BCHA Youth Scholarship

BCHA Announces its 2021 BCHA Youth Scholarship Recipients!

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PRESS RELEASE: AUGUST 20, 2021 The Boulder County Horse Association (BCHA) is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2021 BCHA Youth Scholarships: Nora Ditzel, $250 Teen Scholarship Madeline Williams, $750 Collegiate Scholarship These two very impressive young horsewomen demonstrated equestrian dedication, along with high standards of character in their community involvement and educational achievements. About Nora Ditzel Nora plans to use her BCHA Teen Scholarship award to further her education in reining and ranch horse versatility. She credits her pony, Butch, with getting her hooked on horses at the ripe old age of eight. Nora has had many mentors—both horse and human—especially Liz Johnson of Windy Creek Ranch. Through Liz, Nora has had the experience of helping to train four ponies over three years, and has been able to ride and show Liz’ horse Chex. Nora is now in her ninth year of Blazing Saddles 4-H. She has done everything from serving as the social director, parliamentarian and even historian. To think I didn’t even know there was such a thing as ‘parliamentarian’—way to go Nora! BCHA will be watching your progress and cheering you on, and we look forward to seeing you at BCHA events and activities! About Madeline Williams BCHA Collegiate Scholarship recipient Madeline (Maddie) Williams will apply her scholarship funds toward studies at Colorado State University, where she is pursuing a degree in Animal Science with a focus on Equine Sciences. On top of her studies, Maddie is the 2021 Boulder County Fair Lady-In-Waiting and 2022 Queen! As Rodeo Royalty she’s an […]

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Liz & Stitch

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This BCHA Share Your Story is by Liz French Liz French was awarded the BCHA Teen Scholarship in 2018. In her scholarship application she wrote about using the $250 award to further her dream of adopting a wild mustang. Fast forward several years and now Liz is a senior at Silver Creek High School in Longmont with applications out to numerous Universities. Before attending college, she plans to take a gap year to enjoy time with her adopted mustang and to travel abroad. BCHA is delighted to share this Here is an update from Liz on her experience adopting her wild mustang, Stitch. After attending a mustang makeover competition about five years ago, I started learning everything I could about the process of training a horse from scratch. I attended clinics, read books, watched videos, and generally furthered my horsemanship by riding and working with as many horses as possible. When the pandemic hit, I knew I wanted a project to keep me occupied during my senior year in high school and so I took to upgrading my facility to contain a wild horse (when I say “I,” I really mean that I oversaw my ever-supportive father as he built an overhang off our barn and extended the panels to reach the 6 foot minimum required by the BLM… thanks, dad!). Purchasing such building supplies is where my BCHA Youth Scholarship funds were allocated. Once the adoptions started opening back up was when the real work began. The process to adopt a mustang is a lengthy

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BCHA Awards its Two Youth Scholarships

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Congratulations Maddie and Liz! When the BCHA Youth Club formed three years ago, one of its primary objectives was to raise money for two new youth equestrian scholarships. The BCHA board is pleased to announce the names of our first two recipients: Madeline “Maddie” Williams $750 Collegiate Scholarship Awardee Maddie spends almost all of her spare time either riding, training, or taking care of horses. Her special interests include natural horsemanship, ranch versatility, and reining. She has shown horses through 4-H at the Boulder County Fair and in St. Vrain shows, but she has also honed her equine evaluation skills as part of St Vrain’s Horse Judging Career Development Event Team. Her last year earning was 4th Place at the 2018 National FFA competition. Maddie also takes pride in her dairy cattle showmanship and judging skills. She will be attending Aims Community College this fall, and will graduate in two years with an Animal Science Associates Degree, after which she intends to transfer to CSU in Ft. Collins, to study Equine Veterinary Sciences. “I plan to beome a holistic equine veterinarian,” says Maddie, explaining that she wants to help horses using all kinds of healing techniques, including acupuncture, equine dentistry, farriering, chiropractic treatment, herbal remedies, and laser therapy. Liz French $250 Teen Scholarship Awardee Liz first sat on a horse at the tender age of two, this was also the age she first fell off a horse—she reports with a smile.From then on she was hooked. Liz recounts how her first pony, Lucky, taught her about getting back

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