Jefferson County 4-H Gets Off To A Great Start

Jefferson County, Tennessee 4-H – Staff Photo by Robin McMahon

While the 4-H club has not had their official meeting yet, they have had a busy two weeks! Last Tuesday, was the Informational Market Hog Meeting. This Thursday was the 4-H Horse Club Meeting

At Tuesday’s Informational Market Hog Meeting, 4-H members and their families learned about the 4-H Market Hog Project. The project consists of 4-H members raising a piglet into a hog, and showing at the Easter Region Show in Murfreesboro in January. Members choose whether to sell, eat or keep the hog for next year’s piglets. Students have the opportunity to learn about the expense, time and labor that are included in raising and showing pigs.

At the Horse club, the University Extension was packed! There was no chair to sit in and by the end no where to stand! Our young community clearly appreciates horses! This club is for any fourth grader or higher who cares about horses. They do not have to own a horse, only attend the fun meetings. There is so much to be learned from this fun, free club.

They discussed the joys and knowledge learned in the Hippology Horse Bowl. Last year’s team, a junior team made of 4-5 graders, was Eastern Region 4-H champions. This year 4-H hopes to put together a junior team, junior high team and a senior team they are also interested in starting a judging team.  They will begin practicing that soon. Horse bowl hippology practice will be on Wednesday nights at the New Market Elementary where counties compete against other counties.  The teams will be meeting once a week to study and they will be meeting twice a week right before the Horse Bowl.

Members of the 4-H club keep a project book that will have all of their information that they learn about horses in the book to be able to review. Members do not have to have a horse to be a member. Those that have a horse will keep track of receipts, when the Ferrier comes, when the veterinarians come to weight, riding time, ect.

They enter horse shows. There are county wide horse show, regional horse show, and state show in Shelby, Tennessee.  Last year, all of the members brought home ribbons. Those who do not have a horse can lease ride, or just come along and learn a lot about horses.

They also do service projects as a club for the year, and last year they collected horse food for a rescue center.

In the upcoming weeks, a Veterinarian will come by and show how to take the horses temperature, pulse, respiration rate, what to look for if they are sick.  Miniatures horses will be one meeting with carts to take members on a cart ride, natural horsemanship clinic.

Open house at the new University of Tennessee Veterinary will be the first field trip. The group will meet at 8 o’clock in the New Market Baptist church parking lot and will caravan to the Veterinary school. This field trip will be on September 21, 2013 and this will be considered the second meeting.

The 4-H is also participating in Operation Christmas child. This consists of a shoe box filled with pencil, paper, candy, hair bows, toys, whatever can fit into the box. To be given to children less fortunate on Indian reservations or sent to third world countries. This is just the beginning of the great things that will be going on in 4-H this year. If you are interested in any of the clubs or 4-H itself, please contact Sarah, Vaden at the University Extension office at 865-937-2969