Column: Shuswap 4-H Club at the IPE in Armstrong

By Scarlett Hutchison

Special to the Observer

Our Shuswap 4-H Club participated at the Armstrong IPE in horse, dog and judging competitions.

We had great participation by our club with both juniors and seniors in livestock judging, with 11 individual members and two Senior teams entering the Oke Swenson 4H judging contest.

Member Addison R. participated in the dog show in front of a large audience, and three members (Juliana T. on Baby Girl, Emma M. on Koltrina, and Addison R. with Daisy) in the Hoof and Woof team relay.We had Juliana T. on BabyGirl, Emma M. on Bonita, Sam M. on Koltrina and Gavin M. on Twinkle Toes competing in 4-H Horse classes, and also in the Open Light Horse Show. Sylvie T. joined the horse team as an honorary groom, and we are so grateful for all of her help and encouragement.

This was the first time 4-H Horse has been in the IPE in 25 years! The horse members rode their unit assessments in front of a judge and all passed with scores over 80 per cent. They then stayed to camp and compete in the Open Light Horse show in English, Western, Trail obstacle classes and even the Gymkhana.

Highlights were Sam M. on Koltrina winning 1st in the Keyhole race, Juliana T. winning 5th in Western Pleasure Stakes class, Gavin M. winning 2nd in Western Horsemanship and Emma winning 3rd in Ranch Riding Rail. Addison R.

Dog project unit 2 Exploring Obedience Showmanship won first, and Emma M. was awarded the IPE Youth Sportsmanship Award for the week.

Club members were extremely supportive of each other and kept entering each new class with optimism and focus. Each learned a great deal and showed tremendous improvement in their riding and horsemanship skills by the end of a long week. The group received a wonderful compliment from well-respected horse show judge Jodi Moore. The horse kids decorated their stalls for the IPE theme, they all politely answered many questions from the big crowds touring through the stables each day and members made new friends with other youth also showing their horses. Many of our club families spent time exploring the fair, rodeo and midway.

Thank you to everyone who supported those 4-H kids at the IPE of 2023! Thank you to Leader Sara Allan Muddiman for sharing the details of this event

Scarlett Hutchison is a member of the Shuswap 4-H Club.

Read more: Shuswap 4-H club members celebrate achievements in 2022

Read more: Shuswap 4-H members share progress on projects at Achievement Day

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