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Ponoka girl to represent province in national 4-H conference

A young Ponoka girl will be part of the delegation representing Alberta at the national 4-H conference in Toronto in November.
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Kaitlin Malterer

A young Ponoka girl will be part of the delegation representing Alberta at the national 4-H conference in Toronto in November.

Kaitlin Malterer, already nine years into a 4-H career, promises to share all she will have to learn at the conference with her fellow 4-H’ers upon her return from Ontario.

Malterer says she started 4-H in the local beef club and later got more interested in horses and joined the local horse club and has been involved in the activities of both clubs over the past year.

“Honestly, it is the environment,” Malterer says when asked what attracts her to 4-H.

“You walk into a 4-H event and you look around, there is a bunch of kids of all different ages mingling together, you get kids from age eight, nine to 18, 19 and they are all interacting together and you can walk into any club, any provincial, regional 4-H event and you can feel welcome there. It is like another family.”

Malterer is adamant to make 4-H and agriculture a permanent part of her future life as she has already made plans to attend Olds College to study under their equine science program with the target being a triple major in breeding and reproduction, English discipline and western discipline.

She also plans to continue with 4-H programs to continue with her coaching qualifications.

“The beef are still a big part of my life,” Malterer says in response when asked if her love of and interest in horses have become the sole focus of her 4-H work.

“The cattle I look after at the family farm is a big part of who I am,” she stressed.

But she does say that her horses are her “getaway.”

“When I have a rough day, I can always go out and look at horses, it makes me relax, everything else goes away.”

Although she has done competitive horse racing only through 4-H so far, she does plan to build a career in barrel racing.

“I plan on to going to college rodeos when I get out of 4-H,” she said.