4-H team places at horse judging
By Sam Waller
The Shackelford County 4-H Club service projects scheduled for next week will take place as planned on Wednesday, Dec. 15.
After that, it depends on the Albany Lions football team.
Local 4-Hers had planned three days of leaf raking to take advantage of early-release days from school.
If the Lions win tonight’s Class 2A Division II state semifinal, they will play in the championship game on Thursday, Dec. 16 in Arlington. Shackelford County extension agent Kelsey Bell said that puts the project in limbo.
“We’ll definitely plan on Wednesday,” she said. “Right now, we have enough yards to fill up that day. I think we can get everything done in one day, but we’re not trying to seek out anything else until we know if there’s going to be another game.”
Wednesday is already a busy day for the club, which will conduct its regular monthly meeting and help distribute Adopt-a-Senior gift baskets for ResourceCare.
“Delivering baskets is open to the whole club,” Bell said. “I’ve been coordinating that with ResourceCare.”
Sheep & Goats
About 15 4-Hers took part in a sheep and goat clinic on Tuesday, Nov. 30, conducted by Callahan County extension agent Karl Winge.
Bell said the clinic covered both basic care of animals as well as presenting them in the showring.
“A lot of our families are new to their kids showing, maybe first or second year,” she said. “Karl covered a lot of basics on how to care for an animal, things kids need to know in order to keep their animals healthy. Then we moved into showmanship, the concept of how to best show your animal and how to stand on the correct side so the judge can actually see your animal.”
Horse Judging
The Shackelford County horse judging team took a step into a new area of competition last weekend at the National Cutting Horse Association Judging Contest in Fort Worth.
The team of Sarah Holland, Jordan Fikes, Faith Fry, Grace Fry, and Hattie Fikes finished fifth. Grace Fry was seventh individually with Faith Fry ninth.
“That’s kind of a unique contest,” Bell said. “Typically, there’s not judging of cutting horse contests. The girls were excited to go try that out and even more excited to come away with placings.”
The team observed cutting horses working calves out of a herd and scored their performance.
“Typically, judging contests for horses are for conformation, like halter classes, where they’re just judging the animal,” Bell said. “There are performance classes, but it’s basic horse show classes like western pleasure and reining.”
