Line Prillaman
The 2017 Virginia State 4-H Championship Horse & Pony Show was held in Lexington, Virginia, at the Virginia Horse Center September 14-17. This four-day, statewide event drew in more than 700 youth from across the Commonwealth. These youth participated in a wide variety of contests, including horse judging, Hippology, art and photo contests and a four-day day horse show.
Salem High School ninth grader Lina Prillaman competed with her Oldenburg Mare, Greta in the Senior Dressage Division. Prillaman placed fifth in senior training level test 1 and ninth in test 2. She also placed sixth in senior dressage equitation and qualified for the dressage classic on Saturday evening. Prillaman placed first in the senior art competition and received a blue ribbon for stable management. She is the daughter of Carlyle and Leslie Prillaman, and the granddaughter of Jeanne Robinson, all of Salem.
Riley Carr of Franklin County and Sarah Shinault of Bedford County also represented Roanoke 4-H at the event. Carr is a 10th grader at Franklin County High School. Riley and her Halflinger pony, Heart of Gold, competed in the hunter pleasure division. She is the daughter of Scott and Lindsey Carr. Sarah Shinault, a 10th grader at Staunton River High School, competed in the intermediate hunter division with her Pinto horse, “Sarah’s Perfect Dream.” She is the daughter of Steve and Robyn Shinault of Bedford.
All three of these 4-Hers had to declare their project animal in May, complete a year-long project record book, pass a horsemanship skills evaluation test and qualify for the state show by competing in a district show. The three Roanoke 4-Her’s won first place in the stall competition.
Cali Levine, also a Roanoke County 4-H member, submitted the winning artwork for this year’s t-shirt for the state 4-H Horse Show. She is the daughter of Marie and David Levine.
The horse show portion of this event brought out nearly 400 participants who represented 55 counties across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Competitors had the opportunity to compete in events ranging from Gymkhana to Pleasure and Dressage to Hunter over Fences resulting in over 2000 class entries. Numerous champion, reserve champion and high point awards were recognized at the show.
The 56th Annual Virginia State 4-H Championship Horse & Pony Show drew more than 2,000 youth, parents and volunteers from across the state. The State 4-H Horse Show is self-funded through entry fees, donations by friends of the State 4-H Horse Program and corporate sponsors such as the Virginia Horse Industry Board, The Virginia Horse Council, Blue Ridge Trailers, Virginia Farm Bureau, Southern States and Farm Credit.
The State Show is 99 percent run by volunteers, most of whom grew up in the program and continue to give back using their own vacation time. Virginia 4-H volunteers and Virginia Cooperative Extension county agents are the most dedicated group of individuals I have ever met and this program would not exist without their efforts on behalf of Virginia’s youth!” For more information and detailed listings of results, please visit the Virginia 4-H Horse Program website: www.4-h.ext.vt.edu/programs/anscience/horse
-Submitted by Leslie Prillaman