Kenai 4-H Teams place in state competitions
Teenagers, horses, and sunshine combined to make the 2011 Alaska State 4-H Horse Bowl a fantastic experience for Kenai horse lovers. Horse Bowl teaches kids of all ages, 4th - 12th grade, life skills such as public speaking, decision-making, dedication, teamwork, and critical thinking.
This year Horse Bowl was held in Kodiak on April 15 -17. .There were eight teams and over 50 individuals from Kodiak, South East, Mat-Su, Kenai Peninsula, and Tanana districts. Teams competed in horse judging, hippology, oral presentations, and quiz bowl. Horse Judging consisted of four quality classed in which contestants judged the conformation of Morgan Cross geldings, Paint mares, Stock horses, and Quarter horse type mares. There were also two pleasure classes in which they judged , in English and Western, how pleasurable the horse was to ride. In two other judging classes, contestants presented oral reasons to judges defending their placing. The next competition was Hippology. This event was introduced to Alaska for the first time this year. Hippology includes four segments; horse judging, written exams, ten testing stations, and team problem solving. The next day the competitions began with Oral Presentations. Participants were judged on oral presentations, demonstrations, and speeches about horse related topics which ranged from horse breeds to the muscular system. Lastly, the major event included the Horse Quiz Bowl. The Quiz Bowl consists of teams around the state competing in horse knowledge questions in a double elimination bracket. Sunday concluded the events with Fairbank's Laurie Knuutila's clinic on Competitive Trail Riding and proper saddle fitting. She demonstrated with actual horses and saddle.
The Kenai 4-H teams would like to give a BIG thank you to local women who volunteered their time to help train the Kenai teams. These volunteers include; Donna Richards, Sue Robinson, Katie Matthews (Scholenburg), Shirley Scholenburg, Geri Litzen, Teresa Zinc, and Stacie Motis. The parents of the team members also deserve a hand. The Horse bowl competitors were from Nikiski, Niinilchik, Anchor Point, and Homer. They studied over six months and were well prepared. Next year the event will be held in Mat-Su during April. If you would like more information about Horse Bowl or Kenai Peninsula 4-H contact Nancy Veal at nlveal@alaska.edu.
Here are the results for the two Kenai Peninsula teams:
Bareback Jumpers- Anna Marie Motis, Chena Litzen, Penelope Litzen, Mikayla Clark
Pegasus Flyers- Tisha Lovett, Melanie Mastolier, Hanna Kelson, Melissa Clark
Judging:
Team Judging: Bareback Jumpers, 2nd; Pegasus Flyers 5th
Individual Judging: Anna Marie Motis, 2nd; Melanie Mastolier 5th
Horse Judging Quality Champion: Anna Marie Motis.
Hippology:
Team Judging: Bareback Jumpers, 2nd; Pegasus Flyers 3rd
Individual Judging: Anna Marie Motis, 1s; Penelope Litzen 3rd
Team Problems: Bareback Jumpers, 1st.
Presentations: Anna Marie Motis, 1st; Chena Litzen, 2nd; Penelope Litzen, 3rd
Quiz Bowl: Bareback Jumpers, 4th; Pegasus Flyers, 5th
-- Submitted by Chena Litzen and Anna Marie Motis