Junior Hippology Team - Adara Boling, Griffith Wood, Kristen Dyer, and Jesse Wood

Junior Horse Bowl - Kristen Dyer, Adara Boling, Jessica Gross, and Griffith Wood

Junior Horse Judging - Kate Stump, Griffith Wood, Kristen Dyer, and Adara Boling

The Hippology (horse knowledge) Contest was Friday, April 9 at Rockbridge High School in Lexington.

The Botetourt County 4-H Horse and Pony Club Junior Team consisting of Adara Boling, Kristen Dyer, Griff Wood, and Jesse Wood competed as a team while simultaneously competing as individuals.

Jessica Gross also competed as an individual.

The Hippology contest has four divisions including Tests and Slides, Stations, Judging, and working on a team problem together.

Griffith Wood was awarded the 8th place individual ribbon in Stations and Kristen Dyer was awarded the 6nd place individual ribbon for Hippology Judging.

The team was awarded 9th place for Test and Slides, 8th place for Stations, and 4th place for Hippology Judging.

The junior team was also awarded 9th place for Overall Team Performance.

Being awarded these placings at the state contest was an unexpected surprise because Adara Boling, Kristin Dyer, Jessica Gross, and Jesse Wood are all new to the team this year.

The Senior Team for Hippology consisted of Miana Patterson, Shana Patterson, and Leah Wright.

The Horse Judging Contest was Saturday the 10th at Lexington Horse Center and Rockbridge High School. The Botetourt County 4-H Horse and Pony Club Junior Team consisting of Boling, Dyer, Kate Stump, and Griff Wood had an amazing day. The Team placed 8th in the Halter Division. Griff Wood was awarded the 5th place individual ribbon for Performance while the team took 8th place. Boling, a new member this year, was awarded the 8th place ribbon for Reasons and the team placed 8th. The Team placed 7th in Team Overall Performance.

The 4-H Horse and Pony Club Senior Judging Team consisted of Sara Schobert, Haley Stump, and Leah Wright.

In the Halter Division, Sara Schobert was awarded the 2nd place individual ribbon and Haley Stump was awarded the 5th place individual ribbon. The team took the 1st place ribbon. In the Performance Division Sara Schobert was awarded the 4th place individual ribbon while the team was awarded the 7th place ribbon. In the Reasons Division Sara Schobert was awarded the 6th place individual ribbon while the team was awarded the 6th place. For the individual overall, Sara Schobert was awarded the 2nd place ribbon (which was only 1 point below the 1st place ribbon placing). The Botetourt senior team was awarded the 2nd place for Overall performance. The top 12 individuals from this contest have the opportunity to compete on the Virginia State Judging Team during the next calendar year. Sara Schobert has served on the State team this year. Haley Stump placed 13th overall and will definitely be an alternate to serve on the state team as well. It is very exciting to have the potential to have two members from the Botetourt County 4-H Club on the team.

Finally, Horse Bowl was Sunday the 11th. The junior team consisted of Adara Boling, Kristen Dyer, Jessica Gross, and Griffith Wood. Griffith Wood was awarded the 9th place individual ribbon for his performance. Horse Bowl is sort of like playing Jeopardy. Each player must answer questions in turn and are required to push a buzzer to be recognized. This competition is great fun for the kids and a real nail biter for the adult coaches! The team won 4th place overall. Again with three new members, the junior team can be very proud of their accomplishments.

The 4-H Horse & Pony Club would like to thank Delores Wood, leader of the club, Pam Kessinger, Hippology Coach, Rachel Bandy and Sara Schobert, Judging Coaches, and Robin Boling, Sherry Dyer, Debbie Patterson, Mark Stump, and Jonathan Gross, for the many jobs that they have performed over the past weekend to help them to get to practice and to the contests at the Equi-Smart Educational Contest Weekend. They would also like to thank the many local businesses and farms that have helped through their donations especially Amethyst Acres and Southern States.