by Leigh Ballard
The American Ranch Horse Association has grown on the principles of a strong family orientation and a friendly competitive atmosphere. These principles are quite evident than in the large youth participation in the ranch horse shows. The AHRA provides a learning atmosphere and opportunity for their youth at shows and clinics, and through scholarships and awards available to their youth members. The recent South Kentucky Ranch Horse Association show in Bowling Green was a testament to how strong the youth contingent is. The youth classes were full, the Ranch Riding class was so full it had to be divided into two classes so the judge could do it justice!
Jan Poss, owner of Whole Lotta Luv Farm in Springfield, TN, is the youth director of the Volunteer Ranch Horse Association based in Murfreesboro, TN, and participated in the recent Kentucky show. She has several riding students who board their horses with her, and she hauls them and their horses to Ranch Horse events as well as 4-H shows and hunter shows. “There’s a whole bunch of them!” she says, “There are two who are very intense about Ranch Horse, but there are about seven who travel with me to all kinds of shows. We’ve been to Florida, Alabama, Georgia, all over the southeast really, and also Indiana and Missouri.”
Poss says, “We have some wonderful parents. One of them provided us with a motor home. The kids and I stay in the motor home, and the parents come to the shows as they can. Having the motor home is a real blessing. The kids have a hard schedule sometimes. They are in school all week, and then we travel and show on the weekends. But they get their lessons done!”
Miss Jan’s kids show in just about everything from the in-hand conformation classes to reining and boxing. Boxing is a preliminary training event for working cow horses. This means the horses and riders need to know everything they can about executing good horsemanship and riding skills involved in ranch riding and reining and cow work too.
Poss’s group is a part of the ranch horse community’s cooperative spirit. Erica Keeney, co-founder and Executive Secretary of the AHRA says, “The kids all work together to help each other. In the ring they compete against each other, but outside the ring they support, help, and teach each other.” Poss agrees, “They go in there to win, but they cheer each other when they come out whether they win or lose.”
And the show atmosphere is one of support and learning, too. In Youth Showmanship, after the judge had placed the class, and the youth were lined up waiting to be announced, the judge decided to give the exhibitors a constructive lecture about why he picked the order. He explained how the winner, whose horse placed low in the conformation class, won the showmanship class because of her demeanor and style, not because of her horse. He wanted the exhibitors to realize that each class should be seen as a new opportunity.
Keeney explains, “First and foremost, you need to like your horse. You should be a team with your horse. In the ARHA we have diverse, well-broke horses. Not a lot of the people specialize; they ride all-round horses. They are open-minded and take instruction. At a show they learn what they need to work on and where to focus to make a better team. After the show, you still need to like your horse, even if the judge didn’t. The kids learn a lot of life lessons at these shows. And there’s a lot of opportunity to be well-rounded and successful.”
For more youth program information, visit: www.americanranchhorse.net.
Photos: (photos by Heather Scott, HomeGrown Photography)
ARHA_Jan: ARHA Youth Director Jan Poss with two of her students.
ARHA youth: Youth participants at the American Ranch Horse Association show.
The American Ranch Horse Association has grown on the principles of a strong family orientation and a friendly competitive atmosphere. These principles are quite evident than in the large youth participation in the ranch horse shows. The AHRA provides a learning atmosphere and opportunity for their youth at shows and clinics, and through scholarships and awards available to their youth members. The recent South Kentucky Ranch Horse Association show in Bowling Green was a testament to how strong the youth contingent is. The youth classes were full, the Ranch Riding class was so full it had to be divided into two classes so the judge could do it justice!
Jan Poss, owner of Whole Lotta Luv Farm in Springfield, TN, is the youth director of the Volunteer Ranch Horse Association based in Murfreesboro, TN, and participated in the recent Kentucky show. She has several riding students who board their horses with her, and she hauls them and their horses to Ranch Horse events as well as 4-H shows and hunter shows. “There’s a whole bunch of them!” she says, “There are two who are very intense about Ranch Horse, but there are about seven who travel with me to all kinds of shows. We’ve been to Florida, Alabama, Georgia, all over the southeast really, and also Indiana and Missouri.”
Poss says, “We have some wonderful parents. One of them provided us with a motor home. The kids and I stay in the motor home, and the parents come to the shows as they can. Having the motor home is a real blessing. The kids have a hard schedule sometimes. They are in school all week, and then we travel and show on the weekends. But they get their lessons done!”
Miss Jan’s kids show in just about everything from the in-hand conformation classes to reining and boxing. Boxing is a preliminary training event for working cow horses. This means the horses and riders need to know everything they can about executing good horsemanship and riding skills involved in ranch riding and reining and cow work too.
Poss’s group is a part of the ranch horse community’s cooperative spirit. Erica Keeney, co-founder and Executive Secretary of the AHRA says, “The kids all work together to help each other. In the ring they compete against each other, but outside the ring they support, help, and teach each other.” Poss agrees, “They go in there to win, but they cheer each other when they come out whether they win or lose.”
And the show atmosphere is one of support and learning, too. In Youth Showmanship, after the judge had placed the class, and the youth were lined up waiting to be announced, the judge decided to give the exhibitors a constructive lecture about why he picked the order. He explained how the winner, whose horse placed low in the conformation class, won the showmanship class because of her demeanor and style, not because of her horse. He wanted the exhibitors to realize that each class should be seen as a new opportunity.
Keeney explains, “First and foremost, you need to like your horse. You should be a team with your horse. In the ARHA we have diverse, well-broke horses. Not a lot of the people specialize; they ride all-round horses. They are open-minded and take instruction. At a show they learn what they need to work on and where to focus to make a better team. After the show, you still need to like your horse, even if the judge didn’t. The kids learn a lot of life lessons at these shows. And there’s a lot of opportunity to be well-rounded and successful.”
For more youth program information, visit: www.americanranchhorse.net.
Photos: (photos by Heather Scott, HomeGrown Photography)
ARHA_Jan: ARHA Youth Director Jan Poss with two of her students.
ARHA youth: Youth participants at the American Ranch Horse Association show.
