Madison County 4-H Horse Project youth are “riding high” after their sweep at the State Youth Horse Jamboree Hippology contest on March 27 & 28.  The Youth Horse Jamboree was held at the Iowa State University Campus in Ames.  Besides the hippology contest, the youth also competed in demonstrations, horseless horse contests like creative writing, drawing, painting, public speaking well as horse quiz bowl. 

            In a hippology contest, participants are “tested” over all aspects of the horse industry including anatomy, health, management, tack and equipment, nutrition, reproduction and genetics.  The senior hippology team consisted of Taylor Hildreth, Hannah Puderbaugh, Zane Peters, and Katie Gamble.  The senior contest includes a written examination, tack and equipment identification, anatomy identification stations, and a team problem.  Hildreth was the high point individual, Puderbaugh finished as a third place individual, and Peters settled with a seventh place individual award.  This Championship title entitles this team to compete at the Great Western National Roundup in Denver, Colorado this coming January, 2011. 

            The junior hippology contest includes tack and equipment identification, anatomy identification, as well as a slide portion which displayed colors, breeds, and events that the youth were asked to recognize.  Madison County entered three (3) junior teams in this contest.  Team A included Jessica Hanrahan, Maddie Hagerty, Jake Kinsey, and Cierra Hildebrand and they roped in the first place junior title; while Team C of Anna Garcia, Austin Bond, and Rachel Riley finished in fourth place out of twenty five (25) teams.  Hanrahan landed a first place individual award, Garcia finished right behind her in second place, and Hildebrand rounded out the honors for Madison County in ninth place.  Juniors also competing for their first time included Sydney Hildebrand, Lexi Kliegl, Paige O’Connor, and Alaina O’Connor. 

            Horseless Horse awards were handed out to Abbey Smith with a first place finish in Senior Demonstration; this qualifies her for the Great Western National Roundup as well.  Hanrahan and Garcia had a first place win with their junior team demonstration.  Paige O’Connor had a Reserve Champion photo and Hildreth had a Champion Poem in senior creative writing contest.

The weekend concluded with the Horse Quiz Bowl competition on Sunday.  In this contest, teams are asked questions relevant to the horse industry.  The goal for the team members is to “buzz in” faster than the opponent, similar to Family Feud, with the correct answer to earn points for the team.  The senior team of Hildreth, Peters, Puderbaugh, and Gamble won a fourth place honor.  Individual awards were handed out to Puderbaugh and Hildreth.

            The strength and depth of the Madison County 4-H Horseless Horse program speaks for itself as they have consistently place in the top five (50 since 2006.  These youth dedicate several hours a month to participate in group activities as well as study time on their own.  If you are interested in becoming part of the 4-H program, call the ISU extension office at 462-1001.