MyHoofPrints

Saddle savvy: How much do you know?

The 4-H Riding Advancement Levels make up an important part of any 4-H'ers Horse Project in our neck of the woods, and the annual county and state fairs emphasize an exhibitor's knowledge of horses. Sometimes, at open shows a judge may even break a tie with a horse knowledge question. Are you ready? How much do you know about saddles?

Our 4-H’ers also take written tests as part of their projects. In Colorado, the Written Test counts as a regular horse show class at both the county and state fairs horse shows. Easy points on any horse knowledge test include, among other things, parts of the saddle. In real life, you need to know your equipment terms so that if something breaks or doesn’t work right, you can call it something other than that “thingy” when describing the problem to your tack shop. This is also a great project if you’re enrolled in the

4-H Horseless Horse project. Click on the photo or the following text link to try our parts-of-the-saddle quiz. There are 35 “click-it” questions on English and Western saddles. You need 80% or better to pass. If you do pass, be sure to click the “Finish” button to get your printable achievement certificate. Have fun! Good luck!

If this quiz helped you, please:

Try our other horse quizzes!

(Karin Livingston is a career 4-H leader specializing in horses, and is the author of the young-adult horse novel, Winning Bet.)

20 questions: How well do you know leads, diagonals?

 Recently, we got a judge at a horse show who gave first place in our equitation class to a rider with gross lead and diagonal errors on the pattern. Worse, it happened in yet another class. Same horse. Same rider. These things happen, and maybe the judge forgot to wear glasses. You have to figure that days like this make up for that time you won a ribbon and didn’t really ride that well. Really though, everybody riding, judging or rating needs to have a firm grasp of leads and diagonals.

Good horsemen know where the horse’s feet are, and what those feet are doing. Judges, instructors, and raters in particular need to be able to see these things from a distance. Riders need to feel the differences for balanced and safer rides, in order to pass riding advancement levels tests, and yes, be more competitive.

How good are you at leads and diagonals? We offer 20 questions for you, and if you pass, you earn a certificate that you can print out. This is not just a quiz. It is a learning experience. You can watch the videos and take the quiz as many times as you want. Good luck! Click here, or on the photo to start.

If this quiz helped you, please:

 

Other quizzes:

Horse Safety: How do you rate?

Winning Bet: Reader's challenge

(Karin Livingston is a career 4-H leader specializing in horses, and the author of the young-adult horse novel, Winning Bet, available in hard copy and for e-readers.)

Quiz: How well did you read 'Winning Bet'?

  For teachers, 4-H leaders and clubs that want to use Winning Bet (ISBN: 0-615-32165-8; $12.95; paperback) as part of their classroom curriculum or 4-H project work, we've developed a free quiz for the novel.

 To pass the quiz, you must score 80-percent or better. Successful quiz-takers can click the "finish" button to get a printable achievement certificate for their records. Just click on the Winning Bet photo at left to start the quiz. Good luck!

Winning Bet: 'What a great story'

Winning Bet 'delightful, highly recommended'

Look inside the book

Would you rather use Accelerated Reader? You can help put Winning Bet on the Accelerated Reader list. If enough of you request it, Renaissance Learning will write an AR test for Winning Bet that any AR school can use, and anybody -- not just librarians -- can request! Just go to http://www.renlearn.com/ar/customercare/titlesuggestions.asp to make the request.
 Information you’ll need:
Title: Winning Bet
ISBN: 0-615-32165-8
Publisher: Ingram
Interest Level: Middle Grades Plus
Year Published: 2009

(Karin Livingston is a career 4-H horse leader. Winning Bet is available at Amazon, on the Kindle e-reader, Barnes & Noble online, IndieBound.org stores, and to librarians and retailers through the Ingram Book Group.)

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Horse safety: How do you rate?

One of the huge strengths of the 4-H Horse Project is that safety comes first, no matter what. How safe are you around horses? Knowing the answer to these questions, which represent just a sampling of 4-H safety rules, could save your life. You must answer 80% correct in order to be considered passing.

Click here or on the photo to take our test. Good luck! 

If this quiz helped you, please:

Another quiz: Horse Colors - Who's What, Marked Where?

More quizzes 

Who's what, marked where?

The other evening when I brought horses in from their daily turnouts, I found two horses in the same pen, wearing identical blankets, and at first glance, the geldings looked identical. A closer look revealed that my equine friends were actually a brown and a bay. I instantly knew who was who, and therefore who went where. At a stable, you typically have a lot of horses, and being able to describe an individual to the veterinarian, the farrier, or other help becomes crucial. Colors and markings are the equivalent of your horse’s license plate. And if you move into a horse profession, brand inspector, sales broker or breeder for instance, you need an even deeper understanding of colors and markings. Larimer County Horse Project 4-H’ers will find something about colors and markings on almost every written test they take. We think this game (click on the photo to launch the quiz) is appropriate for a 4-H Advancement Level I or II written test. Try it to see how your knowledge stacks up. Have fun!
Had trouble? Follow these links to learn more:
Morgan Horse colors
Quarter Horse colors
Paint Horse markings

Barn Sense 1

Have you ever thought of running your own horse barn? It takes a lot more than a love for horses to make a successful barn manager. Knowledge of horses, equestrian sports, business, facilities management and current market conditions that may affect you will be key to your success. People who have grown up in the Colorado 4-H Horse Project and pursue the higher advancement levels tests make excellent horse professionals due to their strong background in many of these key areas. How do you stack up? We turned a few key pieces of information from the Colorado State 4-H Horse Project Members Manual into a test of your barn sense. If you miss a question, the game ends, so be careful. Have fun with our first "Barn Sense" quiz!