Girl Scouts At The Colorado Classic Horse Show
Monday, May 7, 2007
Realizing that the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a girl, the 31st annual Colorado Classic Horse Show once again was a proud partner with Girl Scouts – Mile Hi Council. Proceeds from the show totaled more than $1,500 and will benefit the equestrian program at Girl Scouts’ brand new Magic Sky Ranch, the largest outdoor camp for girls in Colorado.
The third annual Horse Fan Badge Event at Colorado Classic Horse Show gave 120 Junior Girl Scouts, ages 9-12, the opportunity to see a horse show and learn about horse care, behavior and equipment. But most importantly, the Girl Scouts could pet a horse, hug a horse, brush a horse and come away with many wonderful equine memories.
“I just love horses and I went to horse camp last year,” said 10-year-old Girl Scout Silje Hayes from Troop 1269 from Littleton. “But I can’t wait to try out the new horse program at Magic Sky camp!”
“Horses are really fun to watch, but what I love is how good they smell,” said troop mate Kyah Cook, 10. “I want to learn all that I can about them.”
“The girls in this troop have loved horses since they started Girl Scouts five years ago,” said assistant troop leader Monika Vogel. “Our troop held a special meeting to prepare for this event. We read books on famous horses, learned horse anatomy and learned about the different breeds.”
The Girl Scouts watched the Colorado Classic Horse Show and learned about the Morgan, Saddlebred and Arabian breeds. Show announcer Doug Shane helped the girls in the audience understand how the judges place the classes and answered their questions. After the show, the Girl Scouts rotated through 10 educational stations including horse behavior, horse health, riding equipment, grooming, safety, horse shoeing, adopting wild mustangs, famous horses, equine careers and barn tours. Girls will be able to continue their education with a special take-home notebook filled with horse facts and fun activities.
“I love petting the horses; they’re so soft and big,” said Carey Kocak, 9, from Troop 2107 from Morrison. “It’s fun taking care of animals, and I really liked the horse health station. I want to be a vet when I grow up.”
At the horse health station, Colorado State University equine science students Tracy Nelson and Mallory Bertolina were helping girls feel a horse’s respiration and determine how many breaths they took each minute.
“The girls are so enthusiastic and have great questions,” said Tracy. “The girls and the adults learned a lot about horses today.”
Another popular station was horse shoeing with farrier Del Slaugh. Starting with a straight metal bar, Del heated it in a 2,200 degree Fahrenheit forge until it was glowing red-hot. With a couple of deft swings with his hammer, Del turned the bar into a horseshoe.
“Most of the horse shoes I use I make from scratch,” said Del. “This way I can custom fit a shoe to each horse’s foot. This process is very similar to the way a horse shoe was made and fitted in the 1800s.”
At the grooming station, girls learned how to clean a horse from the tips of his ears to the bottoms of his feet.
“I didn’t know that there were so many different types of tools to clean a horse,” exclaimed Alexis Wynne, 9, from Troop 1854 from Highlands Ranch.
After brushing a horse’s tail and cleaning the feet, troop mate Alex Dillon, 8, declared, “I’ve decided that I want a horse of my own. I will put him in my grandparents’ pasture and I will feed him peppermints and sugar cubes for a treat. And maybe someday I can take my horse to a show just like this!”
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