreciated. You can PM or EMAIL me - much appreciated!!!
 
involved w/ 4H. like, really involved.

Im a 6 yr member. Jr. Leader. Goat club Pres. and im also a member of the horse club (minis).

I've never shown in 4H as everyshow i've looked into is on a bad day but its just like showing in regular horse shows, not a big deal. Also, horse members can be involved in hippology and quiz bowl which are really big.
 
Our daughter was involved in Horse 4-H last year and had to do a presentation/display for our local fair. She did a informational display about the Miniature horse on a big poster board with pictures and general info printed up. Since we have both minis and full sized horses, she also put out a physical display comparing the size of big horse and mini teeth, hooves, and tail length.....even POOP!
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We have inquired with our local 4-H Extension office about a possible Miniature Horse 4-H Club. You may want to do that too. Our area requires two leaders, and at least 4 youngsters to sign up. I am still looking for a second leader........since we have enough interested kids.
 
Michelle --

You might also want to cross-post this on the Youth Forum.

Good luck,

Jill
 
I did 4-H for 10+ years both as a member and a leader . PM me with whatever questions you might have.. I'd be more than willing to help.
 
I'm in 4-H and this is my 2nd year. We aren't exclusively minis, just horses but they still have driving classes at the shows and it is a LOT of fun! My group also does art and photography, one of our members has done hippology and got to go to Kentucky! It is a wonderful way to get involved and I just wish I had started sooner, I love it!
 
Ive been a member of a mini only club for coming on 4 years. Its how I got my minis, and started my future career In Equine Sciences. Our county show is very laid back and lots of fun.

Ive done Quiz bowl and have done very well, I won regional Hippology, and finished 5th at the New York State Hippology cometition, all out of 65 kids.

4H has lead me to A,R, WC, and Ptha showing and promoting and I love every minite of it.

Go for it, It could seriously change a youths life, as it did mine.

Good Luck!

Alex
 
Thanks for the feed back all! I'm going to squeeze this into her schedule - lol - as I do think she'll enjoy it even if its totally non horse related. Living in the country 'animal' care projects are too much like work for her - lol!!
 
I am completely in agreement with Alex. I was a 4-H'er for 10+ years in an exclusively mini club. I would definitely recommend it. The great thing about 4-H is that you can mix interests, and really go as far with it or be as laid back with it as you'd like. For instance, I did the horse project, but also did demonstration contests and art/photography. It is VERY educational as well. It will help your child learn leadership skills, teamwork, good record-keeping, public speaking skills, and MANY other things. It was definitely a life-changing experience for me. Go for it Michelle!
 
I was a 4 H horse club leader for 5 years in Charlotte County Fla. It was a very good strong club. Very beneficial and educational and tons of fun. Then I had my own kids who were both in 4H here in Tennessee because it is a required part of middle school. All the middle school kids are in 4 H here as part of their grade.

As for donating a horse to 4 H that's very generous and also hard to say how that can actually work because someone has to step up and take the ultimate responsibility and legalities and the bills etc. In other words, he has to go home and live with someone. Sharring ownership with one horse for an entire club would have to involve some kind of agreement between the members somehow who are under legal age. I know to show him the horse has to be in the owners name or a contract of lease back then but don't know how that works now. The kids do run the club; the adults moniter it. If I were you, I would call your local 4H agricultural office and mull it over with them because your donation could play an important role in any 4H club and encourage more miniature horse ownerships. Awesome!
 
We had a 4 H miniature horse class here for many years. It requires at least eight hours of instruction which we did in 4 four hour time periods.

We separated it into a young group (5-8 and an older group, 9-17). This allowed more appropriate instruction for the individual groups.

We enjoyed teaching these very much and did these in the spring so that they could see the newborn and the weather was better.
 
I've been a 4-H leader now for 28 years, 10 of which have been with the miniature horse. I have a club with 7 members right now. In NH we have serveral local 4-H horse clubs that have local shows that they can show at with the big horses, a county quailiying show which has a written test, judging classes for them, driving classes, showmanship and in hand obstacle. From this show kids with the highest scores and 12 or older go on to a state show to compete in the same but with kids from the whole state and from this show they take the highest 20 kids to go on and compete at the Big E which covers all the New England states. Let me know if you need any help and I can give you a couple of pointers.
 

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