4-H members compete in Denver

A group of 4-H members from Sanders County spent four days horsing around in Colorado in a combination of work, education and play.

Two 4-H members from Sanders County and two from Lake County teamed up to compete in the 4-H National Western Roundup in Denver from Jan. 8-11, including Mackenzie Tulloch of the South Side Sparks, Madison Chojnacky of the Trout Creek Mavericks, and Lina Sturman and Jaylynn Buxbaum of Lake County.

Six hundred and ninety-five 4-H members from 160 clubs from across the United States took part in the event, which involved nearly 40 different tests and judged activities on a variety of subjects, including Hippology, the study of horses and equine science, according to Wendy Carr, the Montana State University Sanders County extension agent for Agriculture, Horticulture, and 4-H and youth development in Thompson Falls.

"I was their coach and chaperone. I coached them for Congress and then we continued to meet one to two times a month to study," said Carr. Her daughter, the 18-year-old Tulloch, has been around horses all her life, as has Chojnacky, also 18 years old. Her mother, Shannon, was also on hand as a coach and chaperone. In order to attend the National Western Roundup, they had to win at the state level, said Carr, who added that the combined team of Sanders and Lake took first place as a team in Montana in July.

The event was hosted by the Colorado State University Extension State Office and was only for senior 4-H members from 14-18 years old, said Joy Bauder, the 4-H data systems specialist at the Colorado State University Extension Office. Bauder said the competition provides opportunities for 4-H kids to participate in a national contest, make industry connections, and meet other young people with similar interests.

Carr said that neither Tulloch nor Chojnacky had competed at the national level before. "They've only competed at 4-H Congress in July in Bozeman at the state level. They won there and then competed at nationals, so really they have only competed two times, but they have been practicing with me as their coach," said Carr, who as a youth in 4-H competed in the Horse Judging Competition at nationals in 1995 with her sister, Christey Carr (Lee) and teammate Mindi Newman (Wilson). She still has her fourth place ribbon for her individual competition.

Carr said that a third Sanders County 4-H member qualified for nationals, but couldn't make it, prompting Carr to add Buxbaum to the team. The combination Lake County and Sanders County team took fourth place in the Horse Judging Division, ninth place in the Team Problems Division, and ninth in the Stations Division. Chojnacky individually took third in the Horse Judging Division.

The kids had two days of competition. Carr said the first day was a written exam and slides and the second day was horse judging, stations, and team problems. The members received up to 200 points for the different phases and examination, including a 100-point written exam. They also had a 50-point anatomy test and a 50-point test that involved the kids identifying horses by breed, color, color pattern, and activity. The 4-H contestants had a series of stations: saddle types, hooves, bridles, bits, grooming, farrier tools, knots, parts of a horse, horse defects, and others. In the Team Problem part, the 4-H'ers had to give presentations on four problems. Each team member must contribute to the oral presentation.

The kids went to the National Western Stock Show after the competition to expose them to some top performance horse competitions, said Carr. "We went to a freestyle reining competition, performance horse showdown that was made up of teams in three different disciplines - reining, working cow horse, and roping - and Colorado vs. The World Finals Rodeo.

Carr felt the National 4-H Roundup was the "big daddy" of competitions with top competitors. "It exposes the kids to a lot of experiences and a good opportunity. To make it there is a privilege in itself," said Carr. "The kids enjoyed nationals and especially enjoyed the National Western Stock Show performances we took in afterwards," said Carr. She also said Tulloch and Chojnacky will be passing what they learned to the younger 4-H members at home with horse projects.