Kids get hands-on at fair’s 4-H Day

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This article was published 27/03/2024 (587 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Yesterday was 4-H Day at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, providing plenty of hands-on opportunities for kids to learn more about animals and how to take care of them.

Flynn Arena was a hub for demonstrations throughout the day, including a primer on equine first aid from Chelsey Westerbeek and Trigger the horse of Lily Ridge Equine in Grunthal.

As families looked on from the bleachers, Westerbeek told the audience that the first rule of equine first aid is to not panic.

“When we’re starting to get upset and anxious, horses can pick up on that,” she said. “The next rule is we have to identify the problem.”

She moved on to show the audience how to take a horse’s pulse by putting two fingers under the jaw and feeling for an artery that feels like a rubbery cord. By doing so, counting the number of beats over 15 seconds and then multiplying the result by four, you can figure out how many times a horse’s heart beats over a minute.

After that, she showed the audience how to take a horse’s temperature, check their gum health, monitor their breathing and estimate their weight by taking some measurements using a quilter’s measuring tape.

At least one person in the audience said they had no idea measurements like that could be used to estimate a horse’s weight and that they were anxious to try it out for themselves.

After the presentation, Westerbeek told the Sun that first aid is important for events like the Winter Fair, or even just for taking care of animals at home, because the sooner you can intervene in an animal’s medical emergency, the easier it will be for a veterinarian to help once they’ve arrived.

She’s been coming to the fair since she was eight years old and involved with 4-H, calling the event “near and dear” to her heart.

“That’s the nice thing about the Winter Fair — it really gives the public the opportunity to find what’s out there and learn skills like first aid, roping or anything else new,” she said.

Today, she has another first aid demonstration planned. Then on Friday, she’ll be giving a presentation on making a plan for animals and livestock in the case of an emergency.

Through Equi-Health Canada, Westerbeek offers full courses on those subjects. Those interested in learning more can check out Lily Ridge’s booth at the UCT Pavilion, visit its social media pages or its website: lilyridgeequine.ca.

The next event in Flynn Arena was the Horse Power Reading Program offered by Prairie Breeze Stables. Volunteers for the event had multiple activities in which kids could learn how to spell words and identify parts of the equine bodies with the help of some friendly ponies.

One of the young volunteers for the event, Hannah Polasek, said she was having a special experience working with the kids.

“I grew up loving horses and working with horses my whole life,” she said. “And I’m so lucky being able to give other kids that experience as well.”

Polasek said Prairie Breeze was going to be doing Horse Power sessions today as well, switching to pony rides in the main ring on Thursday.

Courtney Bujold went to check out the ponies with her five-year-old daughter Claire and her seven-year-old son Parker. She said they have family with big cattle farms in Ontario and she wanted to give her kids some exposure to the animals at the fair.

“I feel they learn so much more this way,” Bujold said.

She said they’d only recently arrived for the day, but the cows and horses were a big hit with her kids.

At the Manitoba Pork booth, visitors had a chance to get a close look at some weanlings kept in an enclosure off to one side.

Susan Riese, Manitoba Pork’s director of public relations, communications and learning, said her organization’s exhibit was brand new for this year.

“The focus is really on showcasing the care that farmers take when they’re raising their animals,” she said. “We have information on animal care, we have information about the nutritional aspects of pork and trying to tie the care of the animal to the high quality pork that we produce.”

The pigs running around their enclosure and playing is a big hit with kids, Riese said, and gives Manitoba Pork staff a great opportunity to teach them more about the animals as they watch the action.

“It’s super important because even rural kids are removed from the farm to a certain degree,” Riese said of the fair’s educational opportunities.

“We get a lot of people here from Winnipeg as well that make the trip out to the fair, so it’s a really great opportunity to take that farm-to-table message to folks in Manitoba.”

Over at the Manitoba 4-H Council’s booth, executive director Shannon Carvey said her organization is proud to have this province be the birthplace of the 4-H movement in Canada.

“The experiential learning that we share with our members and our 4-H families is really important,” she said.

“Not only that, but our members learn about community engagement, community spirit, parliamentary procedures, how to run a meeting, how to be a presidents and all that goes with that.”

Being at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, Carvey said, allows 4-H to spread its message to people in all corners of Manitoba, both urban and rural.

With a lot of exhibitors and competitors at the fair 4-H alumni, she said their success is the greatest gift the organization can receive.

While yesterday might have been 4-H Day, the council will be running their booth in Flynn Arena for the rest of the fair, where volunteers will provide information on the organization’s programming and offer kids the opportunity to do some ag-themed arts and crafts.

For those unable to attend the fair, more information on 4-H can be found online at 4h.mb.ca.

Yesterday afternoon, Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn appeared at the 4-H booth to announce the government would be rolling out the final year of a three-year, $900,000 funding agreement for the organization announced by the previous provincial government in 2022.

“The 4-H program has a long history in Manitoba of working with rural youth to help develop leadership, self-confidence, communication and many other practical skills,” Kostyshyn said in a media release. “Our government appreciates the volunteers who dedicate their time to helping guide young Manitobans and build communities.”

Today is set to be another busy day at the fair with more horse competitions, fun events and a list of performances that includes two appearances by children’s entertainer Fred Penner.

Penner’s concerts will be at the Manitoba Hydro Amphitheatre at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

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