Divisions

• Senior Division. Senior contestants must be 14 years of age but not yet 19 years of age before January 1 of the current calendar year and must never have been a member of a Hippology team representing New York at the Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup.
• Junior Division.  Junior contestants must not have had their 14th birthday and must have reached their 9th birthday prior to January 1 of the current year.

Selection of Teams

• Regions may select State Teams in any manner deemed appropriate by the majority of the counties within the region and are encouraged to allow as many youth as possible to participate.
• Each region may send four (4) Junior and four (4) Senior teams to the state contest. If a region is split into A & B Regions, each may send two (2) Junior and two (2) Senior teams.
• Teams should consist of three (3) or four (4) members. Teams with one (1) or two (2) individuals may be combined with other teams at the discretion of contest officials.
• Only youth selected and registered by the Regions will be allowed to participate in the State contest.

Registration

• Event Registration must be completed by CCE Staff at the following link: https://cals.cornell.edu/nys-4-h-animal-science-programs/state-events/contest-resources/hippology
• Contest Day Helpers: Each team is to designate at least one adult volunteer or educator as a contest day helper. This individual will be recruited during orientation on the day of the event to help with scoring, room running, etc.
• Academic accommodations can be requested on the entry form. 

• Four (4) high-placing Senior individual contestants will be invited to represent NYS in the Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup (ENRU) Hippology Contest based on rank, availability for the contest, and confirmed eligibility.
• The Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup is usually the first weekend in November and takes place in Kentucky. The NYS 4-H Horse Program National teams travel together on a four-day bus trip to the contest and for horse-related tours in the area. Contestants choosing to participate in the National Contest will be asked to cover a portion of the cost of the trip. Senior contestants should come to the contest prepared to decide if they will participate in the national contest if they receive a top placing.
• ENRU contest information and rules can be found at www.4HRoundup.com. National Rule changes will be reflected in New York State 4-H educational event rules in following years.

The contest will consist of four phases with equivalent point values.

Examination Phase. This phase of the contest will include:

• A written exam consisting of multiple choice and/or matching questions on equine science and management.
• A slide exam with photos that may include, among other topics, questions regarding breeds, health conditions, conformation faults, color, color patterns, activities, proper appointments, and anatomy including external points, skeleton, internal organs, gastrointestinal tract, reproductive organs, foot, and limbs.

Station Phase.  This phase will consist of a series of interactive (oral questions and answers) or reactive (written answers and questions) stations. Reactive stations typically include ten items that are to be matched to the best name or description.  Examples of station topics include but are not limited to:

1)  Identification of:

• types of saddles (actual or pictured) and parts of saddles
• tack, bits, bridles, horseshoes, and parts of shoes
• tools and Equipment and assembly of specific parts of various pieces of equipment
• grains and forages including various forms and methods of preparation
• internal and external parasites including actual examples, pictures, life cycles, and effects
• blemishes and unsoundnesses
• aging equines based on teeth
• breeds, colors and markings

2)  Assessment of a horse's health based on measures including but not limited to temperature, pulse, respiration, hydration, and anemia.

3)  Measurements including, but not limited to height, shoe size, girth collar size, gullet width and seat length of saddle.

4)  Judging Phase. Contestants will place at least four conformation or performance classes and give oral reasons as described below.  Every effort will be made to use live horses, but pictorial or video classes may be used.  Please refer to this rulebook, Section V. NYS 4-H Horse Judging Contest for a list of potential breeds and classes and other contest procedures. 

• Junior Division contestants will place all classes and will give oral reasons for two classes.  Two minutes will be allowed to give oral reasons to the judge. Junior contestants should take notes while judging to record their observations and placings and are permitted to use notes while giving oral reasons.
• Senior Division contestants will place all classes and will give oral reasons for four classes.  Two minutes will be allowed to give oral reasons to the judge.  Senior contestants should take notes while judging to record their observations and placings and are not permitted to use notes while giving oral reasons.

5)  Team Problems.  Teams will be given a written prompt and time to prepare an oral solution to a problem.  All teams will be presented with the same problems. Each team will have equal time to discuss the problem before presenting an oral solution or series of suggested procedures relative to the problem.  Evaluation will be based on the understanding of the problem, completeness of the logic used and organization of the oral response.  Each member of the team is encouraged to contribute to the oral presentation.  The official may ask questions of any or all of the team members to clarify the presentation.

• The Prepared team problem allows 10 minutes to prepare a response, followed by 7 minutes to deliver, with 3 minutes allowed for questions.
• The Impromptu team problem allows 7 minutes to deliver with 3 minutes for questions.
• Examples of possible team problems might include:
  • Balancing a horse's ration.
  • Farm management recommendation for specific, (i.e., breeding, training, boarding, nursery, lay-up, etc) horse operations.
  • Considerations for the establishment of a new horse facility (stable to be used fora specific purpose)       
  • Recommendations for selecting, locating and purchasing horses for specific uses
  • Behavior problems-causes, management of and corrections.
  • Training & conditioning programs: equipment, schedules, methods, nutrition, problem avoidance.
  • Breeding and/or leasing contracts-specific clauses for insurance, liability, payments, care, termination, transport, etc.
  • Teaching lessons in horse management (specific subject to be announced) to a group of 9-11 year old beginner 4-H'ers-where, how long, how much information, hands-on experiences, reinforcement, testing evaluation.
  • Explanation of use or assembly of specific equipment.
  • Demonstrate skill or ability to use specific equipment.
  • An introduction should be used to introduce the topic and a summary or conclusion should briefly restate some of the major points made during the presentation.
  • To prepare the solutions, an outline should be used to keep the main points and supporting material in proper sequence and designate which team member(s) should start or finish according to the strengths of each individual in reference to the problem presented.
  • Discrete use of notes during the presentation will not be penalized.
  • Team problem scores will not be included in determining the rank of individuals in the contest but will be added to the team scores of the other three phases to determine overall team standing.

• ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY OF EQUINE TERMS, New Horizons Education Center, Inc., Alpine Publications, PO Box 7027, Loveland, CO 80537. Available on Amazon. NEWHOR
• HORSE INDUSTRY HANDBOOK (9th Edition), by the American Youth Horse  Council, 1 Gainer Rd, McDonald, NM 88262. Available at https://www.ayhc.com/product-page/horse-industry-handbook-9th-edition HIH
• FEEDING AND CARE OF THE HORSE (2nd Edition), by Lon D. Lewis.Blackwell Publishing (2005). Available on Amazon. LEWIS
• THE COLORING ATLAS OF HORSE ANATOMY, by Robert A. Kainer & Thomas O. McCracken. Alpine Publications, Inc., PO Box 7027, Loveland, CO 80537. Available on Amazon. KMC
• HORSE SMARTS: AN EQUINE REFERENCE & YOUTH ACTIVITY GUIDE, by the American Youth Horse Council (AYHC), 1 Gainer Rd, McDonald, NM 88262. Available at https://www.ayhc.com/product-page/horse-smarts. HS
• THE HORSE THIRD EDITION by J Warren Evans Available on Amazon. EVANS

Supplemental References:

• EQUINE SCIENCE, by Jean T. Griffiths, Equine Network /Source Interlink Media. 2008. (GRIFFITHS) *Not a resource for the Eastern National 4-H Round-up
• Dover Saddlery – Apparel, tack and horse care items, for the English rider – to download the current catalog or to request a free catalog, click the following link: https://www.doversaddlery.com/catalogrequest.aspx
• Smith Brothers – Apparel, tack and horse care items, for the Western rider – to request free catalog send an email to sales [at] smithbrothers.com (sales[at]smithbrothers[dot]com).
• Schneider Saddlery – Apparel, tack and horse care items for the Western and the English rider. To request invoice, visit https://www.sstack.com/contactus.aspx.
• Other: Grains, forages, and feed preparations used in this contest will be representatives of feeds utilized in horse rations.

1)  The Hippology Contest requires a four (4) person team. All four (4) team scores will count toward the team phase. If a team of three (3) competes, scores of zero (0) will be used for the fourth individual. No scores will be dropped.2) 

2)  Short teams may be combined at the discretion of contest officials.

3)  All ties, individual and team, will be broken using the following sequence:

• Examination scores
• Station scores
• Judging scores

4)  Ties within a phase are to be broken using the overall score first and then the same sequence as above. If further tie- breaking is needed, the scores at each station, in order starting from the first station, may be used.

• Rosettes will be given to the ten (10) high individuals and to members of five (5) high teams in each division.
• Scores will be posted at the conclusion of the contest.

• No source of information is infallible. Answers may be given to questions which are not in agreement with recommended sources or reflect conflicting information between sources. Any queries or complaints should be submitted in writing to the chairperson of the contest by the coach of the individual or team making the inquiry. Spectators, parents, and visitors may not protest verbally or in writing to the chair but should direct their actions to the coach or agent of their respective county or region.
• Unseemly behavior, unsportsmanlike conduct, or any actions which are generally accepted as detrimental to the contest may subject 4-H competitors, parents, and/or coaches to dismissal from the area of the contest. Dismissal decisions are at the discretion of the contest chair and county 4-H educators in attendance.
• Unless assisting in the contest, coaches and parents must not remain in the immediate area surrounding the contest proceedings and should not discuss the contest with youth until the contest is completed. 
• Viewing of selected contest materials will be allowed once the contest is completed.
• Contest materials may be returned at the discretion of contest officials.