Whether you grew up with horses or simply have always loved them from afar, you can learn a lot in the horse project! This project offers activities in horsemanship, horse development and training. You can compete with your horse through breed and event associations. Or you can be the judge as you learn to compete in horse judging!
The horse project is a great way to be able to gain valuable experience and skills through engaging activities like showing and horse judging. There are so many great skills learned through this program.
In this project you will learn:
- Responsibility
- Proper nutrition
- Proper care for your animal
- Decision making
And you can also learn through various other opportunities:
- Public Speaking
- Leadership
- Community Service
You don’t have to own a horse to be involved with this project. Consider horse judging competition!
Resources
- Horse Validation
- Homes For Horses
- Horse Hippology Resource
- Online Horse Judging Course
- Horse Judging Manual from Bookstore
- TAMU Equine Science
- Youth Workshops
- Youth Livestock & Agriculture Project Resource Page
Contests
State Horse Show
Competitors must qualify through their district in order to compete at this event. You can compete in events like western pleasure, working cow horse, hunter under saddle, and barrel racing, to name a few. The State 4-H horse show is held each summer. Visit the 4-H Horse Show Website for more information.
Horse Judging
In horse judging, you will compete on a team as you learn to be the judge of a horse show! You will learn all the body parts of a horse, the ideal characteristics of how a horse moves, and determine how to score horses in competition. And to explain how you decided on your scores. You will learn decision-making and public speaking skills. When you get to the senior level of this activity, you could compete in national competitions. Visit the State Roundup webpage to learn more.
Quiz Bowl
Quiz bowl is an opportunity to demonstrate all of the information that you have gained through the past year through this project. This is a contest that will help your student learn more about his or her project while getting the opportunity to compete on a state level. It is a team event where you compete against another team and whoever buzzes in first, gets to answer the question. Held at 4-H Roundup each year, competitors must qualify through their district in order to compete at this event. Visit the State Roundup and Quiz Bowl Resource webpages to learn more.
Hippology
The Hippology contest is a great way to showcase all of the knowledge that you gain throughout the project. This contest covers an array of topics and encourages you to really stretch your hard-earned information. It is a competitive way to evaluate what you have learned along the way, and a fun way to gain more knowledge regarding your project. Visit the State Roundup webpage to learn more.