NEEPAWA, Man. – Being in the 4-H Young Horse Development Project isn’t
just about learning horse training tricks. It’s also about grappling
with life and death.
It thrusts teenagers into a pseudo-parent role with their foals,
bringing challenges and rewards.
“You get to see them develop,” said 16-year-old Justin Bridgeman of
Binscarth, Man., who took part in a 4-H Young Horse Development Project
clinic here recently.
“We’re teaching each other,” he said about his horse.
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“He doesn’t know anything. I just know a little. We help each other.”
It’s this kind of thinking that Lorette, Man., horse trainer Harvey
Lyons thinks this program teaches.
“This program is great for the kids. It gives them a focus. It’s good
for their ego,” said Lyons.
“Here you have to take a colt. It’s not an aged horse you can get on in
school.”
The program allows
4-Hers older than 15, who have already taken part in earlier horse
programs, to purchase a low-price weanling from pregnant mare’s urine
farms that support the program.
The goal is to be able to present a yearling “in hand” and a two year
old “under saddle.”
Lyons led the 4-Hers through a day of sessions designed to hone their
skills and help them produce well-trained, healthy horses.
The life and death aspect of horse ownership has been made more
dramatic by the discovery of West Nile virus in Manitoba and
Saskatchewan. Horses are susceptible to the disease and can be killed
by it. Dozens of horses across Manitoba have been getting sick.
Suspicious deaths
Veterinarian Everett More of Virden, Man., said some horses in his area
had died suspicious deaths before people realized West Nile was in the
area.
More than a dozen other local horses are being tested for the disease,
and one was proven to have been killed by West Nile virus.
More said most of the affected horses have been commercial horses, but
one became a tragedy for a young girl.
Her horse was at the Virden rodeo when it became sick and died. Any
horse’s unnatural death is terrible, but the loss of this well-loved
animal struck hard.
“It upset her. It upset me too,” said More.
“How would anyone react when a horse that means something to them has a
disease that we don’t have a good handle on curing?”
Bridgeman, who lives on a farm, knows all about the disease and knows
enough about livestock to be prepared for the worst if it happens, but
to not panic or worry too much.
“It shouldn’t be a big deal around where we live,” said Bridgeman about
the risk of the disease.
“There’s a lot of stuff a horse can die from. This is just another
thing.”
Lyons said 4-Hers benefit from having to take charge of a living
creature and care for it.
“You’ve got the horse. You’re responsible for it,” said Lyons.
“Some of them don’t know what to do, but that’s how you learn. Get out
there and get thrown into the fire.”
