BURLINGTON — May 15 was a busy, jam-packed day for the 44 horse-savvy 4-H’ers who took part in two competitions: horse judging and hippology.

The day began at the Blackrose Morgan Farm in Colchester, where they judged Morgan geldings in hand, stock horse in hand, English pleasure and Western pleasure. The host farm provided half of the horses for the classes, and Erin Longworth Performance Horses of Milton supplied the other half.

At the conclusion of judging, the participants moved to Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction for hippology, which consisted of a general knowledge written test, slides and identification stations. The scores of all three phases were combined for an overall score and rankings.

Up to 10 rosette ribbons were handed out in each age group in each contest.

Local 4-H’er placements in the horse judging contest included 9th place for Hannah Gendreau of Orwell in the 12-13-year-old group, and 7th place for Shyanne Wedge of Shoreham in the 14-and-older division.

Winners in the hippology contest included another 9th-place finish for Gendreau and an 8th-place finish for Wedge in their respective age groups

The contests were hosted by Chittenden County 4-H in collaboration with University of Vermont Extension 4-H. For information about the Vermont 4-H horse program and events, contact Wendy Sorrell at [email protected].

SHYANNE WEDGE OF SHOREHAM, back, second from left, claimed seventh place in horse judging and eighth place in hippology for her age group (14 and over) at the State 4-H Horse Judging Contest on May 15, putting her among the top 10 high scorers at the event.
Photo/Cassie Kennett