4-H members Haley Scurlock and Trinity King, members of the Jackson County 4-H Buckaroos Horse Club and their horses, attended 4-H Horsemanship school June 26-July 1 at the UF Horse Teaching Unit in Gainesville to focus on Western riding. They stayed in the college dorms and were able to get a taste of campus life!

Haley and Trinity received concentrated instruction in English and Western Horsemanship, spending approximately six (6) hours each day with their horses, with the major emphasis on horsemanship, their chosen discipline, trail riding and showmanship at halter. They also received additional instruction on selection and management topics as well as advanced subjects such as reining, roping, dressage, and jumping. Safety and ground work included: safe handling, grooming, tack, behavior and psychology, roping, and suppling exercises. Mounted exercises included: suppling exercises, developing core strength, aids, rail work, posting, 2 point, dressage, trail obstacles, patterns, cavalletti, and trail riding. Additional sessions are planned for lecture/demonstration as well as recreation.

When asked about her experience at Horsemanship School Trinity had this to say, “I went into horsemanship school with the mind set of thinking there wasn’t anything I needed to learn since I’d been riding since I could walk. But I was wrong. I learned a lot and still have more to learn. I hope to attend horsemanship school next year”.

Jackson County 4-H is pleased to support our youth in these endeavors and see their levels of expertise rise as they increase their knowledge and skills in animal science. Their knowledge gain is exhibited in their Mastery of Equine Science related topics.

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