Exploring Horses Levels 1—3
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4-H Equine Series Exploring Horses Levels 1—3 Introduction Have you ever wanted to learn about horses and how to ride them? If so, this is the 4-H project for you! There are seven sections called Skill Builders. Each Builder will focus on a Table of Contents specific topic. The Skill Builder has activities that will help you learn your Introduction 1 mounted and dismounted skills. Once all the Skill Builders have been completed there is a Showcase Challenge that lets you exhibit the skills you have gained. Skill Builder 1 3 Safety & Stable Management This project is designed to take a beginning 4-H member 3 years to complete. A more experienced member may Skill Builder 2 17 challenge the checklists to move through the levels more quickly. Groundwork Meet with your leader to decide the correct speed for you. Skill Builder 3 31 Grooming No matter what age you are, or how much experience you have working with horses, you should work through all of the Skill Builder 4 45 checklists so you are able to move on to the Discover level! Psychology One of the project goals is to make sure riders are safe when Skill Builder 5 54 practicing both groundwork and riding skills. Each Skill Builder Health has activities that are labeled by level. Some of them are labeled “any level”, so feel free to fill in those activities too. Skill Builder 6 75 Identification & Confirmation Meet Equus! Skill Builder 7 91 Equus is a smart, safe horse that will Riding appear throughout your manual to give you useful facts and safety tips on working Skills Checklists 119 with your horse. Patterns 124 Equus is the Latin word for horse. Equus is also the scientific name for the group of animals Portfolio & Showcase pages 130 that includes horses, donkeys and zebras. - Draft 2011 - This symbol will appear Learning is 3D! throughout the manual. Check Dig It Dream It out the website ideas wherever To help you get the most out of you see it. These links will lead your learning, each project you to online meeting has the following parts: content to help Dream it! Plan for success with your 4-H Do it! Hands on learning Do It horse project. Dig it! What did you learn? What Skills Will You Learn? Each section or Skill Builder (or Builder) in this project has activities that will help your project group learn to do by doing while learning new skills and having fun! To complete this project, you must: Complete the activities in each Builder OR a similar activity that focuses on the same skills, as you and your leader may plan other activities. Plan and complete the Showcase Challenge. Complete the Portfolio Page. Participate in your club’s Achievement (See the inside back cover for more in- formation about 4-H Achievements). How to use your Checklists Keep your checklists up-to-date. Your instructor or leader will initial the grey area once you have completed a skill. Review each level with your leader to determine which skills you have already mas- tered and highlight the ones you are working on. Keep going back and reviewing the lists. You may work on more than one level at a time and each level builds upon the previous level, but remember: you must complete Level 3 in “Exploring Horses” before moving on to Discovering Horses. Throughout the Skill Builders, you will see words in CAPITALS. These words are defined in the glos- sary section. At the back of the project book. 4-H Introduction Equus says… Take a look at the name of “4-H”. Have you ever thought about what 4-H stands for? Take a guess. I’ll give you a hint: _____________________________________________ 4-H stands for four _____________________________________________ things that begin _____________________________________________ with the letter H. _____________________________________________ 4-H members are 8 – 21 and must take some sort of project (beef, horse, rocketry, woodworking, cooking, etc). 4-H members learn how to have meetings and be leaders. 4-H exists around the world, existing in over 80 countries! The Manitoba 4-H program is based on the Quality Equation Principles of Quality People, Quality Experiences, and Quality Projects. 4-H has a pledge and motto which are said at the beginning of each meeting and other special events. 4-H PLEDGE “I pledge….. My HEAD to clearer thinking, 4-H MOTTO My HEART to greater loyalty, My HANDS to larger service, “Learn to do by doing.” My HEALTH to better living, For My Club, My Community, and My Country.” Skill Builder 1: Safety & Stable Management Equus says… Safety is everyone’s responsibility! Safety is the most important activity when handling horses. You must be careful around even the quietest horse. If you follow simple safety rules, you will have a much smaller chance of getting hurt. Accidents are predictable and preventable! SKILLS CHECKLIST Level Members will be able to: Activities L1 Give 3 safety rules to remember while riding your Safety True/False horse. Safe Rider Certificate L1 Give 3 safety rules to remember when working with Brain Mold your horse on the ground. Safety Check List All Describe 2 dress rules you should follow for safe riding. Blind Spots L1 Explain where a horse’s blind spots are and why it is Safety True/False important to know this. What's Wrong With This L2 List 3 ways to keep your barn or pasture safe Picture Safety On The Trail L3 List 3 safety rules to keep in mind on trail ride Safety Fill in the Blanks L3 Name five things that would make your barn or Hauling Your Horse pasture unsafe. Tying Trap All Identify 3 loading/hauling safety rules General Safety Sense and Safety Dream It! Throughout this skill builder, you will learn a number of safety precautions and practices that every horseperson needs to know. There are activities for each level in Exploring Horses meant to help you get the most out of your learning. Your leader will help you decide which activities, if any, you should do this year. Do you know of anyone who has been hurt while working with a horse? Do you think this could have been prevented? In this Skill Builder you will be taught some safety skills to help prevent future EQUINE accidents. Do it! Reference material for the following activities can be found on pages 23-28 of this manual. 3 Safety True or False (Level 1) Answer each question with a T or F for true of false. For any that are false, discuss why that is. __ 1. When picking up your horse’s hind feet, it is safer to stand as far away as possible but still be able to clean the HOOF properly. __ 2. Safety is everyone’s responsibility. __ 3. It is a good idea to wrap the lead shank around your hand so that the horse can’t get away if it pulls. __ 4. When leading a horse and you want to turn, pull it around you because it is easier than pushing it away from you. __ 5. Do not mount your horse in a barn. Safe Rider Certificate (Level 1) Fill in three safe riding rules you have learned on this Safe Rider certificate. Safe Rider This certificate is being awarded to _________________________________. They have displayed safe horseback riding practices by knowing the following three safety rules: 1. ____________________________________________________________ 2. ____________________________________________________________ 3. ____________________________________________________________ 4 Brain Mold (Level 1) Your leader will help you create two ‘brain molds’ from gelatin, and experiment with it. When you are done, reflect on the results by answering the following questions. 1. What happened when your ‘brain’ hit the ground in a baseball cap? 2. What happened when your ‘brain’ hit the ground in the helmet? 3. What does this demonstrate about helmet safety? 4. Would you be more likely to wear a helmet now? Note: Be very careful, on the step ladder and take turns. Safety Check List (Level 2) Many cuts and bruises happen because the horse’s living area is not a safe area. Loose boards, nails sticking out of stalls, wire lying about – any of these can lead to an accident. Check off each item on the safety list after looking over your horse’s living area. All TACK is in good repair and has been carefully put away. Shovels and forks are stored in a safe place. No abandoned machinery is left sitting where a horse could be injured. Fences, gates and doors are in good repair. Enough lighting in the barn or other housing. No nails, spikes, etc. sticking out on the stalls or fences. No slippery floors or depressions in aisles or stalls.(N/A if you don’t have a barn.) Plenty of bedding in the stall or housing. A FIRST AID kit is on hand. “No smoking” signs are posted where appropriate. All gates can be securely locked to prevent animals from escaping. Emergency phone numbers are posted in the barn, TACK shed or near the phone. No holes for your horse to trip in. Did you leave any items unchecked? Should you change anything to make your horse’s “home” safer? Equus says… Always remember to tie your horses on opposite sides of the trailer when one of them is more dominant, and may kick the other one to keep it away from their food. If the sun is shining on one side of the trailer, and you don’t want to tie your horse there, try to keep the less dominant horse far out of reach of the dominant one.