Horse Club visits 6 White Horses

By Sam Waller

Members of the Shackelford County 4-H Horse Club enjoyed a visit Monday, Sept. 18 with the Six White Horses from Hardin-Simmons University.

Club member Faith Fry organized the program as part of her role as an Equine Ambassador.

“Faith’s role is to show younger kids the different opportunities that are available in the horse industry,” Shackelford County extension agent Kelsey Bell said. “That was a unique thing most of them haven’t thought about.”

The evening included a tour of the HSU equine facilities and a talk from director Debbie Jones on the history of the Six White Horses.

The group has represented HSU for nearly a century. In the late 1920s, Will “Sheriff” Watson decided to ride his white horse, Silver, at the head of the Cowboy Band in a parade. Attired in full Western dress to mirror the image of the Western-clad band members, Watson set an important pattern. The idea proved so popular that the famous Six White Horse parade unit was born.

“We learned how they’ve kept it going and what the process is for how the girls try out,” Bell said. “They have about 20 head of solid white horses, which is quite a sight to see. We got to see the HSU girls practice, and the kids did get to ride one of the horses if they wanted to. It was a lot of fun.”

Club Activities

The Food Club held its first meeting Wednesday, Sept. 13.

“Some kids have already formed teams for Food Challenge, and some don’t have a team yet,” Bell said. “We handed out some information and went over the basics of what Food Show and Food Challenge are.”

On Monday, Sept. 25, club officers met at The Feed Store to set the program for the Oct. 2 monthly club meeting.