Approximately 340 youth and 400 horses participated in the Missouri State Fair 4-H and FFA Horse Show during the four-day event this past weekend. For those participating in the show it teaches much more than equine handling and riding, but also lessons to be used as adults.
“(The show) is open to our youth of Missouri and it’s the culmination of their year of work and their projects,” Debbie Davis, 4-H and FFA superintendent, said Saturday at the Mathewson Exhibition Center.
Davis said the youth come to the show and exhibit skills such as riding, handling and management of their horses.
“The best part of all this is that it’s a family affair,” she added. “We try to create a very positive environment to encourage youth, and to have healthy competition, and to display their skills that they have learned through their project work.”
While at the show the youth have the support of friends and family and they develop a camaraderie with each other.
“Last night we had a street dance, and a root beer float social, up in front of the Coliseum,” Davis said. “We’ve added a couple clinics that increases knowledge of how to do patterns.”
She noted that professionals from the Missouri Quarter Horse Association volunteer their time to teach at the event.
“We are always looking to improve our programs and grow and help our youth develop their skills,” she added.
University of Missouri Extension State 4-H Youth Development Specialist Shane Potter added that there are multifaceted benefits for youth while working with horses.
“The whole idea behind youth working with equine is to help them have focus and gain skills about responsibility, mastering the ability to work with another creature that has a mind of its own,” he noted. “So, it’s really a partnership.
“When we’re looking at the whole idea of working with horses and kids, they really are learning how to function better with people too,” Potter added. “They are doing awesome things in these arenas.”
He noted that the youth take a considerable amount of time practicing with the horses for shows.
“It’s a culmination, many of these kids have been working for years to try and get to this point,” Potter said. “They have worked on this for so long and they have this passion and drive. They are dedicated to the project.”
Another benefit Potter and Davis said is the ability of youth to network while attending the 4-H and FFA Show.
‘The network that they gain throughout the state and the country in 4-H is amazing, because of these programs,” Potter said.
University of Missouri Extension Interim Program Director Alison Copeland said what strikes her as she is attending the show is how the youth learn to care for an animal. She added that learning to care for an animal teaches a child how to have empathy.
“Communications skills are developed from that,” Copeland said. “It ties in with what Shane was saying … to learn a skill and focus but also to care for something else other than just yourself.”
Davis said for many families the show is an important summer event and they often plan their vacations around it each year.
‘They cookout together, they have meals together,” she added. “So, it’s that fellowship.”
Queen City 4-H Club and Kirksville FFA Chapter member Jamie Kittle, who was riding his quarter horse, Simple, agreed the event is all about family and making connections with others.
“We’ve been coming down here for five years,” he added. “We always have a lot of fun and we always learn a lot. There’s a lot of professionals down here that are always around to give advice and help. It’s a good place to learn, it’s a good place to meet people. A lot of the people I’ve met down here I see a lot of other places.”
Kittle said the show teaches exhibitors about responsibility.
“Every kid here spends three or four hours a day, minimum, with their horses,” he noted. “They learn to appreciate the people around them, appreciate the horses and appreciate the opportunity. Our parents are not allowed to handle our horses, so we have to be responsible enough to take care of them. It teaches you a lot of patience, and it teaches us a work ethic. We all have to be pretty dedicated to come down here and spend four days away from home and spend the whole time with our horses.”
