The Anderson County 4-H show is next Saturday at ETRC. We will be loading and leaving the farm at 8am. Registration starts at 9am. This is a youth only show, but we encourage our adult members to come out and show their support.

Shout out to Caitlin K. for putting in a good showing at Tri-County 4-H show, showing MC in the gaited division for the first time. Also congrats to Faith for her performance at her first ever Dressage and Combined Training show at Penrose Farms. Thanks to all who came out to support both these guys! What an awesome team we have!

Saturday at Stonegate was another wonderful show for our team. We had some new members and new horses and all did well. Lora Grace brought home High Point Youth once again! Congratulations! Caitlin K. made her debut in the cross rails division and we are so proud of her. Faith and Katie excelled in Equitation, Caitlyn H. had a super day with Bullet. Kelsey made her show debut with our team placing well in every class she entered. Big props to Emma for having to show a horse she had never even rode before and it was the horses’ first show ever! Olivia and Jordan excelled in the gaited division. Thanks to Ashley and Matt for putting on the show. It is so friendly and very well run!

We have only two members attending the Tri-County Show at the end of the month and then we are gearing up for Anderson County 4-H show in May. You can watch Jane, Heather and Mary battle it out in the Bill Payers Special!

Hey all! Stonegate Show tomorrow! We will have 9 kids participating so it will be busy. As you remember last time they had trouble squeezing in all the classes before it got dark so they have moved the start time up to 8am. Everyone be there at 7am. Parents get your kids registered while we get everyone unloaded, tied and kids can start grooming. I need all team members participating in showmanship and halter dressed and ready to review patterns by 7:45. See you there! Looks like beautiful weather and a should be a great day!!

Show Team practice on Sunday at 2:00. We will start with in hand review and then do light riding focusing on rail work. Light fences for those doing jumps next weekend. It will be warm so bring lots of fluids. Arrange with the coaches time to come out Friday to bathe horses and clean tack and pack trailers.

The STAR Tack Sale is today from 4-8pm. It is located at their beautiful facility in Lenoir City. This is a great way to get some great deals on tack and riding apparel and support a wonderful program.

Our first show of the season went well! Despite the scary weather the night before, the show was still on! Caitlyn H. was unable to attend due damage from the storms to their home, so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Lora Grace, Katie, Faith, Caitlin K., Olivia, Jordan, Emma and McKenzie K. all competed at the show on Saturday. The horses were all really well behaved and everyone did well! There was a good group from all around that came to compete including the entire Maryville College Equestrian Team. Despite the stiff competition, our team rocked it out placing well in every class. They were all upbeat and positive and seemed to have a great time!

Congratulations to all who competed! We even brought home some special honors:

Olivia and MC brought home High Point Gaited

Lora Grace brought home High Point Youth

Faith brought home High Point English 

Special thanks to all the students and team members not competing who came out to watch and support the team! We really appreciate it!

Our first show of the season is this Saturday at Stonegate Farms. It is an awesome open show series that is friendly to beginners yet competitive for our advanced riders. If you are not competing in the first show please come out and watch and cheer on your fellow team members. Those of you competing we will be loading up at the farm between 7 and 7:30am to arrive at Stonegate at 8:00am. Classes begin at 9:00am. We are crossing our fingers for no rain. If it is raining in the morning please contact your coaches, we will be in contact with Ashley at Stonegate and she will keep us posted if plans change due to weather.

We will be having Show Team Practice Sunday, February 26th at 2pm. Please get there ahead of time and have your critter ready at 2pm to practice in-hand classes first. Afterwards we will saddle up and practice rail work. Weather permitting/footing permitting we will be doing some fence work for the English riders and Speed events for those wishing to run through those. We will also have a trail pattern set up in the field that we will run through for those of you doing trail classes. This can be done mounted, in-hand, and/or both. 

Your membership fee must be paid either before or on this day in order to participate. New team member parents - this is also the day we will have your handling, grooming, and tacking class.

Our first show is March 3rd at Stonegate. We will have class lists available at practice. Everyone wishing to participate in the March 3rd Show will need to tell Mary and Heather ASAP so we can figure out trailering.

Monday, February 20th, Heather and Mary will be at Roane State in Harriman teaching the 4-H winter clinic. Any team members wishing to attend can contact them about either meeting them there or carpooling. This is a great way to get a jump start on our season and visit with 4-H members from all over. Good luck to those of you riding in it, we can’t wait to see you there!