North Carolina 4-H Teams Excel at 2025 Eastern National Horse Roundup

(Updated: Nov. 13, 2025, 8:02 a.m.)

The 2025 North Carolina State 4-H Horse Program Educational Teams recently completed a highly successful fall contest season at the Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup in Louisville, Kentucky.

This event is recognized as the country's largest youth equine educational competition, and this year’s event was attended by over 270 youth from 26 states. North Carolina demonstrated exceptional performance across the board by securing the top spot in all four major team categories:
  • Hippology
  • Communications
  • Horsebowl
  • Horse Judging

Noteworthy Achievements


The team’s effort was complemented by strong individual accomplishments:
  • Three North Carolina 4-H’ers were awarded $500 scholarships based on their high scores in their respective events.
  • Emmy Creek (Wake County 4-H) earned the recognition of high-scoring individual in Hippology.
  • Sophia Haislop and Abigail Poirrier (Currituck County 4-H) first place in Team Presentation.
Thank you to The Dale Earnhardt Foundation for it's extreme generosity and support so the youth have a full scholarship to be on these teams!
2025 Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup Hippology, Communications, Horsebowl & Hippology Team Champions
The Dale Earnhardt Foundation

Hippology Team- 1st Overall


The NC 4-H Hippology team was coached by Wake County 4-H volunteer Beth Morgan. The team placed first in Written, Stations, Judging, and Overall, and was second in Team Problem. Individual awards were as follows:
  • Emmy Creek (Wake County)- 1st Written, 1st Stations, 1st Judging, and 1st Overall
  • Dai Akers (Wake County)- 5th Written, 4th Stations, 3rd Overall
  • Audrey Taylor (Cumberland County)- 9th Written, 7th Stations, 7th Overall
  • Morgan Grossheim (Wake County)- 10th Written, 10th Stations, 10th Overall
2025 Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup Hippology Team Champions Emmy Creek, Dai Akers, Morgan Grossheim, Audrey Taylor Coach: Beth Morgan
2025 Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup Hippology High Stations, Written, Judging and Overall Individual Emmy Creek

Communications Team-1st Overall


The North Carolina 4-H Communications Team was coached by Cameron Lowe, the Currituck County Extension Director, and was represented by:
  • Abigail Poirrier and Sophia Haislop (Currituck County), Champions in Team Presentation.
  • Emerson Page (Currituck County), 7th in Individual Presentation.
  • Bryleigh Colbert (Nash County), Reserve Champion in Public Speaking.
2025 Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup Communications Team Champions Emerson Page, Sophia Haislop, Abigail Poirrier, Bryleigh Colbert (not pictured) Coach: Cameron Lowe
2025 Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup Team Presentation Champions Sophia Haislop & Abigail Poirrier Coach: Cameron Lowe
2025 Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup Public Speaking Reserve Champion Bryleigh Colbert

Horsebowl Team-1st Overall

The NC 4-H Horsebowl Team was coached by Union County 4-H Volunteer Angela Kaus, and team members were:
  • Kylee Green (Union County), 8th High Individual
  • Megan Montgomery (Union County), 9th High Individual
  • Eva Taylor (Perquimans County)
  • Hollis Volker (Wilson County)
  • Charli Williams (Perquimans County)
2025 Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup Horsebowl Team Champions Kylee Greene, Charli Williams, Eva Taylor, Hollis Volker, Megan Montgomery Coach: Angela Kaus

Horse Judging Team-1st Overall


The NC 4-H Horse Judging Team was coached by Union County 4-H Volunteer Samantha Taylor. The team placed first in Halter, Reasons, and Performance. Team members and their individual accomplishments were:
  • Makenah Allred (Chatham County)- 7th Performance
  • Kinley Johnson (Rockingham County)- 1st Performance, 1st Reasons, 3rd Overall
  • Zoey Lovelace (Gaston County)- 7th Halter, 6th Reasons
  • Addison Taylor (Union County)- 8th Halter, 6th Performance, 9th Reasons, 4th Overall
2025 Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup Horse Judging Team Champions Zoey Lovelace, Kinley Johnson, Addison Taylor, Makenah Allred Coach: Samantha Taylor
2025 Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup Horse Judging High Individual Performance & Oral Reasons Kinley Johnson
Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Email this article Print this article

Subscribe for Email Updates

Receive periodic email updates on topics you care about.
SUBSCRIBE

Written By
Lori Stroud profile picture
Lori Stroud
More About