Horse Committee is hosting a Horse Clinic

The Washington County 4-H Saddle Horse Committee is hosting a horse clinic on Saturday April 20, 2024.  4-H members may bring their horses and work with clinician Mike Schmidt.  The event will be held at Stonegate Equine Facility located at 26236 Smith Road, Coolville Ohio.  No preregistration is required, and a light lunch will be served by the Saddle Horse Committee.  The Clinic will begin at 9am and conclude at 12noon.  Out of County 4-H members are invited and will be asked to pay a $5 fee per horse upon arrival at the clinic.  No dogs are permitted and it is suggested you bring your own chair.  4-H members need to wear appropriate attire including helmets.  Please see the attached flyer for information, and contact us at hartline.24@osu.edu for more details.

4-H Horse Packet 2024 is now available

The members in Washington County 4-H may now access the 2024 Horse packet.  The packet may be found online at https://washington.osu.edu under the forms and information tab in the 4-H Program area.  This packet includes information about upcoming Educational session and clinics, fair information, and PAS show information.  Members enrolled in a horse project will receive a copy of the packet soon in their mailbox.  Animal Declaration and horse immunization forms are to be completed and returned to the OSU Extension Office by May 30, 2024.  For more information contact a horse committee member or call our office at 740-376-7431.

Saddle Horse Committee Announces Horse Immunization Clinic

The Washington County Saddle Horse Committee is hosting a Horse Immunization Clinic on Saturday, March 30, 2024.  The clinic will be held at the Washington County Fair Grounds – Horse barn.  Members must contact Dr. John Groah’s office prior to the clinic to schedule the vaccinations needed.  Dr. Groah may be reached at 740-962-2665. All 4-H members exhibiting at fair this year are required to have immunizations and a negative Coggins test.  Please refer to the 2024 horse packet for details.  Jill Dennis, Washington County Saddle Horse Committee representative will be on site to assist with 4-H members and families.

Horse Committee to host Wendy’s Fundraiser Night – Oct 12

The Washington County Saddle Horse Committee is hosting a fundraiser night at Wendy’s located at 105 Pike Street Marietta.  Everyone is invited to Get Together and invite your friends and family to join us on October 12, 2023 from 4pm- 8pm.  The saddle horse committee will earn 10% of the total restaurant sales during this time.  Let us serve you- committee members and youth will be on hand to help you in the dining room, and the Wendy’s Prize wheel will be on site with some cool prizes for participants.  Coloring pages for youth and learn about 4-H and the horse program at our Get Together event.

Horse Stalls Assigned

The horse stalls have been assigned for the Washington County Fair.  Members may decorate their stalls beginning Thursday.  Horses are moved in on Friday from 3pm to 7:30pm and will remain stalled until Tuesday at 4pm.  Please review the list for your stall assignments.  Also there will be a clean stall award this year so be sure to keep those stalls and barn areas neat and clean. 

Horse Patterns for Washington County Fair

The horse patterns for the Washington County Fair Junior Horse show may be found at the link below.

https://horseshowpatterns.com/public_patterns/index.php?key=HSP16918727583713

If an exhibitor would like the patterns printed off they may contact our office at 740-376-7431 for a printed copy.  The copies may be picked up from our office Monday through Friday from 8am to 4pm.  Horse exhibitors are reminded that move in day is Friday September 1 beginning at 3:30pm and the horses must stay until released from the fair Tuesday, September 5 at 4pm.  Horse shows are Saturday and Sunday of the fair with additional activities and a cookout on Monday.  Refer to your junior fair guide for the schedule of events and best of luck at the fair.

Forages for Horses – Virtual Course

Beginning August 30, 2023, Ohio State University Extension will be offering Forages for Horses- a virtual course for equine managers. The course will utilize a combination of live webinars on Zoom with equine and forage experts, along with an in-depth online course accessed through the platform Scarlet Canvas. The Forages for Horses program is a collaboration between Ohio State University Extension, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Ohio Department of Agriculture, and the Ohio Forage and Grasslands Council.

Each webinar will be offered live on Zoom at 7 P.M. and feature presentations in a 60-minute span. Attendees will be able to interact with the speakers and ask questions in real-time. Once registered, attendees will be granted access to the full online course including the live-webinars, webinar recordings, and complementary resources, which includes a digital copy of the full class manual. Participants that attend all four webinars will have the opportunity to earn a certificate of completion.

The webinar schedule and topics are as follows.

  • Wednesday, August 30th– Hay Day
  • Wednesday, September 13th– Maximizing Pasture
  • Wednesday, September 27th– Grazing for Health-Pasture Myth Busters
  • Wednesday, October 11th– Heavy Stocking Rates & Associated Issues

“Straight from the Horse’s Mouth” a Q&A session with experts will follow each webinar until 8:30 PM.

The Forages for Horses course utilizes Scarlet Canvas (which is OSU’s platform for online learning) to house additional videos, presentations, articles, and digital access to the traditional course manual. For best performance, Canvas should be used on the current or first previous major release of Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari. Canvas runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, or any other device with a modern web browser.

Cost of the course is $75. Registration includes access to all online content through August 30, 2024. Current and new members of the Ohio Forage and Grasslands Council are eligible for a $15 discount on registration. You may still register after the live webinars have occurred.

Register for the course by visiting https://go.osu.edu/foragesforhorsesregistration.

Questions about the course or the OFGC member discount code can be directed to Christine Gelley of Noble County OSU Extension at gelley.2@osu.edu.

June 1st Deadline for Horse Project Members

ATTENTION ALL HORSE MEMBERS!!  Our horse paperwork deadline is quickly approaching on June 1, 2023.  Members will need to turn in their horse declaration form, Immunization form, stall reservation for County Fair, Lease agreements, and PAS forms for those participating.  The Saddle Horse Committee is hosting a PAS show on Saturday June 3, 2023 and we will conclude with a Fun show following the PAS events/classes.  The PAS show is the state qualifying event for horse members to be eligible to compete at the Ohio State Fair.  This event will be held at the Washington County Fair located at 922 Front Street Marietta Ohio.  Horse members in Washington County will not be charged a fee for PAS classes, however all other out of county participants must pre-register with a $10 fee per class by May 27th.  The Fun show will immediately follow the PAS event and all participants must be 4-H / FFA members of 4-H project age and follow all 4-H Uniform Horse Rules.  Fun Show classes are $2 per class with a fee of $10 max for the day. PAS Fun Show 2023 Participants will register at the event approximately 1 hour before the show.

The last Educational Equine Session is scheduled for June 24th from 9am to noon at the Washington County Fair, any horse member planning to exhibit at fair must attend one Equine Session to be eligible to show.  For questions please call OSU Extension 740-376-7431.

Horse Equine Riding Session Scheduled

The second educational equine session is scheduled for May 20th from 10am to 12noon. The event will be held at the Washington County Fair horse arena.  This is an open workout with a focus on understanding PAS patterns and riding.  Members may bring their horses to this event.  All 4H riding rules will be enforced according to the uniform horse rules book.  Any member who missed the mandatory parent meeting must arrive at 9am to complete the required  training.  Any member who has not completed the Equistep training must watch the modules and complete the quiz prior to the session.  Members who complete the Equistep training must email their results to hartline.24@osu.edu by May 17th.  For more details please call the office at 740-376-7431.

Congratulations Horse Bowl Teams!

Congratulations to the Washington County Junior Horse bowl team placing 5th in the state. Members Maddie Starkey, Ashlyn Carson, Carlos Beatty! And our Senior Team placing 8th with Zoey Carson, PJ Harshberger, and Ryace Boyer. Special shout out to Maddie for placing 8th overall individual. Thank you to their coaches and parents for helping them achieve the dream!
The state event was held in conjunction with the Ohio Equine Affaire at the Ohio Expositions Center in Columbus.

The primary objective of Horse Bowl Competition is to provide an opportunity for 4-H members enrolled in horse projects to demonstrate their knowledge of equine-related matters in a competitive setting, where attitudes of friendliness and fairness prevail. The competition provides an educational experience for both participants and the spectators.