Bridging the Gap

July 20, 2025 | Filed under: Current Articles,Featured | Posted by: Delores Kuhlwein

AQHA Professional Horseman Michael Jung volunteered to teach horsemanship to two back-to-back 4H groups.

In a genius move, Utah QHA and Utah 4H teamed up for a low-cost 4H clinic and show during the 2025 Rose Circuit.

Want to get better with your horses? Just take some lessons, people say. Get some help. Invest some time in your passion if it’s important to you. But if you are from a rural area, you often face additional – sometimes insurmountable – obstacles in your quest to broaden your horizons.

Take Rudee Richards and her 11-year-old daughter, for example. They live in NE Utah in a lower-income area, about two-and-a-half hours from Provo, where they have limited access to trainers. “So we usually have to travel to get to trainers,” Rudee explained, “and this experience was an eye opener.” She’s referring to her daughter’s participation in the recent Utah Quarter Horse Association & Utah 4H Rose Circuit Clinic & Show, which was held at Bastian Agricultural Center in South Jordan, Utah on July 17-18, 2025.

The two-day event began on Thursday with a 4H-only showmanship and horsemanship clinic, followed by a horse show with those two classes on Friday, and judged by four AQHA judges staying on for the AQHA Rose Circuit. The clinic, the show, and the stall were all offered for a total of $40 to 4H members, and the winner of each class was awarded a buckle.

The Utah 4H club showed up in force in response, so to manage the large group, participants were split between the horsemanship clinic, taught by Mike Jung, and the showmanship clinic, taught by Sandi Morgan. Then after the two-hour clinic, they swapped places, and they received over four hours of interactive learning.

Renowned trainer Sandi Morgan volunteered to teach back-to-back showmanship clinics to a very attentive 4H group.

Professionals Sandi Morgan and Mike Jung volunteered their time to teach the clinics, and Sandi explains that it’s all part of giving back to the industry. “I think it’s a good thing to plant a seed for future generations, and there were a lot of willing participants who attended,” she said. “It doesn’t diminish what they’re learning from their knowledgeable parents and 4H leaders – but all of us can always use an outside set of eyes.”

For Mike Jung, who grew up in 4H, the opportunity to give back was a powerful factor. “I didn’t show the breed shows as a young boy, and I only showed a few shows in my last year of youth in the Quarter Horse Association.” He added that 4H offered him programs for not just horses, but also to develop skills like speech, demonstration, and much more. The organization that shaped him has inspired him in his life to give back to where he came from.

“But I also enjoy helping young people learn more, and they’re always so interested and want to learn so much, and give me their full, undivided attention in the clinics,” he said, noting that watching the youth work hard to apply the knowledge was beyond compare.

For Rudee and her daughter, the Utah 4H show season just ended the previous week, but this opportunity gives them more tools to use at home. In fact, Rudee could be seen at any given time throughout the two days writing in her notebook on the sidelines. “It was a lot for her to take in, and for me as a mom, it was a lot to take in as well. I was taking notes to remember as much as I could,” Rudee said, remarking she had already seen growth in her daughter showing on Friday as a result of Thursday’s clinic. “We now can take what we learned and go apply it at home, especially with the other horses at home.”

: Utah 4H Leader Kaitlyn Fish

Utah 4H leader Kaitlyn Fish, who was also doing double-duty as a scribe at the show, says this clinic is all about giving youth the opportunity to learn from professionals. “Many 4-H youth, especially in rural areas, only learn from their parents or leaders. This clinic gives them an affordable chance to learn from people who make a living training horses. I also think it’s vital for the 4-H youth to be exposed to the breed industry and the possibilities out there! The 4-Hers of today will go on to be the judges, trainers, and showmen of tomorrow.”