I'm Doing a Presentation, and tips?

[shalakominiatureshowhorses]

BTW, I meant ANY tips in the title, sorry LOL

As most know, I'm in the 4-H horse club, of course the only one with minis. Last year for one of our meetings, we did a Miniature Horse Presentation for the members. Me and 2 other people were going to do it, but then one person had foals due, so she unfortunatly couldnt make it. But, we did very well. I think 30 people showed up, and some werent even club members! Other meetings were cut short so they could see us!!!

First, the other lady (not going to say names just in case) explained the general facts about minis, height, color, registry etc. We then did a driving session, where we explained the different types of driving. We had a western horse and a country pleasure. Then, we did jumping. And, since i dont know how, the other lady did in hand obstacle and driving obstacle. Then after the whole thing, we let kids take a ride in the carts.

The club asked me to do it again. I am really excited to and im calling the lady who helped me last year to see if she could ask the whole club if they would like to help, as I dont have everybody's email.

The kids LOVE the "ponys"........(no matter how many times i say it, they still call them that :/)

Anyway, is there something else I can do?

Im hoping to get as many driving horses as possible so there can be more rides, the parents were bummed out that they didnt get to ride last year. I dont know about jumping horses, as I retired my jumper and im training 2 yr olds, so thats a no for me. Devil is my trick horse in the making, so he can preform (or try). Im also hoping to do a liberty demonstration, since whenever i say liberty, no one knows what im talking about. Im also sure we are going to do an in hand and driving obstacle course too, but I wouldnt participate in that part.

Adding, it would only be a couple of hours long, as it is a meeting, so it wouldnt be too long.

 

[Indian*R*A*I*N*Dance]

I think doing mini presentations are so much fun

I did one for 4-H county visuals the other year and competed at states. If your county has a visual competition I would defiantly recommend doing it. It's really easy talking about something you know a lot about.

I kept my presentation to around 8-9 minutes long, but it was only about showing.

I talked about the different registries (AMHA, AMHR, Pinto and WCMHR), the different types of shows (4-H/open, locally rated shows, regional and worlds/nationals). Then I went and briefly explained how the classes were split up (age of the horse, youth, open or amateur, height of the horse, gender of the horse etc.) I talked about the different classes offered (Halter, showmanship, hunter vs. jumper, color, trail, liberty and all the different driving classes- classic, country, single and roadster).

I would first do a presentation on minis THEN bring out the horses after. If you bring out the horses first and let all the kids play with them I have noticed that the audience won't pay attention to you if the horses are out which is discouraging because you worked hard on this. If you have a horse and explain the class at the same time, again, the audience won't pay attention, they will only look at the horse. After you do the presentation bring out the horses then you can quickly go over the classes again.

Making poster will help you with your presentation. Add a couple pictures of each class (country pleasure vs. single pleasure, showmanship, hunter) so people can see the difference. I also brought a lot of props such as a driving harness, show halters (halter and performance), and awards.

If you aren't going to have someone do jumping or trail I would set up a course anyways and walk through it with out a horse. Just explain what the handler would do with the horse at a certain obstacle (walking over a tarp, ground tying, trotting poles, weaving cones etc.)

 

[targetsmom]

We have done this (before we started our own 4-H Club) with other 4-H Clubs and as part of it we set up a trail course and let the kids take our minis through it; We demonstrated it first and helped them if they needed it. Of course, all our minis have been at least somewhat trained in trail (halter obstacle) so they went through the basic course just fine. (No sidepassing required). The kids all love this! And remember 4-H is "learn by doing"!

Jenny (above) posted a lot of other good ideas.

 

[shalakominiatureshowhorses]

I never thought of a poster! That would be fun! Last year our presentation was 1 1/2, but it didnt seem that long. Yes, i know what you mean withh the distraction issues LOL. But, the horses would be in the backround anyway since we can only do it in the indoor arena. Nice ideas guys, keep them coming!

 

[ruffian]

Take photos with the kids (individually if you can) and a mini and either email or make a disc for the leader. I usually had 2 or 3 they could choose from and they loved that.

 

[little lady]

That is just wonderful that you share your love of miniatures with others. I know you said some of the people were "horse" people. But if I understood you correctly there were non-horse people in attendance also so maybe for those people go over just some horse basics, how to clean hooves, put on a halter, leading, grooming, basic horse parts, conformation(good vs bad-some horse people could use this), importance of dental care, the differences between big horses and miniatures(also good for big horse people), etc.

Another thing would be to mention or list via a poster all the things that could be done with a miniature(this would also enlighten big horse owners-I have had many of my big horse friends question what can you do with a mini.), showing, CDE, nursing home visits, reading programs, Bell ringer and then at the end of the list ask if anyone else has any ideas/suggestions.

Good luck with your presentation!

 

[shalakominiatureshowhorses]

Pics would work!!!

littlelady,

Yes, the "non horsey" people came from other meetings in the middle of our presentatio. Other than them, our horse club members all have barrel horses (except for me) and we work with horses monthly as a whole club.

Thanks for the advice guys! Any other tips or ideas welcome!