Horse quiz: How well did you read 'Winning Bet'?

 (Earn points and free badges at our sister site, Mane-U. We are mobile-friendly and love horse trivia.)

Will 15-year-old Emma Duncan lose her horse Bonnie to the slaughterhouse? Emma and the mysterious Enrique must prove to everyone that Bonnie is not a loser, but a winner.

Winning Bet: 'What a great story'

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!

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

You might also enjoy Grooming for success: How good are you?

(Karin Livingston was 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.)

Farm kitchen: A take-away breakfast

I grabbed a piece of last night's kitchen experiment this morning, and it worked! Impossibly Easy Bacon Pie would be a great make-ahead for those horse show mornings when you need a grab-it breakfast.

Read also: Simple horse show food shopping list

Ranchers, farmers push for tax relief

“We will continue to make this our top priority until there is certainty in the tax code and rural America is relieved from the devastating effects of the estate tax.”
-- J.D. Alexander, President, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association

via southeastfarmpress.com

As this article notes, "Ranching families are often land rich and cash poor, with the appraised value of rural land being extremely inflated when compared to its agricultural value." Also, local governments are increasingly narrowing the definition of "agriculture", which results in higher property taxes on these same families.

Agriculture: 'A new brand of politics in northern Colorado'

As Polis himself put it, Larimer and Weld counties’ interests align most of the time, and when they diverge, Rep. Gardner will be on one side and Polis will be on the other.

via www.kunc.org

For agriculture’s sake, especially small agriculture in Colorado, let us hope this “stance” does not translate to non-committal, open to the highest bidder.

Read also: Agriculture survey reveals common concerns

Interior Secretary Salazar threatens to “punch out” reporter after wild-horse story

Update - Salazar formally apologizes to reporter he threatened to "punch out"

Update - Witness: Salazar threatened Colorado reporter

Just after Secretary Salazar answered final questions about the future safety of wild horses and he turned to leave the interview, he unexpectedly approached Phillips and told him, “If you set me up like this again, I’ll punch you out.”

via blog.chron.com (Read the initial story here.)