Welcome

Welcome to the St. Landry 4-H Horse Program page. Here you will find information regarding our Tri-Parish Horse Program and horse shows. If you need assistance with your horse project or are interested in starting a horse project, please contact the St. Landry 4-H Office at 337-948-0561 or email mplattsmier@agcenter.lsu.edu.

St. Landry Parish Horse Exhibitors

If you are a new livestock exhibitor or previous exhibitor but your contact information has changed, please email mplattsmier@agcenter.lsu.edu.

Horse Project Resources

• State Horse Show Catalog (lsuagcenter.com)
• Horse Project - A Guide for Raising Horses
• Horse Project - Youth Activity Guide
• Horse Project Books available upon request
  • Giddy Up and Go (Level 1)
  • Head, Heart, and Hooves (Level 2)
  • Blazing Trails (Level 3)
  • Riding the Range (Level 4)

Exhibitor Eligibility

Rule 6 under General Rules in the LSU State Horse Show Catalog states:

A. Open to all 4-H club and FFA members and clubs, regardless of race, creed, color, sex, or national origin, whose animals meet the minimum standards of quality established for the class and other rules of entry.

B. All general eligibility rules that apply to 4-H and FFA project participants shall apply to the State Horse Show. Eligibility is specified in the current Handbook of La. 4-H Awards and State FFA Constitution.

C. 4-H Eligibility Rules (Handbook of La. 4-H Awards)

1. To be a bona fide 4-H member, a boy or girl must be at least 9 years of age before January 1 of the current club year (August 1, 2024 - July 31, 2025) and must not have passed his/her 20th birthday on January 1, 2025. This means that an eligible club member must be between 9 and 19 years of age on December 31 of the current club year. A club member who “drops out” of high school would be eligible even if he/she enrolls in a “special” training school. In no case will a boy or girl be eligible to enroll in 4-H after graduating from high school.
2. Any boy or girl graduating from high school after he/ she enrolled in 4H at the beginning of the club year will be eligible to compete in all contests through the remainder of that club year (ending July 31st). (Livestock, poultry, dairy, NJHA Judging contests are exceptions.)
3. Potential 4-H club members must be enrolled by December 1 of the current school year to be eligible to compete in the shows.

D. All FFA members must be regularly enrolled in vocational agriculture and must not have reached their 21st birthday prior to the close of the date on which they must have assumed possession of the animal(s).

E. Animals shown by exhibitors MUST BE REGISTERED IN THE NAME OF THE EXHIBITOR OR THE NAME OF AN IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER. A horse registered in the name of an immediate family member must be identified as a specific exhibitor’s project prior to April 1st of each year. Note: Immediate family members are father, mother, step-parent, brother, sister, legal guardian, step-brother or step-sister, or grandparents.

F. Only those horses identified as the member’s horse can be shown in exhibition. The identification process must be in written form, signed by the member and his/her parents (or legal guardian), and sent to the parish 4-H agent or the chapter agricultural teacher prior to April 1st each year. The identification should indicate the horse’s or horses’ names, the horse’s owner and relationship between owner and exhibitor. Explain any difference in last names.

G. Exhibitors with more than one horse may enter both horses at the district show and scratch one immediately prior to the show.

H. 4-H & FFA youth will be allowed to exhibit a leased horse. Members will be required to complete the Leased Horse Affidavit Form and turn it in to the County Agents office along with a copy of the horse’s registration or grade horse certificate by April 1st of the current show year. If the horse does not have a Grade Horse certificate one should be completed. Exhibitors showing leased horses will be required to follow the same possession rules as all other horse exhibitors listed in the horse show catalog.

Complete By April 1, 2025

• Enroll in St. Landry 4-H & pay dues
  • All 4-H members must enroll in 4-H Online: Sign In (4honline.com)
  • Dues are $7.00 and can be paid through 4-H Online or mailed/dropped off at the 4-H Office at 1065 Highway 749, Suite A, Opelousas, LA, 70570. Checks and/or money orders can be made payable to St. Landry 4-H.

• Add horse to 4-H member's 4-H Online account
  • Adding Animals to 4-H Online
• Is/are the horse(s) you plan to show registered?
  • If yes…
    • Horse must be registered in the name of the exhibitor or an immediate family member (parent, sibling, step-parent, step-sibling, grandparents, legal guardian); if in the name of an immediate family member please include a Horse ID Form explaining relationship between owner and exhibitor
    • If horse is registered under someone who does not fit the above criteria, then a Horse Show Lease Affidavit must be submitted along with a copy of horse’s registration.
  • If no…
    • A Grade Horse Form should be completed for the horse and submitted along with a side view color picture of the horse (can email picture to me); please upload grade horse forms by April 1, 2025
    • If you have submitted a grade horse form in a previous year and are using the same horse, you do not need to submit another form if it’s the same rider/horse combination

Important Dates and Deadlines

April 1, 2025 - Horse Possession Deadline / Horse Must be Added to 4-H Online Account

April 1, 2025 - Lease Horse Affidavits / Horse ID Forms / Grade Horse Forms Must be uploaded to 4-H Online

June 7, 2025 - Tri-Parish Horse Show, Ag Arena, Opelousas, LA

July 3 - 5, 2025 - Acadiana District Horse Show, SugArena, New Iberia, LA

July 8 - 11, 2024 - LSU State Horse Show, Beauregard Covered Arena, Deridder, LA