Press Release:

The Genesee County 4-H Horse Program was well-represented at the Finger Lakes Region 4-H Horse Extravaganza on Saturday, March 2 at Honeoye Falls Intermediate School. 

4-H youth from across the Finger Lakes region competed in Horse Bowl and Hippology Contests at the event. 

Horse Bowl is a Jeopardy-style competition that tests participants' knowledge of equine facts, including breeds, equipment, nutrition, and more. 

Hippology is a hands-on test of identifying equipment, feeds, and other equine facts. 

Top-placing participants will have the opportunity to represent the region at the state-level contests at Cornell University and the New York State Fair later this year.

Horse Bowl Results:

• Alana Mlyniec – 2nd Senior, 1st Senior Team
• Lydia Page – 4th Senior, 1st Senior Team

Hippology Results:

• Lydia Page – 3rd Senior, 1st Senior Team
• Alana Mlyniec – 5th Senior, 1st Senior Team

Congratulations to all of the 4-H members who competed in the contest and special thanks to coaches Eva Rhoads and Jomni Tarbell for all of their hard work and dedication to the 4-H Horse Bowl Club.

The Genesee County 4-H Program is a youth development program for youth ages 5-18.  New 4-H youth members, adult volunteers, and clubs are always welcome to join.  For information about how to join the Genesee County 4-H Program, please contact the 4-H Office at genesee4h@cornell.edu or (585) 343-3040 ext. 101.  Enrollment information is also available on our website at http://genesee.cce.cornell.edu.

A group from "A Horse's Friend" rode through Batavia on Monday. The purpose of the group is to expose inner city and underserved populations of youth to different experiences and show alternatives to life on the streets.  Mathew Doward leads the organization and he led this ride through Batavia. Mathew, who now resides in Rochester, was born in Batavia and went to school here.  For more information on the group or to offer donations or support please visit www.ahorsesfriend.org 

JOIN US FOR A WINTER GEOCACHING LEAP DAY EVENT !!

Event:  GC39DCC - LEAP....MEET....and RIDE! (http://coord.info/GC39DCC)

What:  A geocaching event celebrating the third Leap Day in geocaching history and promoting the Herschell Carrousel Museum

When:  Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Time:  5:30pm - 7:30pm

Where:  Herschell Carrousel Museum, North Tonawanda

Who:  Any and all geocachers, and anyone interested in learning about geocaching!

Have you heard of Geocaching?  If not, it is a high-tech treasure hunting game that takes place around the world.  You use your GPSr unit, or other navigational device, to hide and seek containers worldwide. Basically, you upload coordinates from a geocaching website, you plug them in to your GPSr, follow the coordinates and start looking for a container.  The container could be as small as your fingertip or as big as a .50 cal ammo can (rarely larger).  Once found, you will normally find a logbook to sign and some trinkets to trade.  It is a great year-round outdoor activity!!  You get a lot of exercise (sometimes without even realizing it) and you get to visit some neat historic and scenic places.

Registration is encouraged at Geocaching.com (direct link to listing: http://coord.info/GC39DCC).  An account is required to register and is absolutely free!  Donations of $3.00 per adult and $2.00 per child aged 12 and under are requested to help cover costs.

The event is specifically trying to promote:

• that geocaching is year-round.  This event is the perfect excuse to geocache during the winter months!
• that this is a once-every-four-years opportunity and a great way to meet some of those geocaching challenges, such as caching 366 days a year!
• a great place to meet and greet cachers you've read about in the logbooks of the caches you've found.  You can put faces to the names!
• the Herschell Carrousel Museum, with the event being held there
• the cache GC26TX5 Once Around is Never Enough! (http://coord.info/GC26TX5) which promotes our local history of the carrousel

Hopefully, we will see you there!!

Patsy Rapone, who passed away after a fight with brain cancer, was inducted with an impressive 14,765 starts, 2,643 wins, and lifetime earnings of $5,821,089.

Ben Webster was also inducted and present for the honor.

Ben's 4,378 wins and lifetime earnings of $43,197,645 earned him a spot in the Hall of Fame.

Pictured with Ben Webster is Don Suozzi, an aquintance of over 50 years.

Congratulations to both new members of the Batavia Downs Hall of Fame!

There was a field with horses by where I parked my truck in Stafford this afternoon. I started snapping some pictures and this horse came over to check me out.