SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2020— The Boulder County 4-H Hippology Team took home first place in the National Arabian Horse Hippology Contest. In addition to the team’s first place win, Liz French garnered the highest individual overall score. This year nine teams from around the country competed for six grueling hours over Zoom. Each hippology team has four members. The Boulder team included:
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Alora Klatka
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Mackenzie Weber
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Sequoia Stark
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Liz French
4-H leaders volunteer their time to coach the county teams, and participation is free with scholarships available that greatly reduce the cost of travel when competing. The hippology team is coached by Donna Pattee and she was assisted by Carmen Porter, the Boulder County horse bowl team coach, and our Boulder County Horse Association Board Member. Teams meet for two hours every Thursday during the school year. There is a junior team for 8 to 14 year olds, and a senior team for 14-18 year olds.
What does a hippology competition include?
A hippology competition includes:
- written tests
- judging
- solving team problems (often related to horse health/disease management)
- stations (ex: stallion reproduction, farrier tools, skeletal system, horse color, etc.)
According to Liz French, spirits were high this year despite the Zoom format. It was tiring given that students are already pretty fatigued from doing school on Zoom. In 2018, the Boulder team traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma and had the chance to judge some of the National Championship Arabian Horse Show classes, an opportunity Liz calls ‘one of the coolest of my life’.
Liz credits hippology with giving her much more breadth and depth when it comes to knowing about horses. She says competing in hippology is great for anyone who likes horses, is competitive and interested in a more ‘holistic’ approach. Liz also loves the motivation that goes along with being a part of a team. She feels participation on a hippology team helps people know more helpful, critical things about horses that they may not get to learn elsewhere. For example, when she competes at horse shows, Liz meets people who know some limited things about tack and horse care but are sometimes missing the bigger picture. It’s also great training for anyone thinking of going into veterinary medicine, horse management, or training.
Asked about her own future plans, Liz says she’s more focused on pursuing a college education in human health but knows her years in hippology will help with her dream to always have and be around horses.
Congratulations Liz, Alora, Mackenzie, Sequoia, Carmen and Donna!
