The Botetourt 4-H Horse & Pony Club and Catawba Equestrian Center, owned by Debbie Bono, hosted the Australian Dressage Judge, Colleen Kelly, for a biomechanics riding clinic. Kelly spends about six months per year giving riding clinics in the United States. She holds the distinction of being the only coach to score a 100 on the dressage coaching test. Her work in the field of Sport's Biomechanics and exercise physiology and rehabilitation has taken her all over the world to work with riders of all ages and abilities. She is especially proud of her work with disabled and handicapped riders.

Kelly's riding clinic took place from Friday, March 27, to Sunday, March 29. On Friday evening Kelly gave a lecture and PowerPoint presentation on safety and the biomechanics of riding.

On Saturday, Kelly gave individual riding lessons to groups of three riders. Many members of the club, including Kristy Maier, Savannah Etzler, Tina Haxton, Scotia Haxton, Jessica Gross, Miana Patterson, and Shana Patterson took advantage of Kelly's lessons.

She proved to be an excellent lecturer. She took the time to work with each rider to improve their overall balance and gave each of them ways to improve their riding technique.

Safety was the number one recurring theme throughout the weekend. She was also happy to answer questions from the club members who were present but were not able to participate in individual lessons. On Sunday, she again gave lessons, and Bono took the time to get some pointers on her riding skills.

The Botetourt County 4-H Horse and Pony club traveled to Lexington, Va., to the Virginia Horse Center to participate in the annual educational contest weekend on March 20, 21, and 22. The educational weekend included Hippology on Friday evening, Judging on Saturday, and Horse Bowl on Sunday.

The Hippology contest on Friday consisted of a written quiz, identification, and judging. Two junior teams of three participants each competed. Team A's members were Savannah Etzler, Haley Stump, and Leah Wright. Team B's members were Ian Haxton, Scotia Haxton, and Griffith Wood. Two senior members, Katie Dayton and Miana Patterson, also participated in the Hippology.

Junior Team A, Savannah Etzler, Haley Stump, and Leah Wright took 7th place in Junior Test and Slides. Savannah Etzler took 10th place in Junior Individual Stations. Team A took 8th place in Junior Team Stations. Savannah Etzler took 8th place in Junior Individual Judging while Junior Team A took 4th place in Junior Team Judging. Botetourt Team A also took 6th place in Junior Team Problems and 6th place in Junior Team Overall. There were 63 contestants in all with 14 teams competing.

The Judging contest on Saturday consisted of judging 9 classes of horses. The junior classes included Junior Halter, Junior Performance, and Junior Reasons. The senior classes included Senior Halter, Senior Performance, and Senior Reasons. Competing in the junior novice class, Scotia Haxton won a 3rd place ribbon while Ian Haxton won the 4th place ribbon. In Junior Individual Halter, Haley Stump won the 3rd place ribbon and Savannah Etzler won the 7th place ribbon. The Junior Halter Team of Savannah Etzler, Haley Stump, Griffith Wood, and Leah Wright took the 2nd place ribbon overall. In Junior Individual Performance, Haley Stump took the 3rd place ribbon, Savannah Etzler took the 6th place ribbon, and Griff Wood took the 8th place ribbon. The Junior Performance Team of Savannah Etzler, Haley Stump, Griffith Wood, and Leah Wright won the 1st place ribbon. In Junior Reasons, Haley Stump won the 4th place ribbon, Savannah Etzler won the 6th place ribbon and Leah Wright won the 9th place ribbon. The Junior Reasons Team consisting of Savannah Etzler, Haley Stump, Leah Wright and Griffith Wood took the 1st place ribbon overall. Haley Stump won the 3rd place ribbon for Individual Overall Judging and Savannah Etzler won the 4th place ribbon for Individual Overall Judging. The Junior Judging Team consisting of Savannah Etzler, Haley Stump, Griffith Wood, and Leah Wright took the 1st place ribbon for Junior Team Overall Judging. There were 49 junior contestants with 11 teams competing.

The Senior Judging Team consisted of Katie Dayton, Miana Patterson and Sarah Schobert. In Senior Individual Halter, Sarah Schobert took 1st place. The Senior Team consisting of Katie Dayton, Miana Patterson, and Sarah Schobert took 7th place. In Individual Senior Performance, Sarah Schobert took 1st place. The team took 2nd. Place. In Individual Senior reasons, Sarah Schobert took 2nd place. The team took 7th place. Sarah Schobert won the Senior Individual Judging Overall with a score of 618 points for the 1st place ribbon. The team placed 6th overall in the state. There were 54 senior contestants with 12 teams competing.

On Sunday the 22nd, the Junior Horse Bowl team consisting of Ian Haxton, Scotia, Haxton, Griffith Wood, and Leah Wright competed against 5 other teams. Each team present had to play until they lost 2 rounds. Once the team lost two rounds, their points were compared and ribbons awarded. The Botetourt Team, competing in Horse Bowl for the first time won the 7th place spot. The competition was fierce and each of the members played exceptionally well. The top ten teams consisted of 40 players that competed on 10 teams. There were 14 teams in all.

The Club would like to thank Donna Etzler, Tina Haxton, Debbie Patterson, Laura Stump, Brian Wood, Delores Wood, and Caroline Wright for helping with their trip; and Rachel Bandy, who is an honors student at Hollins University, and has been the team's judging coach for the past three years. The club would also like to thank Southern States, Amethyst Acreas, Saddles -n-Stuff, The Tack Room and many other community members who helped to educate them and provide support for their many endeavors.