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New Facilities Allow
Campers to Experience Horses
By
Laura Skillman
 DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky., (July 18, 2007) – New facilities at the
West Kentucky 4-H Camp are allowing campers to enjoy the
companionship of horses, as well as teaching campers the
responsibilities of caring for them. This is the first year
horses have been part of the camping program for the entire
summer and this is the only 4-H camp to offer a horse program in
Kentucky.
The new facilities include an outdoor working area, a covered
arena and a large storage facility. The equine program is a
cooperative effort between the equine program in Murray State
University’s School of Agriculture and the University of
Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. 4-H volunteers along
with staff from the two universities worked together to
brainstorm ideas, write grants, secure donations and do physical
labor to develop the program and facilities. The bulk of the
funding came from a Kentucky 4-H Foundation Venture Grant along
with the Kentucky Horse Council and the Kentucky Equine
Education Program.
“About a year and a half ago, the 4-H agents who camp at West
Kentucky voted unanimously to develop a horse program at camp
for the entire summer,” said Donna Fox, UK extension specialist
for 4-H camps. “We partnered with Murray State last summer for a
two-week pilot project and it was very successful. We knew then
that we needed to make this a fulltime program.”
 Fox said she thinks the facilities have far exceeded most
people’s vision for the horse program. And this is just the
beginning.
“There’s already discussions on how we can take this further and
expand on these facilities to offer new and better programming,”
she said. “Our partnership with Murray State has been
wonderful.”
Julie Harrison, the camp equine instructor and Murray State
University student, said this was her first time at 4-H camp and
she’s enjoying it. There are six horses at the camp, five belong
to Murray State University and the other is Harrison’s.
“So much work and sweat has gone into this facility to get it
ready and the campers are so excited to have it here,” she said.
“It will be used well into the future, and the kids will be
excited every time they come out here. It can only get better.”
Paula Jerrell, Ballard County 4-H youth development agent, has
worked on the project since it was only a seed of an idea.
“Horses are going to be a big draw for camp,” she said. “It was
a natural thing for us to pursue. When you get people who are
passionate about camp and passionate about horses working on a
project, great things can happen. Of course all of us are
involved to give the kids new opportunities and to promote the
4-H program as a whole.”
In addition to being used for summer camp, the long term vision
for the facilities are to have family trail rides at the camp
and for county horse clubs to use them for workouts, she said.
Jerrell and her family have had a lifetime love affair with
horses, and sharing that with young people is something she
enjoys doing.
“I grew up in the 4-H horse program and now work with the 4-H
horse program, and my son rides as well,” she said. “This is a
wonderful opportunity to bring horses to camp and share it with
other kids who don’t have the opportunity to have a horse in
their backyard and ride whenever they want to. It teaches
responsibility and appreciation of horses as recreation and
exercise. There’s also the fact that horses are one of our
premiere industries in the state so it’s important that we let
people know about that.”
The West Kentucky 4-H Camp held a ribbon cutting recently to
thank the many people who worked to bring the idea to fruition.
Among those attending was U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield.
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Contact: Donna Fox, 859-257-5961
Paula Jerrell, 270-665-9118
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of Agriculture, through its land-grant mission, reaches across
the commonwealth with teaching, research and extension
to enhance the lives of Kentuckians. |
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