4H

[Helicopter]

I keep seeing references to the 4H club or group. Could someone please explain to this ignorant Aussie just what 4H is.

 

[Equuisize]

4-H is a youth organization for kids from the ages of 9-19.

Their motto is Head, Heart, Hands and Health.

Kids learn while doing their chosen activity.

It could be a horse project, dogs, cats, rabbit, cows/beef, poultry, plus

home economics, community service or some type of personal development project.

Some kids participate in more than one project.

It is sponsored and partially funded by the Department of Agriculture.

It's very active in rural areas but not necessarily limited to that.

A club would have leaders, co leaders and club members.

In my perfect club, there are older members teaching what they'd learned about their project to the younger members.

In a horse club, a member might not choose to show their horse, at all, but might just

desire to learn as much as they can about horses, horse health and care.

They could show performance classes, gaming classes but if showing, fitting and showing

is the one class they'd have to to participate in.

There is also a horseless horse component, for kids without horses, that still can learn

about horses before deciding if they'd like to be an owner.

I am a strong believer in 4-H and what it can teach kids about their chosen interest.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I grew up in South Dakota in the 50's-60's and our clubs were very active. Besides animals, we did botany, crafts, conservation projects, food preservation, sewing, and we were required to make presentations and demonstrations. We had fashion shows for our sewing projects and talent shows. (One girl came to a fashion show wearing GLOVES! Was this little ol' farm girl impressed!!)

O My! I loved my 4H years. I'm sorry there was no club in the urban areas where my boys grew up. They did Scouting instead.

 

[Riverrose28]

I was raised in Washington D.C. a city girl, but a country girl at heart. The first thing I did when we first moved to the country was enroll my girls in 4-H and I became a volunteer. It's a shame you don't have this wonderful orgainzation in your country as it help children have confidence, plus all the other opportunities it instills for their self esteem. They can enroll in plenty of different programs as Equasize explanned and also learn public speaking. The kids elect their own President, Secretary, Reporter, etc. Each county usually has shows at the local fairs just for them to show their stock, crafts, etc. and then onto the State level. Kids also need to learn record keeping and turn in their record books yearly. All of these things prepare them for adulthood, oh and they are required to put in many hours doing volunteer work for their community. This is a great organization, and since you don't have one in Aussie land, maybe you could start up some type of youth club in your area.

 

[targetsmom]

Great description Nancy! We are JUST starting up a 4-H Club for miniatures and our first meeting is tomorrow! We will be using our miniatures for the Club projects although one member does have her own. I was in (horse) 4-H as a youth back in the 60's and have incredibly fond memories of that time. We were a trail riding club and took our horses camping for a week every summer. This was before they had organized 4-H Horse Camp in our state like they do now. Some of the key features that I remember from those days and that they still have are: 1) Record keeping; all the costs associated with our horses were tracked and I remember it cost $150 a year to feed/care for my horse. This knowledge helped me immensely when I got out of college and wanted to buy another horse. 2) Community service; we did joint social activities with the School for the Blind, which has now expanded and covers a wide range of disabilities 3) Demonstrations; each member had to do a demonstration in front of the group and I remember doing one on making a rope halter. And of course we all showed at the County 4-H Fair, even though that wasn't our main focus.

Google 4-H or 4-H Horse projects and you can find a ton of information from different states, as each US state has their own rules. There are also Quiz Bowl and Judging Contests, and of course horse shows. Our state already has approved classes for minis, but not necessarily at every show.

ETA: In our state the age range is 7-19 years.

 

[dreamlandnh]

As other's have said 4H is wonderful! I too grew up as a 4H'er and gained so much confidence for my adult years. I then worked with my mother and we started 1 4H club for mini's and then saw the need for another one (we are still active in that one, Mini's Too! is our name).

I did both the horse side of 4H and did forestry, sewing, needlepoint, leather tooling when I was in. Our 4H club we work still do all of that. Last year some of our youth made halters for their mini's. They have sewed to make blankets also.

Here in New Hampshire the mini's have 2 divisions that they can compete in to make it all the way to the Big E and compete against other New England states. You have to be 14 yrs old to make it to the Big E. We have driving (you can be in with big horses) and in-hand for horses 12 hands and under. Along with the showing there is Horse Quiz Bowl where they compete with a buzz board on horse knowlege and are trying to make the team to go to Louisville, KY; there is also hippology which is a combination of knowledge and judging; and then there is the juding. Along with so many other doors that can be opened with 4H, you can go on to teen conference (one never knows what learning stations they will have there), Congress (never been so I don't know much about it), place to meet wonderful friends and so much more.

My club also goes to the Walk For Alzheimer's with our furry friends to help educate people on them and to provide a place for young children to come and see the horses during the registration their parents might be doing. This year we are also going to work on making May Day Baskets for a local nursing home. We partner up with a local baseball team (college level) and help them duing their July 4th events (held on 7/3).

Also there is another miniature horse club that I'm in and we are now trying to offer more the the 4H side of things to help the club grow. We were formally known as Colonial Miniature Horse Club and have now become Colonial Miniature Equine Club and will be doing more with 4H and other miniature equine (donkey, and ponies).

4H is wonderful and everyone should experience it

 

[targetsmom]

Anyone in the New England area: The New England Miniature Horse Club is having added 4-H classes at its 3 shows this summer: May 20 and June 17 in Bernardston, MA and the third one I don't have the details for yet. Spread the word!