The 2024 North Carolina State 4-H Horse Program Educational Teams recently wrapped up a successful fall contest season at the Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup in Louisville, Kentucky. Over 240 youth from 24 different states participated in the largest youth equine educational competition in the country. The North Carolina Horsebowl and Horse Judging team both placed first in their respective contests. The North Carolina Hippology team finished in third, and the Communications team placed fourth overall. Two North Carolina 4-H’ers won high individual awards and $500 scholarships for their performances in their events. Wake County 4-H’er Emmy Creek won high scoring individual honors in Horsebowl, and Cayden Lowe from Currituck County captured high individual honors in Horse Judging.

A total of seventeen North Carolina 4-H’ers represented the NC 4-H Horse Program at both the Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup, and the All American Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus, Ohio. The Congress is the largest single breed horse show in the world. Eastern Nationals is held in conjunction with the North American International Livestock Exposition. The North Carolina delegation competed in Horsebowl, Hippology, Horse Judging, and Communications events. The Communications contests consisted of Individual Presentation, Team Presentation, and Public Speaking.

The 2024 NC 4-H Hippology team was composed of Chatham County 4-H’ers Makenah Allred and Graham Zeiders, and Union County 4-H’ers Megan Montgomery and Lillian Sproles. The coaches for the team were Chatham County 4-H leaders Mary Dickerson and Ruth Vorder Bruegge. Hippology has four different phases: written, stations, judging, and team problems. At the Quarter Horse Congress, the team placed fifth in Written, first in Stations, and they were second in Team Problem, Judging, and Overall. Individually, team members received the following awards:
Graham Zeiders: 8th in Exam, 1st in Stations, 4th Overall
Makenah Allred: 8th in Stations, 7th in Judging, 9th Overall
Lillian Sproles: 9th in Stations, 9th Overall
Megan Montgomery: 5th in Judging

At the Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup, the team finished 3rd Overall, 1st in Judging, 3rd in Written and Stations, and 7th in Team Problem. Individual honors were as follows:

Graham Zeiders: 3rd Place Overall, 3rd Place Written, 3rd Place Stations
Lillian Sproles: 4th Place Overall, 7th Place Judging, 4th Place Stations
Makenah Allred: 10th Place Overall, 9th Place Judging, 10th Place Stations

In the Communications contests, NC was represented by Zoe Teemer from Cabarrus County, Emerson Page from Currituck County, and Eva Taylor and Paige Bundy from Perquimans County. Zoe competed in the Individual Presentation contest with her presentation titled, “Can You See Me?” Zoe described how to recognize and treat different ocular diseases found in horses. At the Quarter Horse Congress she placed third, and at Eastern Nationals she finished ninth. Zoe was coached by Cabarrus County 4-H Leader Laura Hollifield. Emerson Page’s Public Speech titled, “The Silent Struggle” tackled the topic of horse show burnout and why it occurs and effective strategies to combat it. Emerson won first place at Quarter Horse Congress and third place at Eastern Nationals. Her coach was Currituck County Extension Director, Cameron Lowe. Perquimans County 4-H’ers Eva Taylor and Paige Bundy paired up to compete in the Team Presentation competition. Their presentation explained why embryo transfer is used for equine reproduction, the steps that it takes to have a successful embryo transfer, and how it has impacted the industry. They captured top honors at the Quarter Horse Congress and finished fourth at Eastern Nationals. They were coached by Perquimans County 4-H Leader Sarah Wolfgang. Collectively, all four 4-H’ers finished fourth overall in the Team Communications Contest at Eastern Nationals. The Team Communications Award is based on the total number of points earned in the three different communications competitions.

The NC 4-H Horsebowl team was made up of Wake County 4-H’er Emmy Creek, Cumberland County 4-H’er Dai Akers, Allee Coble from Alamance County, Bryleigh Colbert from Nash County, and Faith Waelz from Gaston County. The team was coached by Wake County 4-H Leader Beth Morgan. At both the Quarter Horse Congress, and the Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup, the team went undefeated in bracket play to win first place overall. Individually, Emmy Creek won high individual honors at both contests. Dai Akers finished fifth at Congress and seventh at Nationals. Bryleigh Colbert placed seventh at Congress. 2024 marks the sixth consecutive year North Carolina has claimed the champion Horsebowl team title at Eastern Nationals.

The North Carolina 4-H Horse Judging team consisted of Chatham County 4-H’er Sara Richardson, Perquimans County 4-H’er Charli Williams, Charlize Colon from Union County and Cayden Lowe from Currituck County. Union County 4-H leader Samantha Taylor, and Perquimans County 4-H Leader Sarah Wolfgang coached the team. Horse Judging competitions award top ten placings for halter or conformation judging, performance judging, oral reasons, and overall. At the Quarter Horse Congress, the team placed 3rd in Halter, 5th in Performance, 4th in Reasons, and 4th Overall out of 28 teams. Individually, Cayden Lowe was 1st in Halter, and 5th in Reasons. Chali Williams was 10th in Performance and 9th Overall.

In the Eastern National competition, the NC judging team swept the team awards, placing first in conformation, performance, and reasons. Their outstanding performance earned them the overall champion team title, helping NC win the judging title four years in a row. Team member honors included:

Charlize Colon: 10th Overall, 8th in Reasons
Cayden Lowe: 1st Overall, 3rd in Reasons, 4th in Performance, 2nd in Conformation
Sara Richardson: 7th Overall, 4th in Reasons, 1st in PerformanceCharli Williams: 2nd Overall, 2nd in Reasons, 2nd in Performance, 5th in Conformation

Congratulations to Sara Richardson and Allee Coble for the outstanding accomplishment of being a member of an Eastern National Champion Horsebowl, Hippology, and Horse Judging Team. Sara (Chatham County), was on the winning Horsebowl team in 2022, Hippology in 2023, and Horse Judging in 2024. Allee (Alamance County) was on the winning Hippology team in 2022, Judging in 2023, and Hosebowl in 2024.

The NC State Extension Equine Husbandry staff is very proud of the hard work and effort that all the youth and coaches poured into representing the state in these events. Our teams owe a huge thank you to The Dale Earnhardt Foundation for supporting their competitive endeavors this season. The North Carolina State 4-H Horse program is also appreciative of the support of the North Carolina State Animal Science Department, North Carolina 4-H, and North Carolina Cooperative Extension.