Archive: Around Town

If you have a question about horses you don't have to go far to find somebody to answer it.  This year Lansing student Melena Hagstrom,17, earned first place in the state hippology competition, and third in a 23 state national championship.  Hagstrom says she became interested in horses at age 10, and a year later started studying hippology. 

"I've always had a passion for horses," she says.  "I can't think of a time when I didn't.  I love animals in general, so I wanted to learn about how they work.  That is a great way to learn."

The Brightest Horse Program competition takes place at the Annual Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup in Louisville, Kentucky.  More than 300 young people between the ages of 14 and 19 competed on November 6th in Public Speaking, Individual Presentation, Team Presentation, Horse Bowl, Hippology and Horse Judging.  Contestants are scored by team as well as individually.

To make it to the national competition each county has one or more teams that compete in a regional competition.  The Tompkins County 'Night Mares' team competed in early March among a half dozen teams, coming in first place.  Hagstrom was number one among the top four who went on to compete as a regional team at the state level.

"We've had the privilege of having two people coach us that have gone to nationals before," she says.  "They inspired us to want to go to that.  Since I was 14 I wanted to try to get there.  When I was 15 I didn't quite qualify, but I almost did."


The next year she qualified for the national 'Horse Bowl' competition, which is similar to Jeopardy, but with all horse-related questions..  She took first-in-state.  That led to this year's triumph.

The regional competition was at the New York State Fair, and included a written test and a horse judging component in which winners matched the scoring of the official judges in actual horse competitions.  Contestants identified pictures, and went through 'stations' in which they were asked questions and had to identify items on tables.  The 'stations' part of the competition requires contestants to go from one table to another identifying horse-related items.  Hagstrom had to identify individual horse bones, and had to know the muscles and other anatomical parts, as well as parts of a saddle, knots, health items such as parasites, and so on.  There was also a team problem.

Teams typically meet the day of the competition, so there is a certain amount of thinking and bonding on your feet.  That puts some teams at a disadvantage, because some states, such as North Carolina, choose their team a year ahead of time, allowing the contestants to work together ahead of time.

Nevertheless, Hagstrom's team came in third in the state competition, and Hagstrom earned first place individually.  That qualified her to compete in the national competition that included teams from 25 states this year.  She also earned second place in the state speech competition, one place short of qualifying for state in that category. 

The New York team earned second place, and Hagstrom individually came in 5th in the written test, and first in the 'Stations' segment of the Hippology contest.  She was the third highest individual scorer overall.


Since the state does not support the competition, contestants have to raise money to pay for the trip to the national competition.  Hagstrom solicited sponsors to raise nearly $400 to pay for transportation, hotel, and meals.  Merrill Lynch and Hagstom Electronics became sponsors, as well as individual donors.  The local 'Night Mares' 4H club also contributed.

Reaching the age limit for competing herself, Hagstrom is planning to give back to her team next year.  She notes that the Tompkins County 4H didn't have a hippology program until Sharon Baum revived the program.  Baum has coached the Night Mares team since before Hagstrom joined.  She will be stepping down this year, and Hagstrom and her father Dave are planning to coach the team next year.

"I'm not sure if I'll be specifically coaching a team," she says.  "I'll do my best to answer questions they may have and direct them to resources, giving them run from my experiences so they can have an edge up on that."

Hagstrom says she prepared by studying books and researching online.  Competing was a great way to test her own knowledge, and to meet people from around the state and country with a similar interest.  She says the Night Mares are looking for new members, starting at age eight.

"It's fun, and it's a place to apply myself," she says.  "To see how far I can go.  I knew now would be the year to qualify if I ever could."

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