Each year, teams of 4-H members spend hours as they ready themselves for the Annual 4-H Western National Roundup Horse Bowl. Based on many years of learning about horses, and participating in equine-oriented activities, a 4-H team from Nebraska won the national equine quiz bowl while learning about more than horses.
Young woman riding her horse
4-H team wins national equine quiz bowl while learning about more than horses.
© 2016 by Alexia Khruscheva
The Horse Bowl contest provides an opportunity for youth enrolled in 4-H horse projects to demonstrate their knowledge of equine-related subject matter in a competitive setting where attitudes of friendliness and fairness prevail. These contests will provide an educational experience for both participants and spectators.
This year a team of Nebraskans won first place in the 4-H Western National Roundup Horse Bowl. Makenna Parks of Omaha, Jennifer Tidwell of Palmyra, Breanna Wilkinson and Marie Day, both of Bellevue, Nebraska, demonstrated their knowledge of everything equine in the Bowl contest. Years of studying went into their success.
Marie Day, a 19-year-old from Bellevue, reels off a couple of the things she learned, beyond the muscular and circulatory systems, diseases and history of horses. About making mistakes: “Don’t be afraid to get things wrong,” said Day, who graduated from Bellevue West High School. “It’s OK to get things wrong as long as you learn from your mistakes and move forward .”
The winning team was coached by Taylor Barnes, herself a 2010 national winner from Gretna, Nebraska. This was the second Omaha area team that Barnes has coached to first place nationally.
The team and their coach said there’s something else useful about learning the about the biology of horses. You learn a lot about humans, too." As it turns out, horses and humans — really any mammal — have a lot in common.
“For the most part, what they learn applies to every species,” said Barnes, who is studying animal science at Texas A&M University.
Day, a biology major at Creighton University, said Horse Bowl has given her a leg up in college-level studies of human anatomy. Her goal is to become a dentist.
Wilkinson, a Bellevue West senior, has been showing horses since she was 8 years old and can trace her love of horses through her mother, grandmother and grandfather. “It’s kind of in my blood,” she said, “And research is appealing.” She wants to become an animal health technician and work in the processing of market animals.
After countless hours of studying, travel and sacrifice, the team has developed into a second family, she said.
Parks, a junior at Omaha’s North High School, said her opportunities in 4-H underscore that “You don’t have to live on a farm to experience the things that (farm) people do.”
And she echoed the thoughts of many who love horses. “Honestly, horses seem to understand you and feed off of you,” she said. “If you’re calm, they’re calm. They’re very perceptive animals. They seem to understand you on an emotional level.”
Learn more about the winning 4-H team and the Western National Roundup Horse Bowl.
Press release from Western National Roundup.org