Thurston County 4-H Team Places 5th at National Equine Competition

From left: Baeya Kardokus, Solana Spector, Charlotte Pestinger and Stella Harris pose with their awards from the 4-H Hippology national competition.
From left: Baeya Kardokus, Solana Spector, Charlotte Pestinger and Stella Harris pose with their awards from the 4-H Hippology national competition. Photo courtesy: Carmen Kardokus
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There is a lot more to owning horses than knowing how to ride. Horse ownership is a complicated lifestyle – with a lot of knowledge required to carry it out responsibly. Equine 4-H clubs help foster that knowledge in youth across the country with riding events as well as knowledge competitions, including the Horse Bowl and Hippology Competitions at county, state and national levels. For the first time, the Thurston County Senior Team – Baeya Kardokus, Stella Harris, Solana Spector and Charlotte Pestinger – made the National Hippology Competition in 2022.

Olympia Pet Emergency logo 2018“I have wanted to compete at nationals since I first heard about the competition nearly four years ago,” shares Baeya. “Being able to make it with this team that I have been competing with for so long, made it even more special. I don’t think this opportunity would have been nearly as rewarding if not for the people I got to experience it with.”

What Is a Hippology Competition?

Hippology literally means “the study of the horse.” The 4-H Hippology Competition tests club-members knowledge of all things equine through four competitions. “Hippology taught me self-discipline, no one kept me accountable or told me to study except for me,” shares Stella. “My favorite part was having the resources to learn about what I’m interested in and now being able to pass that information to my students. Hippology has made me into a better teacher and instructor for the next generation of riders and I’m always going to be appreciative of that.”

large group of 4-H kids in a large room sitting at white tables at the hippology nationals
The Thurston County 4-H Hippology team traveled to Kentucky in November to participate in the national competition. Photo courtesy: Carmen Kardokus

During the Judging Phase, each member of each team places a class – could be halter, ranch riding, English. The members who place the class the same as the real judge, receives the most points. For the Written Phase, they answer 200 multiple-choice questions. In the Identification Station Phase, each member has to match items/pictures to a description. An example would be pairing types of horseshoes with their proper name, explains Baeya. Finally, the Impromptu and Prepared Presentation Phase involves two speeches. For the first, they have seven minutes to publicly create a speech and present to a judge. For the second speech, they are given 10 minutes in private to prepare their speech and then seven minutes to present to the judges.

“This year’s impromptu presentation involved hay types,” explains Baeya. “There were four different samples that the team had to identify and then provide information on. The team is judged on their ability to effectively prepare and present as well as how correct their information is. The planned presentation was on surrogate mares and breeding thoroughbred race horses.”

Thurston County 4-H Team Places at National Hippology Competition

Out of 20 teams, the Thurston County 4-H team came home with 5th place overall, placing 2nd in the Judging Phase, 7th in the Written Phase, 5th in the Identification Station Phase, and 6th in the Impromptu and Prepared Presentation Phase. Individually, Stella Harris placed 4th in the Judging Phase. Baeya Kardokus placed 6th in the Judging Phase and 9th in the Identification Station Phase.

Thurston county 4-H team posing outside
The entire team not only had a blast, but learned a lot about their favorite animal, the horse. Photo courtesy: Carmen Kardokus

The team members learned a lot about horses, each other and themselves while prepping for the competition. “I loved being able to learn knowledge about horses that you wouldn’t even think existed, learning about my favorite animal, with my favorite people, and putting our skills to the test in a contest full of people who share the same passion as we do,” says Solana.

“I am so grateful that I was able to represent our state in hippology at the national level,” adds Charlotte. “I have enjoyed learning more about horses, and am glad I was able to do so with some of my best friends. It was fun to see our years of studying and practicing pay off. The knowledge I’ve gained from hippology has helped me in ways outside of just 4-H, including my high school classes. I am grateful that we had this amazing opportunity to be surrounded by other horse loving youth. I had an amazing time on the trip, and will cherish the memories forever.”

Not Thurston County 4-H’s First Wins with Hippology

The 4-H Hippology competitions are fairly new. They were created in 2019. That first year, these four girls were gathered together by their coach, Molly Pestinger. “At that point, I had been coaching the girls in Horse Bowl for a couple of years, but Hippology was brand new to all of us,” she shares. “Not only were the girls willing to give it a try, they went to the state competition and won first place in their age group!”

Thurston County 4-H Hippology team with awards
The Thurston County 4-H Hippology team came in 5th place out of 20 teams. Photo courtesy: Carmen Kardokus

In 2020, Charlotte, Stella and Baeya were old enough to compete at the Senior Level, but COVID cut the season short and forced a modified Hippology competition, with no Nationals. Then in 2021, the Thurston County team just missed a trip to the nationals, by placing second.

“But 2022 was our year! Even though we faced challenges heading into the state competition, our Thurston County Hippology team placed first in the Washington State competition and were able to compete at the Eastern National 4-H Roundup in Kentucky in November,” Molly shares. “Stella, Solana, Baeya, and Charlotte all did fantastic in the competition. I was honored to accompany them as their coach. I am grateful for the effort these girls have put in over the years, they represented our county and state on the biggest 4-H stage and did us proud! Placing 5th place at a national competition is quite the accomplishment!”

“To anyone that is interested in competing with horses or really anything I think it is really important to find your group of people that can support, but also push you to be the best you can be,” shares Baeya. To learn more about 4-H in your area, check out the Thurston County 4-H on the Washington State University Extension Office website.

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