Hays County 4-H Horse Club

06/08/2026

The Hays County 4-H Horse Program held its Awards Party tonight at DSRP and what a fantastic turnout of kids and parents!

We kicked off the party with scholarship presentations. Chad Young and Joe Hunt, representing the Gunner Thames Memorial Foundation, presented seniors Kendall Crow and Ellie Warner with their checks. We are so grateful for everyone in the Gunner Thames Memorial Foundation for their ongoing support of our 4-H youth! We also awarded scholarships to Kendall and Ellie from the Bruce Mayes Memorial Scholarship Program. THANK YOU to these amazing non-profits and their continued support of our horse kids!

Our Point Show awards were plentiful as each 4-H'er was introduced and received their awards to the applause and cheers of parents and friends. To be eligible for awards each youth was require to show in 2 of our 3 Point Shows held in January, February and March this year. Big thanks to parent volunteer Carie Kahanek for finding and organizing the awesome awards and buckles!

Senior Division (High School): Audrey Avery, Braelyn Avery, Kendall Crow, Selena Dillon, Ava Eiland, Lucy Evans, Lola McDougall, Caitlin Paier, Tatum Smith, Ellie Warner and Audrey Wilks.

Junior Division (3rd thru 8th Grade): Holly Dame, Madison Force, Madeline McDonald, Astrid Schlomer, Lorelie Schlomer, Olivia Schlomer, Tilden Shives, Cheyene Sims, Emma Wean and Madi Wean.

We also celebrated our wonderful parent volunteers – Dottie Brown-Crow, Mindy Warner, and Weslea Wilks - who have worked tirelessly in helping us with our 3 Point Shows this year. Extra thanks tonight go to Amanda Shives who was a one-woman superhero in creating the backdrop, table decorations and 4-H Horse Program banners for our party.

Dottie led the lively auction with the help of our president, Brian Wilks, and brought the evening to a financially successful conclusion raising $1,750 for our Bruce Mayes Scholarship Program. This laugh-filled auction of horse related mystery items is always a favorite. Literally no one knows what they are bidding on in those gift packages, but everyone is 100% for supporting scholarships.

What a blessing it is to work with these youth and their marvelous parents! We can’t wait to see y’all in the fall!

01/29/2026

Reminder of our upcoming Monday Night Ride 2/2 from 6:30 to 7:30 PM. The topic? YOU pick!

After our first two shows, what do you need help with?

Here is what I've received so far:
- Backing your horse
- Group rail classes - spacing between horses, passing, timing of transitions to different gaits, etc.
- Good ideas for warm up riding prior to going into the show arena.

Any other ideas? Need help with specific trail obstacles? Need help with patterns? Showmanship? Let me know in the comments!

Our last scheduled Monday night ride is 2/9. Our ride night instruction will focus on jumping and our Hunter Hack class with Sage Keith leading the group.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday night.

01/19/2026

The Hays County Livestock Horse Show youth received their checks at the HCLE Buyers Gala on Saturday night! We had the chance to thank many of our Patrons whose generous contributions to our Horse Patronage Program enabled us to award over $13,000 in checks. Here are some fun photos from the awards ceremony and the introduction of our horse kids at the gala. THANK YOU to each individual and business who supported our horse program! With over 25 youth in the Junior and Senior divisions, our HCLE Horse Show on January 10th was a resounding success!! Thank you to EVERYONE who donated, volunteered and supported our Hays County Horse kids!

01/11/2026

At the conclusion of a long, chilly (but the horses loved it!) day, our Hays County Livestock Horse Show awarded buckles and the two saddles to our Show Champions in the Junior and Senior Divisions. Congratulations to these outstanding youth!

SENIOR DIVISION (High School youth)
Sr. Overall Champion - Ellie Warner (saddle)
Sr. Reserve Overall Champion (Tie!!) - Kendall Crow and Audrey Avery (buckles)
Sr. Champion Judged Events - Ellie Warner (buckle)
Sr. Champion Speed Events – Kendall Crow (buckle)

JUNIOR DIVISION (Youth from 3rd grade through Middle School)
Jr. Overall Champion – Caroline McDonald (saddle)
Jr. Reserve Overall Champion – Madison Force (buckle)
Jr. Champion Judged Events – Riley Cook (buckle)
Jr. Champion Speed Events – Tilden Shives (buckle)

Huge thanks to our show judge, Vicki Munie for her expertise and stamina along with our scribe, Carie Kahanek, for their 12-hour day! Thanks to our saddle sponsors, Caresse Troppy with Capital Ranch Sales and Cypress Creek Animal Hospital, for their generosity and support of these horse kids each year. We love y’all! Gratitude and appreciation to our parent and HCLE volunteers, many of whom also braved the long, chilly day in support of our Hays County horse youth. We couldn’t do these shows without you!

01/07/2026

Our Hays County Livestock Horse Show is this Saturday 1/10 at Dripping Springs Ranch Park & Event Center. HUGE THANKS to these Patrons who have supported our horse kids in the county! Thanks to their generosity we have exceeded our $12,000 goal. We'll be distributing $13,150 to our Hays County kids who are competing in the English and Western events at the show - Whoohoooo!! If you know any of these folks please tell them thanks and, if you can, please support these businesses. This program would not be possible without our Patrons - we love y'all ♥

12/22/2025

We are doing one more unmounted meeting tomorrow night 12/22 from 6:30 to 7:30 in the Vendor Hall at DSRP. We'll be covering Trail / Hunter Versatility, Reining patterns, and a quick overview of Halter classes. Kids will be "riding" the patterns with our pretend horses, mules and ponies. Who knows, some of these patterns may be at one of our shows in 2026. We will focus on what the judge is looking for in each pattern and really dissect the maneuvers and the timing of each maneuver so that you understand what you need to practice with your equine BFF in order to prepare.

We had a terrific unmounted ride last Monday night and I can't wait to see everyone again!

Send a message to learn more

12/16/2025

Great Monday Night Unmounted Ride Night focusing on pattern classes! The kids learned about reading the patterns and then performing the patterns with or on their imaginary horses! Such fun with this terrific group of 4-H Horse lovers!

12/14/2025

Reminder: Unmounted Monday Night Ride tomorrow night Monday, 12/15 from 6:30 to 7:30 at DSRP. We are currently scheduled to meet in the Vendor Hall but I'm checking tomorrow about meeting in the special events room. Plan on dressing for the cold weather in case we are in the vendor hall.

We'll be covering Equitation, Horsemanship, and Showmanship patterns with our "pretend" horses, mules and ponies. Who knows, some of these patterns may be at one of our shows in 2026. We will focus on what the judge is looking for in each pattern and really dissect the maneuvers and the timing of each maneuver so that you understand what you need to practice with your equine BFF in order to prepare.

Send a message to learn more