District and State Horse Show Entries Due May 4th at Cass County Extension Office

ENTRY FORM to turn into Cass County 4-H Office
DISTRICT HORSE SHOW MAP
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
DISTRICT AND STATE ENTRY PROCEDURES

Additional Information:


2 and 3 year old affidavit PDF (12 kb)
Legal Dress Code and Equipment PDF (2.9 mb)
2016 District Point of Contact PDF (185 kb)


Local Information and Directions

2016 District Horse Show Patterns (PDF 669 kb)
District Horse Show Schedule (PDF 148 kb)
How to complete your District and State Entries (PDF 87 kb)

What to expect when showing at a District 4-H Horse Show
(ORDER THE DISTRICT 4-H HORSE SHOWS DVD  PDF (16 kb))

At the beginning of each District 4-H Horse Show, individual works for both Pleasure and Horsemanship/Equitation will be conducted.

Senior individual work will be first, followed immediately by Junior individual work (before any group work is held).

Once all individual work is completed, group work will be done. Exhibitors MUST complete the group work to get an "official" ribbon placing and are eligible (blue or purple) to compete at the State 4-H Horse Expo.

All Hunter Under Saddle and Hunt Seat Equitation competition will be held and completed, prior to Western Pleasure and Horsemanship. Hunter Under Saddle and Hunt Seat Equitation will be the very first classes of the day.

Individual Work

The arena will be set up with markers along each rail designating the gait the rider is to perform at each marker. Markers will be identified as Walk, Trot, Lope, Stop and Back.

After a random working order is determined, each rider works alone before the judge for 20-30 seconds. For these shows to be the most educational, the judge should discuss the performance publicly. The rider enters the ring and goes to the designated starting point on the rail.

  • Walk 10 yards
  • Trots or jogs 20 yards
  • Lopes/canters from the jog or trot at least 30 yards, stops and backs the mount about one horse length (Hunt Seat riders may collect the horse before cantering).

Visible rail signs and markers should be easily seen by the rider. As the rider is performing, the judges may discuss the performance publicly and immediately classify the completed performance as a preliminary blue or red ribbon group. Contestants need to look to the judge following the stop and back to receive the preliminary ribbon placing.

When the rider completes the Pleasure individual work,

  • Judge will award them into the preliminary red or blue group

Contestants also in Horsemanship/Equitation:

  • Work individually on opposite rail
  • Judge will award them into the preliminary red or blue group

What if I am not in both pleasure and horsemanship?

Contestants only in Pleasure:

  • May exit the arena following the individual Pleasure work

Contestants only in Horsemanship/Equitation:

  • Enter only in Horsemanship/Equitation rail and exit following the individual Horsemanship/Equitation work

What if I need to change horses?

Contestants needing to change horses between Pleasure and Horsemanship/Equitation should notify show officials and:

  • Exit following the Pleasure individual work
  • Change horses
  • Enter the Horsemanship/Equitation rail

Group Work - Pleasure

After all contestants have worked individually, the red ribbon preliminary group enters as a group to work the standard Pleasure rail routine. After this group workout, those still performing at a red ribbon level are awarded their final placing. Some exhibitors may be lowered to the white ribbon group. However, some that have performed well in the red group would remain in the ring and perform with the preliminary blue ribbon group. After the blue ribbon group work, exhibitors are either awarded a blue ribbon (final award), some may move down to the red ribbon group, or they may be moved up to a new purple ribbon group with the resultant class winner. The final class winner may have started in any preliminary ribbon group and progressed upward as their ability developed. Purple ribbon winners may or may not be asked for additional work to determine the class winner. If no purple ribbon were awarded, first place many be chosen from the blue ribbon group.

Group Work - Horsemanship/Equitation

In the Horsemanship/Equitation classes, all preliminary red ribbon riders will work as a group on the rail. All Horsemanship/Equitation riders should be familiar with the Horsemanship/Equitation pattern that was previously posted. Following the rail work, the judge may select individuals to move into the preliminary blue ribbon group. All preliminary blue ribbon riders will work a pattern individually (previously posted) and then be asked to perform on the rail. Exhibitors will be awarded on of the following: Lowered to the red ribbon group, awarded a blue ribbon, or moved up to a purple ribbon. Purple ribbon winners may or may not be asked for additional work to determine the class winner. If no purple ribbon were awarded, first place may be chosen from the blue ribbon group.

What if the classes are small?

Special note: When class sizes are small, group work may be combined for preliminary red and blue ribbon groups. Additionally occasionally, Junior and Senior group work may be done together, but riders still qualify in their designated age division.

How do I know if I qualified?

All final awards of blue and/or purple ribbons qualify for the State 4-H Horse Show and the Ak-Sar-Ben 4-H Horse show. Qualifiers for the State 4-H Horse Show will be automatically entered into the State Horse Show classes. It is the exhibitor's responsibility to enter the Ak-Sar-Ben 4-H Horse show at a later date.