Spalding County 4-H Drill Team
Griffin, GA
Georgia Horse Council Letter from the County Manager
Letter from the County Manager
Spalding 
Spring 2009 Issue of Equussource Griffin Daily News
4-H Drill Team wins national championships
By VIVIAN KING
Staff Writer
vivian@griffindailynews.com
Posted: Friday, July 18, 2008 1:33 AM EDT
When the
But, by the time the June 27-29 national competition was over, the 13-member team rode away with two national division championships, two second-place national reserve championships, two fourth-place national finishes and a prestigious fifth-place Division 1 national championship.
Coach Don “Sport” Hulon says this is a first.
“We had no idea where we stood in the nation,” Hulon said, explaining that Spalding’s 4-H drill team, which has members ranging in age from 10 to 18, had seven teams competing in six different events and was up against some of the best adult teams in the nation. “Nobody has ever done this before. As far as we know, this is the first time 4-H has sent a group of kids in the state of
But, by all indications, there was good reason to send them.
In February, the team traveled to
In March, the team competed in the Georgia Horse Council Mounted Drill Team Competition and won 13 medals. Five were gold.
“Last fall, we were a third-place team. We were average,” Hulon said about the team that is solely supported by sponsors. “We divided up into varsity and junior varsity teams, allowing some of the riders who had been here longer to carry their ability a little bit further. When we did that, it made a huge change. That’s how we went from being an average team in the winter to one of the top teams.
The riders who made up the competing team in
“We practiced the youth/adult mixed routine eight times and never got it right,” Hulon said of the first-place national performance. “Then we went out there and everything just clicked.”
The routines, which have been described as line dancing or synchronized swimming with horses, is western-style and choreographed to music.
“There are certain things judges are looking for and you try to make sure those are incorporated into the routine,” Hulon said.
Riders must know their horses and their coordination, says volunteer Kipala Webb.
Other than that, it’s up to the teams to decide what their performances will be. The Spalding team, in most instances, takes a patriotic approach to its performances and incorporates red, white and blue flags as well as POW/MIA, National Guard, Navy Seal and the Armed Forces flags,
For Kirchner, 12, preparing for the
“The most difficult part was getting my horse, Boo, ready,” she said.
But, for Rusty Hulon, who is also the 4-H Horse Club president, the competition was a little more stressful.
“It’s difficult to remember the drill because you get so nervous right before it,” said the six-year team member.
The team practices at the Kiwanis Fairgrounds twice a week, and three to four times a week when preparing for a competition. And practice does not stop for snow, sleet or below-freezing temperatures. It is no wonder that the horses, in general, know the routines as well as the riders.
“When the music starts, the horses are ready to go,” Webb said. “We had a girl who came off her horse three years ago and the horse stayed right where it was supposed to. The horses learn it the same way as the riders.”
According to Donna Shelnutt, who heads the 4-H Horse Club, the 45-member club encompasses much more than the drill team. The members also compete in quiz bowls on their knowledge of horses and learn to be horse judges.
In addition, the club participates in and hosts a number of activities throughout the year, including a St. Jude’s Ride, where all funds raised are donated to St. Jude’s Hospital. The club also raises money for The Children’s Network and Ronald McDonald House and performs during openings and intermissions at rodeos.
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