The Somerset County 4-H tack sale, always a regular feature as we get ready for spring, 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.
