Ray Hahn, of Jones, is the longtime leader of Vandalia’s Rocky River Riders, a 4-H club focused around horses. Hahn recently helped his students out during last week’s Cass County Fair.

 

How long have you been a leader with 4-H?

I have been working with kids for 30 years.

 

How did you initially get involved?

My girls, years ago, started a 4-H club for horses. Somehow I ended up with it, and I have been doing it ever since.

 

How many other leaders are there in the club?

I am the only one with the club right now.

 

How many members you have?

Right now, only around four or five.

 

What all goes into leading a 4-H club?

The youngsters, when they first start, we teach them how to ride. We have a leader work them, walking around with them to get them started. Once they can ride by themselves we can work a little more with just them and the horse. Usually when they start out, they just start out with walk and trot. As they get more familiar they work on the walk, trot and canter classes.

Right now, anyone who starts as a clover bud, which is 8 years and younger, they start as walk/trot, and by the time they available for 4-H, which is 9 years old, they have enough experience for walk, trot and canter, depending on the person and when they started.

 

How do you help out during fair week?

Mainly, we try to get them to take care of their horses in the stalls. We don’t do as much work with the kids at the fair than we do outside the fair. Once they get to fair, we should not have to do as much work with them. I have always worked with a few of them that need a little help, to help understand what they are doing in terms of showing.

The main thing work with is trying to get them to do the stuff that has to be done at the fair. Stuff in the morning like clean their stalls, and then let the horses eat. They let them exercise if they are not showing their horse that day. If they are showing they have to get their horse ready to show. We try to make sure they get that part done. We do a lot of that before they do the showing, as far as trimming and stuff like that. Usually by the time we get there they have that stuff done.

 

What are the skills that kids pick up from 4-H?

They all seem to be a little more self-controlled, in terms of doing the things they are supposed to be doing. Let’s put it this way: if you get someone who has done a lot of 4-H, they are usually pretty good at working in whatever business or job they do. They seem to do a little better.

 

What is the biggest thing you have gotten out of being a 4-H leader?

When they [the kids] get out of 4-H, seeing what they have accomplished through the years is what I like about it.

 

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