2013 MERA/Manitoba 4-H Young Horse
Development Project Presentations Highly Successful

2013 MERA/Manitoba 4-H Young Horse Development Project Presentations Press Release

(September 20, 2013 - Brandon, MB) - The sixteenth annual presentations of the Manitoba 4-H Young Horse Development Project (YHDP) were held September 2, 2013 at the Westoba Agricultural Centre of Excellence, in Brandon, Manitoba. The project provides a venue for senior 4-H members to demonstrate their knowledge gained through the 4-H Equine Program, as well as to showcase the stock being bred and raised on Manitoba’s equine ranches.

Each year, interested senior 4-H members (14 years of age by January 1 of the current year) apply to the YHD Project's Advisory Committee. Upon selection, members are given a list of participating MERA and SERA ranchers from whom they may purchase a weanling. Prices are pre-set and ranchers receive half of the purchase price; the balance is placed in that year’s Project Enhancement Fund.

The YHD Project involves a two-year commitment, and teaches 4-H members valuable life skills about taking responsibility, setting goals, and applying their knowledge gained. Members raise and train their horses with the objective of presenting them as a yearling "in hand", and as a two-year-old “under saddle”. Members receive payouts through their yearling presentations (1/3 of the Enhancement Fund) and through their two-year-old presentations (the remaining 2/3 of the fund); completing their project books; and by adhering to the rules and regulations. Formal placings for the presentations are irrelevant. Members receive an Enhancement Fund payout based on their individual efforts so that the experience of their presentation will be self-achieving.

In 2013, five 4-H members exhibited their yearlings, all Quarter Horses, “in hand”. They were evaluated on the elements of basic showmanship skills, conditioning of the horses, and their abilities to teach their horses to work on a longe line and to load into a trailer. Scores ranged from 190 points to 209 points, out of 260 possible points. The members earned a share of the $583.33 in the 2012 Enhancement Fund. As a group, they accumulated 980 points, averaging 196 each, and will be paid $0.60/point, based on their individual scores. Each yearling presenter received a copy of their evaluation, a tri-coloured neck banner and a Horse Industry Handbook - A Guide to Education, Care and Management, published by the American Youth Horse Council, sponsored by NAERIC.

2013 Yearling Presentations (in order of appearance):

4-H Club:	4-H Member:	Horse's Name:	Participating Ranchers:
Austin Blazing Saddles Photography by Wilf Davis	Destiny Sawatzky	CO Shining Luck	Brent & Ginny Collins Winchester Stock Farms Arden, MB
Austin Blazing Saddles Photography by Wilf Davis	Esther Funk	Smart Leo Sue	Kirk & Gail Bridgeman Bridgeman Land & Livestock Ltd. Rapid City, MB
Interlake Trail Blazers Photography by Wilf Davis	Kaelyn Dreger	Dee Hotroddin Zipper	Kelly & Ruby Stuart K & R Stuart Eriksdale, MB
Interlake Trail Blazers Photography by Wilf Davis	Sara Meisner	Skip The Blue Boy	Kelly & Ruby Stuart K & R Stuart Eriksdale, MB
Happy Rock Horseshoes Photography by Wilf Davis	Karleigh Lewis	CO Dry Doc Fritzy	Brent & Ginny Collins Winchester Stock Farms Arden, MB

Evaluator, Elaine Hyde of Alida, Saskatchewan advised the yearling presenters,”You have done a good job with the grooming of your horses, and everybody worked well. You need to pay strict attention to safety when changing halters - do up one halter before removing the other. Also keep your longe line in hand at all time and be sure to use a longe line versus a shorter rope so you don’t get kicked - keep safe. It appears to me that you have all bonded well with your horses as they were all good at loading and unloading from the trailer.”

Karleigh Lewis, 17, of Gladstone, Manitoba is in Grade 12 at William Martin Collegiate Institute. She’s looking forward to a future career in animal or equine science. This was her first year to participate in the YHD Project. She said, “I enjoyed it and really learned a lot. I told all the younger 4-H members about it. I went to Winchester Ranch and the selection was overwhelming. Mrs. Collins (Ginny) took pictures of the weanlings which interested me to help me make my choice. Then I went home and went to their website and studied the pedigrees of the sires and dams. I choose CO Dry Doc Fritzy (barn name Bean) based on this research and his structure. I learned a lot going into this project as I was not familiar with the needs of a young horse. Nutrition was an eye-opener. I plan to present him next year, and if we get along as a two-year-old, I will keep him. My plans are to use him in anything and everything, as I want a well-rounded horse that can handle trail riding, showing and cows. I really like him and we have bonded, he’s so exceptionally relaxed that training-wise he was a quick learner. We really clicked.”

Brent and Ginny Collins of Winchester Ranch at Arden, Manitoba were part of the NAERIC network of equine ranchers for 20 years between 1992 and 2013. Ginny Collins said, “Our three sons, Chase (25), Lane (24), and Ty (21) have helped us on the farm over the years. Besides raising horses, we farm 2000 acres on which we grow 1600 acres of wheat, barley, canola and oats, and have 400 acres in hay. Now that we are no longer NAERIC-member equine ranchers, we have reduced our horse herd to 20 of our best mares and one stallion, CO Bobby Du Not. Over the past ten years, we chose to offer foals to the YHD Project. Ben Marcino (Minnedosa, Manitoba) participated in this program in 2006 and 2007 with a gelding out of our breeding program. Ben still keeps in touch with us. He sends us photos of how he is using his horse, including riding in the local community pasture and teaching riding skills to others. So we believe it is worthwhile to encourage and involve youth with horses, otherwise where will the industry go in the future? Of course, I was in 4-H myself and understand the value their programs offer. We were pleased that this year two of our colts were presented as yearlings at this event.”

Five 4-H members presented their two-year-olds, four Quarter Horses and one Canadian Sport Horse, “under saddle”. Each horse and rider was scored based on their individual performance over a predetermined horsemanship pattern. Scores ranged from 134 points to 217 points out of a possible 270 points. The members earned a share of the $1,400.00 remaining in the 2011Enhancement Fund. As a group, they accumulated 906 points, averaging 181 each, and will be paid $1.55/point based on their individual scores. Each member received a copy of their evaluation, a tri-coloured neck banner and a trophy horse cooler, sponsored by NAERIC.

2013 Two-year-olds Under Saddle Presentations (in order of appearance):

4-H Club:	4-H Member:	Horse's Name:	Participating Ranchers:
MacNutt Light Horse 4-H Club Photography by Wilf Davis	Kassidy Petruk	Miss Molly	Doug & Deb King Ravine Ranch Sport Horses, Lenore, MB
Ethelbert 4-H Light Horse & Beef Club Photography by Wilf Davis	Thomas Coffey	Prophets Peppy San	Kirk & Gail Bridgeman Bridgeman Land & Livestock Rapid City, MB
Rapid City 4-H Rodeo Club Photography by Wilf Davis	Katie Hunter	Upset The Shine	Kevin & Julie Bridgeman K & J Bridgeman Binscarth, MB
Ethelbert 4-H Light Horse & Beef Club Photography by Wilf Davis	Lisa Coffey	Hes Major Famous	Kelly & Ruby Stuart K & R Stuart Eriksdale, MB
Graysville Light Horse & Pony Club Photography by Wilf Davis	Jenilyn Hyde	Leos Sherry	Kirk & Gail Bridgeman Bridgeman Land & Livestock Rapid City, MB

Evaluator, Elaine Hyde advised the two-year-old presenters, “It was good to see your yearlings all grown up and being ridden. When practicing patterns at home, be sure to do a circle - not a box. At home, put out an object such as a pylon to mark the centre of your circle and keep it as round as it can be. When putting on the bridle, slip the off side on first, then the near side to clear the horse’s eye. For safety when mounting, be sure to use the off side rein to pull your horse’s front end towards you. When saddling, don’t just flip the stirrup over the seat, hook it over the horn until done saddling. Remember a two-year-old needs lots of guiding, where you look is where you ride. Keep up the good work.”

Lisa Coffey, 15, of Ethelbert, Manitoba is in Grade Nine and home schooled. She said, “I haven’t yet decided on my future education but I’m interested in anything to do with horses, such as being a health tech. I chose Hes Major Famous (barn name Jack) as a weanling from K & R Stuart, because he was very quiet and the only one I was able to touch. He was friendly - he liked me and I liked him. He stood out because of his personality and I liked his colour - Bay. I presented him as a yearling at this event in 2012. I have learned quite a bit and found the clinics offered by the program each spring were a big help. Clinician Bob Olyarnyk, (Brandon, Manitoba) helped us at the end of May, with several things. Jack is lazy and I needed to learn to move him forward off my leg using pressure points. Bob taught us collection begins at the hind end first. I have enjoyed this program - learning from a young horse made working with older horses easier. I have given up relying so much on my reins. I am planning on keeping Jack for now, and possibly showing him in the future at shows as he is pleasure-bred.”

Kelly and Ruby Stuart of Eriksdale, Manitoba have owned and operated K & R Stuart, an equine ranching facility, for 35 years. Ruby Stuart said, “We are strictly horse breeders raising mostly Quarter Horses and a few Paint Horses. Our herd consists of approximately 75 Quarter Horse mares and 10 Paint mares, plus 8 stallions. We have also raised three daughters, Wendy (39), Theresa (36) and Megan (24) who have helped out over the years but now are out on their own. We have participated in the YHD Program since the very first year, because we have been involved with 4-H forever. We’ve been members, leaders, served on the 4-H regional and provincial committees and we know the value of their programs. We feel this YHDP program offers an excellent way to get started with training a young horse. We teach the 4-H members who have chosen our weanlings how to halter break and how to build on what you have done with that horse the day before. In our opinion, this program offers a good structural guide on how to train, it evaluates how the members are doing, and the members receive some reward from the process of evaluation. We were very pleased that this year two of our colts were presented as yearlings and another was presented as a two-year-old at this event.”

Meghan Sprung, 4-H & Youth Specialist, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, Brandon, Manitoba said, “We have a total of 2179 Manitoba 4-H members in 2012-13 and 570 equine projects were undertaken. The YHD Project’s Working Committee manages enrollment in the project, provides the project materials, and directly administers the project. The project provides an opportunity for members to establish relations with Manitoba and Saskatchewan equine ranchers and to own and develop a young horse. The members gain advanced skills in selecting, feeding and handling horses, and an increased awareness of the equine industry.”

Lynn Coffey, Chairperson of the YHD Project’s Advisory Committee said, “There are six senior 4-H members approved to select weanlings in 2013. We have a commitment from MERA and SERA ranchers and NAERIC to continue this program through to the 2015 ‘under saddle’ presentations. We are grateful to the Manitoba 4-H Council for sponsoring the fees to cover our project evaluator. We also appreciate the ongoing support of the individual NAERIC-member equine ranchers who offer their weanlings and NAERIC for sponsoring the costs of awards, facilities - including the arena and stabling, post-event press releases, and colour photographs for the members and ranchers.”

The YHD Project’s Advisory Committee consists of: Lynn Coffey, Ethelbert; Meghan Sprung, Brandon; Chantel Collie and Melanie Collie, both of Hamiota.

Photographs by Wilf Davis:

#1. Group photograph of yearling presenters: (l to r) Karleigh Lewis, Destiny Sawatzky, Esther Funk, Elaine Hyde, Kaelyn Dreger, and Sara Meisner

#2. Group photograph of two-year-old presenters: (l to r): Thomas Coffey, Jenilyn Hyde, Katie Hunter, Elaine Hyde, Kassidy Petruk and Lisa Coffey

#3. Photo of Karleigh Lewis and Ginny Collins with her yearling gelding CO Dry Doc Fritzy

#4. Photo of Lisa Coffey with her two-year-old gelding Hes Major Famous