As you clean out your tack room and closets at this time of year, put aside equipment, clothing, blankets and other horse-related items for tack sales being held at several organizations this month and next.
The Somerset County 4-H tack sale, always a regular feature, will be held Friday, March 18, from 6-9:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 19, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Ted Blum 4-H center, 310 Milltown Road, Bridgewater, N.J.
There’s a different approach this year. Anyone who has items to sell can set up at the center for a $15 fee, which gives them a spot with a table and two chairs. Commercial vendors also are welcome.
It used to be a consignment approach, where people would bring their tack and other horse-related items and leave them to be sorted by 4-H members for sale, with 4-H getting a percentage of the purchase price.
But as 4-H leader Judy Hennessey noted, doing it that way is labor-intensive and 4-H numbers have been dwindling.
“We don’t have enough kids in the 4-H horse program,” she noted.
In Bridgewater, she recalled, there was a time when “every kid had a horse in their backyard. Now I don’t think there’s a horse in Bridgewater. There just aren’t any kids with horses of their own any more, and the big barns don’t want kids going to 4-H.”
The advantage of 4-H is that members learn about horse care, over a stable where the kids just go to ride and don’t interact with the horses otherwise. The horse care concept will be highlighted at the county fair this summer, when Judy plans to have a farrier, a dentist, a driving exhibition and other demonstrations to highlight the organization’s focus.
Want more information? Call Judy Hennessy at (610)730-4739.
Riding with Heart, 639 Route 513, Pittstown, is holding its sale March 26 and 27 to benefit its therapeutic riding program. Drop items from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and Saturdays from noon-3 p.m. Call 908-735-5912 to let the organization know before you come.
Riding with Heart will pick up big donations within a one-hour drive. Email tacksale@ridingwithheart.org. Contributions are tax deductible.
Mane Stream (adaptive riding and therapy services) is seeking donations of new and gently used tack or horse related items for its fall tack sale in Oldwick Nov. 6 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The spring sale originally scheduled for next month has bee cancelled.
Collections are still ongoing, however. There is a contactless drop-off for unwanted bridles, saddles, blankets, tack boxes as well as outgrown boots, breeches, jackets and horse-related jewelry, models or knick-knacks. Proceeds go toward Mane Stream’s mission to improve the quality of life for children and adults with physical, developmental, emotional, and medical challenges through a diverse program of equine assisted activities, therapy services, and educational initiatives.
All donations can be dropped off at the stable at 83 Old Turnpike Rd. Oldwick during office hours. Those who want to make a donation of have questions should contact Jen Dermody at jen@manestreamnj.org, (908) 439-9636 or visit the website at www.ManeStreamNJ.org
Mane Stream is a 501(c)(3) non-profit registered charitable organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for individuals with physical, developmental, emotional, and medical challenges through a diverse program of equine-assisted activities, therapy services and educational initiatives.