Profiling Indiana's 4-H Horse and Pony Leaders

Introduction

The Indiana 4-H Horse and Pony program, which enrolls approximately 9,000 youth on an annual basis, gives youth an opportunity to pursue their interest in horses and gain valuable experience in horse management and the equine industry. Like other 4-H programs, it uses youths' interest in horses to develop their competencies in both life and project skills.

4-H has always been dependent on the interest and involvement of adult leaders to enhance the training of its 4-H members. This dependence makes effective training of adult volunteers critically important--and never more so than currently. With a decrease in Extension budgets, volunteers are frequently called upon to plan, implement, and evaluate Extension programs. In order to use volunteers in this manner, it is important to understand their backgrounds, motivations, and knowledge of 4-H horse and pony programs.

The objectives of the study reported here were:

• To evaluate the demographic characteristics of volunteer 4-H horse and pony leaders in Indiana;
• To investigate their motives for becoming a volunteer leader; and
• To measure the understanding these leaders have of running a 4-H club, teaching various aspects of the horse and pony project, and training teams for competitive events.

With a better understanding of horse and pony leaders, more effective training sessions and workshops can be planned to compliment leaders' strengths and supplement their weaknesses. The information gained from this study should also be valuable to Extension personnel in other states, as they recruit and train volunteer leaders to educate and mentor the youth under their leadership.

Materials and Methods

Youth educators in each of Indiana's 92 counties were asked to identify their volunteer 4-H horse and pony leaders. This request yielded a list of 593 names and addresses of volunteer leaders.

Development of the Instrument

A survey instrument was developed to determine: the demographic characteristics of volunteer 4-H horse and pony leaders, their motivation for becoming a leader, and their confidence in teaching youth the various aspects of the 4-H horse and pony project. In order to determine the level of confidence leaders have in running a 4-H club, teaching project skills, and training teams for competitive events, 11 statements were developed. The Likert-type scale of measurement was: 1 = strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3 = disagree, 4 = strongly disagree.

To ensure the validity of the instrument, the survey was pilot tested on 71 adult leaders at the State 4-H Horse and Pony Leader Training Conference. After data collection, a Cronbach's alpha test was run to determine the reliability of the instrument. Alpha values for the 11 statements on the survey instrument yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.76. Fraenkel and Wallen (1990) stated reliability coefficients of .70 or higher are acceptable for research purposes.

Data Collection

Following pilot testing of the instrument, each of Indiana's 593 volunteer 4-H horse and pony leaders was mailed a copy of the survey. According to Dillman (1978), the mail survey is an effective method to reach a geographically dispersed population. Surveys were coded for follow-up with non-respondents. Two weeks after the initial mailing, non-respondents were mailed post cards as a reminder to send in their surveys. Six weeks after the initial mailing, remaining non-respondents were mailed a replacement survey. The procedures used for data collection resulted in 405 out of 593 surveys being returned, for a total response rate of 68.6%.

Data Analysis

The data were analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 7.0 for Windows, 1996). Descriptive parameters, including frequencies, means, medians, modes, ranges, minimum, maximum, percentages, and standard deviations, were used to summarize, organize, and interpret the data.

Results

Demographics

One of the objectives of the study reported here was to describe the demographic characteristics of volunteer 4-H horse and pony leaders in Indiana. Summarized below is a list of the characteristics that describe these leaders.

• 98% were white.
• 84% were married.
• 75% were between the ages of 31 and 50.
• 71% were female.
• 67% had children currently enrolled as 4-H horse and pony members.
• 55% were former 4-H horse and pony members

Annual incomes for the horse and pony leaders were evenly distributed, as indicated below:

• 7% under $20,000
• 10% between $20,000 and $29,999
• 13% between $30,000 and $39,999
• 17% between $40,000 and $49,999
• 15% between $50,000 and $59,999
• 9% between $60,000 and $69,999
• 11% between $70,000 and $79,999
• 18% $80,000 or above

This data shows that 70% of the volunteer 4-H horse and pony leaders in Indiana make more than $39,999 per year. Nearly 20% make at least $80,000.

Volunteers were asked how many years they had served as 4-H horse and pony leaders. The distribution of their years of service is listed below:

• 66% 1-5 years of service
• 21% 6-10 years of service
• 5% 11-15 years of service
• 9% 16 or more years of service

Leaders were also asked how many hours per week they spend volunteering for 4-H horse and pony related activities. Their responses are categorized below:

• 55% 1-5 hours/week
• 24% 6-10 hours/week
• 8% 11-15 hours/week
• 4% 16-20 hours/week
• 9% more than 20 hours/week

Motivation to Become a Leader

The second objective of the study was to determine the motivation behind volunteers becoming a 4-H horse and pony leader. The most prevalent reasons for volunteering are listed below. (The percentages add up to more than 100% because some leaders indicated more than one reason for volunteering.).

• 68% volunteered because their children were 4-H horse and pony members.
• 55% had been encouraged to volunteer by other leaders.
• 41% were persuaded by 4-H members to become leaders.
• 13% became leaders because their spouses were already leaders.
• 10% were invited to become leaders by the Extension staff.

Leaders were also asked to rank a list of reasons for continuing as a 4-H horse and pony volunteer. The two items leaders ranked as their most important reason are listed below.

• 47% continued as leaders because their children were 4-H horse and pony members.
• 41% continued as leaders because they enjoyed working with youth.

Understanding Subject Matter

Indiana's volunteer 4-H horse and pony leaders were asked to rate their understanding of a list of 11 statements related to 4-H horse and pony subject matter. To respond to the 11 statements included in the survey instrument, leaders used the following Likert-type scale: 1 = strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3 = disagree, 4 = strongly disagree. Table 1 shows the leaders' responses to the 11 statements.

Leader Training

Indiana's 4-H horse and pony leaders were asked to indicate the level of leader training they had participated in. Listed below are the results.

• 34% had participated in county-level training.
• 22% of the leaders had taken advantage of area horse and pony training sessions.
• 18% of the volunteers had been to the State Horse and Pony Leaders' Training.
• 6% of the horse and pony leaders had traveled to a regional training opportunity.

Volunteer horse and pony leaders were asked to rank a list of six reasons for attending training sessions. The three items marked as the most important reason that leaders attend training are listed below.

• 56% indicated they attended training in order to be more effective at training youth.
• 21% attended training as a means of improving their leadership skills.
• 20% went to leader training because they were interested in the program content.

4-H horse and pony leaders were asked to rank four possible obstacles to attending leader' training sessions. The two items the leaders indicated as the most significant obstacles to attending training are listed below.

• 49% ranked distance as the most important obstacle to attending leader training.
• 35% listed cost as the most significant obstacle to attending leader training sessions.

When Indiana's 4-H horse and pony leaders were asked to identify the areas of training they would like to see offered at future conferences, the following list was generated.

• 54% of the respondents indicated training was needed to learn how to conduct showmanship and horsemanship clinics for youth.
• 42% wanted additional training on horse and pony judging.
• 39% of the leaders wanted training for conducting horse and pony shows.
• 34% felt they needed help so they could better train their members to compete in hippology events.
• 28% of the volunteers wanted additional training to aid them as they prepare their horse bowl teams.

Summary and Discussion

The majority (>70%) of Indiana's 4-H horse and pony volunteer leaders are white, married women between the ages of 31 and 50. Many (67%) have children who are currently enrolled as 4-H horse and pony members. A large portion (87%) reported an annual income of at least $30,000. Most (87%) of the volunteers have been horse and pony leaders from 1-10 years; however, 35% have been leaders for more than 5 years. Fifty-five percent of the leaders invest 1-5 hours per week working with 4-H horse and pony youth. Twenty-one percent of the volunteers contribute more than 10 hours per week to the Indiana 4-H horse and pony program. Many (68%) became leaders because their children were enrolled as 4-H horse and pony members. A large portion (88%) of the volunteers continue to serve as leaders for this same reason and because they enjoy working with youth.

When asked to rate their understanding of 4-H horse and pony club work and subject matter, it was clear that leaders felt more comfortable running 4-H meetings, recruiting additional volunteers, and dealing with negative parental involvement, than they did training judging teams or preparing youth to compete in hippology and horse bowl competitions. Less than 20% of the leaders had been to training sessions beyond the area level, and many had not even attended county level training. Cost and distance to the training were cited as the two most significant obstacles to attending leader training.

Over half (54%) of the leaders would like to have additional training on how to conduct showmanship and horsemanship clinics. Additional leader training was also requested to better prepare youth for horse and pony judging, hippology, and horse bowl competitions.

As a result of the study reported here, Indiana's Extension specialists have offered additional leader trainings at various locations around the state. These trainings have focused on team preparation for hippology and horse bowl. Members of the Purdue University horse judging team have conducted numerous judging trainings for leaders and members, alike. Over 350 youth attended the horse and pony judging training at the Hoosier Horse Fair in 2001. A multi-state initiative has lead to a horse and pony judges training rotating between states the past 2 years. Extension specialists offered special topics classes for horse and pony leaders in the central part of the state in the fall of 2000. Plans are under way to offer distance education classes for horse and pony leaders in the very near future.

References

Dillman, D. A. (1978). Mail and telephone surveys: The total design method. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Fraenkel, J. R. & Wallen, N. E. (1993.) How to design and evaluate research in education (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

SPSS Version 7.0 for Windows [Computer Software]. (1996.) Chicago, IL: SPSS, Inc.