LORAIN CO. 4-H SMALL EQUINE/SMALL PONY GROOM AND CLEAN CONTEST Monday, August 21, 2017 12:00 Noon Lorain County Fairgrounds 4-H Ring A TEAMS Contest participants must be Lorain County 4-H members enrolled in a Small Equine/Small Pony project. Contest division will be Junior Team (9-13yrs.) and Senior Team (14-18yrs.) according to 4-H age as of January 1 of current year. A Junior may be used on a Senior team but a Senior may not be used on a Junior team. Winning members of winning teams may return to compete in subsequent years. Each team will consist of 2 members. Team members may come from any club. All team members must wear boots or heavy leather shoes and long pants. Back numbers must be worn at all times. Clothing cannot be worn that will identify a team or youth by club. No gloves or coveralls may be worn. Gloves or dust mask may be worn while grooming for medical reasons. Each team will provide its own grooming tools. No electric or battery powered equipment may be used. Teams may substitute a member due to conflicts in other 4-H shows at the fair or illness. This must be approved by the Groom & Clean committee. SMALL EQUINES/SMALL PONIES Each team must provide a safe small equine/small pony for the contest. Small equine/small pony may be switched prior to the beginning of the contest at the discretion of the judges and contest coordinator. Each small equine/small pony must arrive wearing a properly fitting nylon halter or leather halter (NO Show Halters allowed) and tie rope. The small equine/small pony should be reasonably groomed. No show sheen may be applied before mudding. The small equine/small pony should arrive at the contest site at least two hours prior to the contest starting time so that management can uniformly dirty them. Allow more drying time if weather is damp.
The small equine/small pony will be dirtied using mud (sandy mud does not work). Never put mud in body openings or in cracks or tight places (i.e. between their rear legs or crevices). A team member may work on a small equine/small pony provided by his/her team for the contest if it is acceptable with the judges and contest coordinator. Once the small equine/small pony has had mud applied it must stay in the ring. HANDLER Each team will have a responsible handler 18 years or older. An adult handler must be dressed to hold the small equine/small pony during grooming. They will handle small equine/small pony when members are taking tests. Handlers will not coach members in any way. They will speak to team members only to maintain safety. Any coaching will result in disqualification of the team. REQUIRED GROOMING KIT (ONE OF EACH BELOW). Equipment should be clean dry and in good condition. 1. Curry comb (hard rubber or plastic) 2. Stiff bristle brush 3. Body Brush (medium stiff bristles) 4. Dandy brush of soft bristle brush 5. Mane and tail comb or regular hairbrush (NOT BOTH) 6. Hoof pick (standard type) 7. Grooming cloth (no larger than a hand towel) 8. Quart of water (can be bottle or spray bottle or bucket) (NO GLASS) Must be sprayed on rag if used 9. Ground cloth 10. Fly spray can be used if needed. NO SHOW SHEEN OR Small equine/small pony FINISH. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT FLY SPRAY MAY CONTAIN OILS AND MAY APPEAR AS SHOW SHEEN WHEN APPLIED. Must be sprayed on rag if used. 11. Chain lead- a chain lead must be displayed on the ground cloth which will be used during the showmanship part of the class. Another chain lead may be used to hold the small equine/small pony during the grooming.
**This kit should be doubled for numbers 1-7 to give each member his/her own set of equipment to use. They need to be identical in type and appearance. JUDGES A minimum of one judge will be confirmed for each contest age division. At the end of the contest the management will total the scores of the three contest sections and determine the winners. Judges decisions are final. CONTEST ENTRIES Team entries and fees are due by July 31, 2017 to the address listed on the entry form. GROOMING PHASE At least two hours before the scheduled start, the dirtying of the small equine/small pony will take place. THE SMALL EQUINE/SMALL PONY MUST NOT LEAVE THE RING ONCE MUD HAS BEEN APPLIED. The teams are to place their grooming equipment at least 10 behind the small equine/small pony they are to groom and then stand behind the tools. Judges will inspect the small equine/small pony and equipment. EQUIPMENT 1. Placed well behind the small equine/small pony on ground cloth. 2. Two complete sets are desirable,. Only one bottle of water, fly spray and chain lead. 3. Tools should be clean. 4. Tools should be placed on ground cloth with bristles facing up. If hats are worn, they should be removed before grooming and placed with tools. TEAMWORK 1. Teams should work smoothly together. 2. Members should look like they know what they are doing.
3. Members should not stop grooming until time is called- except for safety reasons. SAFETY 1. 4-H rules of safety handling should be observed. 2. Do not kneel or squat. 3. Do not crawl under small equine/small pony. 4. Do not reach across to other side. 5. Do not go under neck. 6. Do not put head or face where it can be kicked. 7. Do not put tools on ground, under or on small equine/small pony. If tool can t fit in pocket, it should be returned to ground cloth. 8. If a tool is dropped, use foot to move it to a safe distance from the small equine/small pony before picking it up. 9. If small equine/small pony is upset, calm it before continuing. 10. If it becomes obvious that a certain procedure cannot be safely completed, such as handling rear legs, notify the judge. 11. Never get into a position that you can t get out of immediately. 12. When feet are being cleaned, all should be aware. Unless there is a problem, it is not necessary to stop grooming. METHOD 1. Both members will groom the small equine/small pony at the same time. One member will clean hooves all the way around. 2. Do not rush at the small equine/small pony. 3. Groom from front to back and top to bottom. 4. Use tools in proper order-curry first, then stiff bristle brush, then body/medium bristle brush, then dandy brush, and rag. 5. Do not tear at mane or tail. 6. Use one tool at a time- free hand can steady small equine/small pony. 7. Curry- do not use on head or below knees and hocks or on tender parts or on mane and tail. 8. Body Brush- Do not use on head. 9. Stiff Bristle Brush- Do not use on head. May use on lower legs, mane and tail. 10. Dandy Brush- May use on entire small equine/small pony except hooves. 11. Hoof pick- May use edge to scrape mud from outside of hooves. Carefully, pick feet in order, starting with near front, then near rear. 12. Water- Use on cloth. Do not spray or apply directly on the small equine/small pony.
13. Fly Spray- use with care. If it is absolutely necessary to use while grooming, all grooming should stop. Try to wait to fly spray small equine/small pony until the ten minute practice time. 14. Cloth- May use on entire small equine/small pony. Do not shake cloth near small equine/small pony. 15. NO TRIMMING ALLOWED- hair will not be clipped or cut. 17. Halter cleaning will be part of the finished animal condition score. 18. Make sure nose and head are wiped. TIMING Total time for grooming is 25 minutes. Teams are told by the announcer when only 15, 10, 5, and 2 minutes remain then Stop. Equipment is replaced on the ground cloth. Teams return to their starting position away from the small equine/small pony. SCORING Judges then inspect the groomed small equine/small pony. Scoring is based on the following: Teamwork and Methods - 35 points Safety - 40 points Equipment - 5 points Finished Animal Condition - 10 points Total - 90 points WRITTEN TEST PHASE The written test may be given while the judge is doing the evaluation of the groomed small equine/small pony. All members of each Jr. and Sr. team will take the written test covering information from the appropriate 4-H books. Junior Resources: Basic Horse Management (174) and Horse Safety (191R) Senior Resources: Basic Horse Management (174) and Horse Safety (191R). Total time for the test will be 15 minutes. Teams are told when 10, 5, and 2 minutes remain. Then Stop. SCORING 10 points per team member Total - 20 points
SHOWMANSHIP Teams are then given 10 minutes to work with their groomed small equine/small pony to prepare for showmanship. Showmanship will follow 4-H rules, except that showmanship will be done in work clothes worn while grooming. Appropriate hats may be worn for showmanship. The only equipment change allowed for the showing will be a chain lead strap to replace the tie rope used while grooming. No halter change. All members will be judged on their ability to show the small equine/small pony. Each member will show the small equine/small pony as instructed by the judge. The team members will decide which one will do each part of the pattern. The showmanship pattern will be determined by the judges and posted one hour prior to the contest. SCORING 10 points per team member Total - 20 points There is no time limit for this section of the contest. FINAL SCORING Grooming 90 Teamwork and Methods 35 Safety 40 Equipment 5 Finished Animal Condition 10 Written Test 20 Showmanship 20 TOTAL 130 All ties will be broken using the following sequence: 1) written exam scores,2) grooming phase scores, 3) showmanship phase scores.