4-H Kids Across the Upper Peninsula Compete in Regional Horse Bowl

-- The drawing is by Lane Whitley, 14

Over 100 kids gave up a recent Saturday to go to the Forest Park High School in Crystal Falls to be drilled, question after question. The questions weren’t on algebra or history, instead they were about something the kids love--Horses.

During the recent Upper Peninsula Regional Horse Bowl, which is run by the Michigan State University Extension, the young horse enthusiasts, all 4-H members from across the Upper Peninsula and Northeastern Wisconsin, were asked questions about riding, horse care, horse diseases and horse anatomy.

Participant Katie Lindow, sixteen, of Florence, Wisconsin, who competed for the Dickinson County team, says she had a great time, while at the same time learning a lot.

“I get a better knowledge of horse-related activities, diseases, and anything to do with horses, I get to spend time with some amazing friends, and I get to meet new people,” she said.

It was the first year Rebecca Vollrath, seventeen, of Houghton competed in the Horse Bowl but she left enthusiastic about the event.

“I think it’s a good idea because it lets students get together and learn more about horses in kind of a fun, competitive way,” she said.

During the competition, the kids squared off both individually and as part of a team. In the middle of a classroom there were two tables for the teams, and facing them was one long table for the judges. Each team member had their fingers ready to push a buzzer if they knew the answer. Some risked pushing the button before the question was finished. That strategy had mixed results.

According to Linda Beyer of Wallace, who is the Menominee County coach and is also on the State Programming Committee for Horse Bowl, the event is set up like a quiz show.

“You have a team with four players and they play against another team with four players,” she said. “It’s patterned after College Bowl. Each contestant gets to answer an individual question and then they compete against the opposite team.”

Some examples of questions included: Which grooming tool is used to trim the long hairs from a horse’s tail or mane? The answer was clippers. Name three parasites that affect horses? Some possible answers would be stomach worms, pin worms or tape worms. Give one example of legume hay. Some correct answers would be alfalfa, clover.

The competitors took the Horse Bowl very seriously because they were competing in something that they loved and on a subject that they enjoyed very much. They practiced long and hard for the big event and practiced both individually and as a team.

Cassidy Calderwood, eleven, of Marquette obviously practiced a lot.

“Study, study, study, study, study since November,” she said

Lindow was also ready and prepared.

“We practiced, as a group, every week for two months and at school I had my friends practice with me,” she said.

Despite all the studying, Calderwood explained that the judges had some tricks to make the questions more difficult.

“The most difficult thing is probably going in that room and being asked questions that have been flipped around from the things that you have actually studied,” she said. “It’s just a nerve-racking thing because sometimes when you’re answering individual questions there is so much pressure on you that you’re just, like, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t know what to do!’”

The kids came from all around the region, including communities such as Mass City, Houghton, Norway, Sault Ste.Marie, Florence, Wisconsin and many others. There were teams from seven county 4-H programs including Chippewa County, Dickinson County, Gogebic County, Houghton County, Marquette County, Menominee County and Ontonagon County.

When the dust cleared at the end of the day, the Menominee County Team swept the Senior Regular Division with the team award and the top four individual awards. In the Senior Novice Division the Gogebic County Team finished at the top of the team standings and had the top three individuals. In the Junior Regular Division, the Marquette County “A” Team won the team competition and team member Emily Bertucci of Ishpeming won the individual award. Lastly, in the Junior Novice Division, the Gogebic County Team took the top spot, plus four out of five top individual spots.

Marquette County Coach Cathy Waller said the contestants give up a lot of time to compete but really seem to enjoy it.

“They have a lot of fun hanging out with each other on a weekly basis to practice,” she said. “They never get tired of learning about horses. All these kids ride.”

Most of the kids have future dreams connected to horses. Calderwood said she hopes to become a veterinarian, specifically a large animal vet, which means she would deal with horses, cattle and sheep. Vollrath also wants to be a veterinarian and she said she hopes to do chiropraction and acupuncture on horses as well. Likewise, Lindow either wants to become a large animal vet, specializing in equine medicine, or a trainer who handles the stunt horses for the movies.

One of the few boys at the competition, Eric Kocher, fourteen, of Mass City, has some different dreams involving horses.

“When I’m older I want to live on a ranch somewhere out west,” he said.

Editor’s note: This story was written by the members of the 8-18 Media Ishpeming Bureau: Tia Platteborze, 12; Lorissa Juntti, 11; Sydney Dorow, 10, and Mariel Morton, 9.