When it comes to hippology, four Snohomish County teens can boast of being tops among their peers.
Their expertise in horses propelled the local quartet of 4-H’ers to the Eastern National 4-H Roundup in Louisville, Ky., last month. The hippology team finished third there after winning Washington state this spring. Three other local 4-H’ers placed high nationally in other events.
“Snohomish (County) is a force to be reckoned with,” said Kim Harris of Snohomish, whose 15-year-old daughter Shannon was the team captain. “Snohomish (County) has a reputation as being hard to beat.”
Also on the hippology team were Karsten Burkenpas of Monroe, Rianan Sansaver of Stanwood and Kira Mazzola of Redmond.
In other events, Emily Logan of Redmond finished fourth in public speaking. Allison Brown of Woodinville and Mackenzie Cleary of Snohomish together finished fifth in the team equine demonstration.
The hippology competition tests youths on written questions, identifying pictures and judging horses, among other areas.
Some head-scratchers that could have come up:
“Paso fino” means what in English? (fine walk)
Chestnut can describe a horse’s color or which body part? (a horny growth on the inside of the front leg)
With some 2,000 club members, Snohomish County has one of the country’s largest 4-H programs, said Curt Moulton, WSU Snohomish County Extension director. The county has sent 130 4-H’ers to represent Washington nationally in 30 years of competition, said Pat Pehling, a volunteer who heads the county 4-H horse program.
Now that she’s been to Kentucky, Shannon Harris is excited to return. The Snohomish High School sophomore hopes to reach the National Roundup for a different event next year, since she can’t go there twice for the same one. She also has her heart set on attending the University of Kentucky.
“It was an amazing experience,” she said, “and I really, really hope I get to go back and do it again.”
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
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