There was a time when the horse show at New Jersey’s Somerset County 4-H Fair felt like a really big deal. The stables were full and the competition was serious.
Judy Hennessey, a 4-H leader in the county, remembers that during the mid-1970s when her son started in 4-H, there were 125 horses and ponies at the fair’s show and 500 kids in the program.
But this summer, the fair didn’t even draw a single 4-H horse, let alone enough for a horse show; instead there were some static displays on an equine theme.
One of the displays at the Somerset County 4-H fair. (Colette Eristavi photo)
Billed as America’s largest youth development organization, 4-H stands for “Head, Heart, Hands and Health.” Material from 4-H says it is “empowering nearly 6 million young people with the skills to lead for a lifetime.”
When it comes to making kids into horsemen and horsewomen, rather than just riders, 4-H has a reputation as being the ticket. Karyn Malinowski grew up in Somerset County, the home of the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation, and rode in the 4-H fair show.
She recalls from the late 1960s and early 1970s, “We learned about horse care and management through 4-H. Then our riding instructors took us to the A(-rated) shows and we learned equitation from that, but they didn’t teach us the nuts and bolts of daily taking care of horses; our 4H leaders did.”
The founder of the Rutgers Equine Science Center, Karyn also learned public speaking and horse judging from 4-H. She was “extremely disappointed” to find out that there was no 4-H horse show at the Somerset fair, the first held in three years due to Covid. The pandemic didn’t help the 4-H membership situation either.
Rachel Lyons, New Jersey’s state 4-H program leader, noted that “Many horse clubs, and other animal project areas, had a hard time during the darkest days of the pandemic. These clubs are usually very hands-on, and some (there were certainly some exceptions) had a hard time moving to an online, virtual format. It will take a few years for clubs to fully recover from the pandemic, but I am optimistic we will.”
Colette Eristavi, a club co-leader with Judy, said of the pandemic period, “a lot of kids found other things to do during that time.”
She added the displays at the fair attracted some interest from kids, but she wants to see how many follow through. Colette noted that children who don’t have horses need to learn about them if they have ambitions toward riding or being involved with them, and 4-H is a vehicle for getting that done.
In lieu of real horses, the leaders made “ponies” out of pool noodles at the fair, and kids were having a great time jumping over little fences with them.
Pool noodle ponies made a fun substitute for the real thing at the fair. (Photo by Collette Eristavi)
Colette is hoping there will be live equines at the fair next year, “even if that means we have to borrow horses” so kids can learn about being around them.
Kelly Champion, who was a member of the Morris County Gauchos 4-H club until she aged out 35 years ago, has fond memories of the program and it what it did for her. In addition to being involved in a variety of activities including the horse bowl quiz program and horse judging, it “teaches you to love your animal and learn about the animal.”
Kelly, who rode on the A-rated circuit, is now an instructor at Mane Stream, a therapeutic riding center in Oldwick. The “hands-on” experience she got from 4-H, along with the contacts she made there, has helped in her work in the industry,
Looking at the big picture, Karyn observed, “Overall, the numbers of the 4-H Horse Project in New Jersey are down,” while noting that is the case in all 21 counties, where the enrollment has been “getting less and less.”
She considers it ,“A sign of the times, they (kids) are showing and riding and that’s all they want to do.”
“It’s a much different world today,” Judy observed, noting the backyard horse that once was the backbone of 4-H horse clubs is vanishing in increasingly developed areas. At the same time, there are fewer barns where kids can take lessons without owning a horse, she said.
Membership issues are across the board in various 4-H clubs, not just those involved with horses. Judy knows of an alpaca 4-H club that is doing well, but members lease the alpacas rather than owning them, though she cited as a positive development that they were involved in a successful project to build a barn.
Costs of horse ownership and even leasing are yet another hurdle, not only for 4-H, but also for many people who would like to be involved with horses yet can’t afford it.
Karyn said that situation will be among topics addressed at the Rutgers Equine Science Center’s March 16, 2023 New Jersey Equine Summit, where the focus will include industry sustainability and the engagement of youth, as well as ways to cut costs of horse ownership.
This autumn, a survey will be sent out to New Jerseyans to pinpoint their areas of concern about the horse industry in advance of the summit, which will be free of charge for anyone wishing to attend. It will be the first time in 20 years that such a summit has been held.
Brittany Rigg, coordinator of the New Jersey 4-H State Horse Program and 4-H Senior Program coordinator, observed, “I believe the decline in numbers in the New Jersey 4-H Horse Project area is a reflection of the horse industry as a whole. Horses have been a leisure sport for a long time and with the shift in the economy, we are seeing this again, as we did during the last economic recession.
“This is something that is affecting a lot of the youth organizations within the horse industry, not just 4-H. During times of recession, we see a lot of our 4-H youth members focus more on our educational contests and non-horse-related events that we host.”
Brittany mentioned, “A lot of our members do not own their own horses and they lease or take lessons. Throughout the state, we have several horseless horse clubs that focus on the equine science of the horse, some focus on model horses and showing those, and some are based out of barns where the members take lessons weekly.”
She did, however, maintain that, “No matter what stage a member is at in their horse career, 4-H has something to offer them and the valuable life skills, knowledge and memories that they will make along the way ties the entire 4-H experience together.”
Brittany added, “To speak to the situation in Somerset, we have seen a decline in our program numbers since the COVID-19 pandemic; however, we are seeing this not only in the horse program but all of our project areas in the New Jersey 4-H Youth Development Program. A lot of our senior members have graduated during our two-year (pandemic) hiatus. Although we are seeing smaller numbers of youth participating in the horse program at the county and state levels, there have been some positives from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have a huge influx of younger members, or Cloverbuds (kindergarten through third grade) joining our programs and we were able to engage and reach youth and volunteers in different ways. Through our virtual programming, we were able to connect with youth not only in New Jersey, but across the county and even the world. We had youth participants from South Carolina, Indiana, New York, and even Azerbaijan.”
Brittany believes, “With the increase in younger members, our horse program will continue to grow over the next couple of years, although it might take some time. Our goal is to keep providing new opportunities and experiences for youth members to grow their life skills. 4-H is always going to be there to support the youth of not only the horse industry, but the world. “
The open enrollment period in 4-H began this month. All members wishing to participate in state level events, such as Horse Bowl, Horse Judging, Hippology, Equine Presentations, and the State Horse Show, will need to be a registered 4-H members by January 1, 2023. To join, click on this link
“The primary focus of all 4-H clubs is on youth development. 4-H gives young people an opportunity to practice important life skills like leadership, public speaking, personal responsibility and record-keeping through focusing on a child’s interest or passion…in this case, horses. 4-H is always recruiting youth, and volunteers are welcome at any time of the year,” Rachel stated.
Mentioning another factor in the 4-H situation, Karyn said, “I think getting volunteer leaders is tough.”
Emphasizing that “ Volunteers are truly the heart of 4-H,” Rachel commented, “ All 4-H clubs are run by caring adult volunteers. I strongly encourage anyone who is passionate about horses and horsemanship, consider passing on their knowledge and passion to the next generation. 4-H is a great vehicle to do that.”
But Judy commented that in her experience, the problem is that, “Parents don’t want to make a commitment to bring the kids to the meeting and they don’t want to help. In 4-H, we expect the parents to help a little bit. We’re not a baby-sitting service.”
In Rachel’s view, though, “I look at national volunteerism trends closely, and it appears more people are interested in volunteering, but for less time overall. 4-H has developed a short-term club model, that meets weekly for 6-12 weeks, rather than monthly all year, to meet the needs and expectations of volunteers and families.”
