By Emily Cline, Jenalee Stewart and Morgan LaForge
Hi, we are Emily Cline, Jenalee Stewart and Morgan Laforge, we are members of the Silver Valley 4-H Riders. We have had a very fun and exciting year and we are not done yet.
This year we have a drill team entered at regionals, which is very exciting since our club hasn’t had a drill team in 11 years.
We have had a lot of clinics this year. We have done a riding clinic with Dustin Grams and a farrier clinic with Kelly Avery. Our club went with Dustin Grams and learned some riding tips, then we went with Kelly Avery and learned about farrier, hoof facts and care.
We also had a clinic at Galloway’s arena in January, there we learned about equine therapy, trick roping, patterns and we even made a rope halter. We have also worked on trail, showmanship, bandaging, English and western riding.
Some other fun things we have done this year include our winter fun day, we went on a sleigh ride and that same evening we headed to a Red Deer Rebels Hockey game.
For our winter project day we had a choice of building a blanket rack or a tack box, it was fun and our finished projects turned out great.
We also had a fundraising barbecue at Main Street Hardware during their customer appreciation days. Thanks to Main Street Hardware and all of the people that supported us, the profits will go toward our Regionals costs.
Our next big event is Regionals, they are at the Westerner grounds the first weekend in June and coming up fast. Regionals is a year-end competition to showcase everything we have learned in 4-H, with all of the other clubs in our region.
It is a very busy and very fun filled three-day event. The first day is English, the second day is Western and the third day is games and fun. There is also a fun dance on Saturday that all the 4-H members and their siblings join in on.
By the end of the competition you have dirt under your nails, you are filthy and tired but it is all worth it because you get to spend a lot of time with your horse and 4-H family.
This year has been very fun, exciting and educational. Silver Valley is having a great time, working hard and can’t wait for regionals to come!
