No Bones about it...St. Paul's 4-H Pony Club Goes National

Talk about recognition! The leaders of the St. Paul's 4-H Pony club, Libby and Holly Burney just got some fabulous news which will launch their club across the nation. A recent E-mail from Jill Montgomery let the leaders know that their is no need to tighten the reigns on their club programming. The club project for last year's fair, reconstructing a real horse skeleton, is making the American Youth Horse Council (AYHC) newsletter this quarter. The newsletter will be hitting mailboxes and the Internet sometime in October. Below is the story, direct from Montgomery, that will appear in the AYHC newsletter.

"Youth horse leaders are nothing, if not resourceful. For Libby and Holly Burney, St Pauls 4-H Pony Club leaders in North Carolina, that description fits them… well... to the bone.

Early in 2009, a friend told the Burneys about a horse skeleton deep in the woods nearby. No one could tell how long it had been there, but from the way the bones were scattered, the horse’s remains had been awaiting discovery for a long time. Recognizing an anatomy lesson for their 4-H club members, the Burneys gathered all the pieces they could find and brought them home. Wouldn’t it be great, they thought, to have the kids reassemble the whole skeleton? And what if they could enter it as an exhibit in the 2009 Robeson (County) Agricultural Fair that fall? The group responded enthusiastically; in fact, not only parents, but grandparents joined in, too. The project—and the skeleton—began to take shape.

First, the bones were cleaned, separated, and identified. Parts were missing, and so was an important piece of information: how to keep the whole skeleton together to create a display. The Burneys turned to the internet, where they discovered Lee Post, author of “The Bone Building Books,” manuals that explain how to prepare and display animal skeletons (www.theboneman.com ). Mr. Post generously sent the manual for a moose skeleton, the closest animal to a horse that he had written about. On his advice, the group decided to create a “horse on a half-shell” and mount it on a plywood board.

After finding all the necessary materials at a local hardware store, the kids and adults rolled up their sleeves. By drawing a horse on the plywood, they figured out which bones to cut in half, and which were missing. To recreate the bones they needed, they first made molds from old bones, then made art plaster replicas which they carved for correctness. They painted all the bones off-white, then applied bolts, nuts, wire, bubble soap, epoxy glue, and clear silicone to stabilize the skeleton. Once that was safely attached to the board, efforts turned to the brain: The group took the unused half-skull and created a brain to fit inside the cavity. After all parts were labeled, the two-piece exhibit was finished.

The group worked from mid-February to late September, on Saturdays from noon to 7 p.m. during the school year, and three days per week during the summer. They made the Robeson Agricultural Fair deadline; the exhibit was a standout and the judges awarded the club $125 for their efforts.

But the value of the project was never about the prize, as proud of that as everyone is. As the Burneys point out, the young members learned “how to be anthropologists, veterinarians, artists and sculptors”—as well as carpenters and painters. “In gaining these skills, they… learned by doing, hands-on.” Considering their teamwork, dedication, gained knowledge and creativity, it’s no wonder the St. Paul's 4-H Pony Club received the Robeson County 4-H Club of the Year award."

Congratulations to the St. Paul's 4-H Pony Club and its leaders! Just another example of how 4-H is putting Robeson County on the map and our youth on the road to success. Thank you Libby and Holly for sharing your story with us.