Mark your calendars for the upcoming 4-H Horse Education Days! If you have participated in the past or this is the first time you are hearing about the contests, we would love to have you join us for this day of learning, fun, and competition.
When and Where are the Contests? All events will be held at the Dodge County Fairgrounds this year. Speaking and demonstration will be on May 13th and horse bowl and hippology will be on May 14th.
Deadline to Register: The deadline to register for speaking, demonstration, horse bowl and hippology is April 1st. You must be pre-registered to participate in any of the contests.
What are the Contests? These are three different contests all about horses. Participants showcase their knowledge and skills about horse related topics and the industry.
Horse Speaking and Demonstration Contests: Love horses and public speaking or demonstrating a skill? There are several horse related speaking contests. They range from informational speeches and interpretative readings to individual and team demonstrations. The one piece they have in common is that the topic of the speech need to be related to horse or the horse industry. The top speakers earn the opportunity to compete at regional and national competitions.
Horse Quiz Bowl: Horse Bowl is a quiz competition where all the questions are about horse related topics. Students use a buzzer in order to answer the questions (similar to the game show Jeopardy). County teams compete against each other by giving oral answers to questions posed by a moderator. The top teams earn the opportunity to compete at regional and national competitions.
Hippology (Horse Skill-a-thon): Everything you know about raising your animal adds up to so much knowledge of horses and the industry. The hippology contest will help you challenge you to share that information through learning stations such as breed identification, feed identification, equipment identification and other similar topics. The top teams earn the opportunity to compete at the national competitions.
Who can participate? Any current 4-H members ages in grades 3-13. Even if your county has not participated in the past, round-up some 4-H friends and take advantage of this fun opportunity to show your knowledge of the horse species and industry.
Please note, there are age divisions for each of those contests. See the contest information in the WI 4-H Horse Handbook in the links below for more information on the age divisions. Additionally, there may be additional age requirements for teams that advance to regionals and nationals – senior members in grade 13 (or over age 19) may not be able to advance to those contests. Please check on rules of each contest for more information.
Looking for more information?
Information about all of the contests can be found in the WI 4-H Horse Association Handbook at: https://4h.extension.wisc.edu/opportunities/projects/large-animals/horse-project/wisconsin-4-h-horse-association/
- More information about the individual contest rules, age divisions, study resources and more can be found at in Chapter 4 of the Handbook in the 4-H Horse Educational Guidelines.
- Contest registration information is available by scrolling down to Chapter 5, Statewide Events, Education Days there you will find information on Education Days Information, WI 4-h Horse Education Registration Form, or WI Horse Bowl Team Entry Form.
