When the members of the Salmon Model Horse 4-H Club decided they wanted to do something to help the Abaco Barbs, the first comment was, "What can we do, we're only kids?" Well, after giving the idea some thought, they decided to try writing letters to the Breyer Model Horse Company and ask if they would consider making an Abaco Barb model. Breyer's reply was, "Yes!" And the Capella model made its debut in January 2005. Since then, the club has received numerous inquiries from youth across the country as to how they too could help the horses. So, the club members got together for a brain-storming session and came up with the suggestions listed below to help give both youth groups and individuals ideas on various fund-raising activities.
Some really simple ideas would be to purchase a Capella model then sell raffle tickets for it; collect and recycle aluminum cans; have local horse businesses donate items like brushes or horse treats then create a horsie gift basket and raffle it off; hold a horse trailer wash, like a car wash. If you have a really active group, you can have a stickhorse play day which is really fun. You use real horse events like barrel racing, jumping and trail class, but you do it with stick horses. Or you can hold a stickhorse trail class speed race. This can be done during lunch at a horse show or other event. You get teams and challenge them to race each other. Each team has to raise funds from their sponsors to compete. It's really fun if you can find a tunnel of some kind that they have to crawl through. It's even funnier if you can get the adults to do it. Challenge your leaders, County Agent, Mayor, Firemen and Policemen. Charge a team entry fee and small spectator's fee and be sure to award a special trophy at the end. It can be something a simple as a gold horseshoe with a message printed on it. There are all kinds of creative things you can come up with.
While funds for the horses are important, it's not the only thing youths can do to help. One of the best ways to help the horses is to teach people more about them. There are many things youths can do to "get the word out" about the Abaco Barbs. One club member did a report on the Abaco Barbs for her English project, then turned the report into an illustrated speech and presented her speech during the Lemhi County Fair 4-H Speech and Demonstration Contest. Another youngster spoke about the horses at his Boy Scout meeting. The first step in promoting the Abaco Barbs is to visit the Arkwild website at
http://www.arkwild.org and learn as much as you can about the horses. Then check out the lists below to see if there's something you'd be interested in doing. It's that simple.
We'd love to hear from anyone who does do a fund-raising project or any type of promotion for the Abaco Barbs. It would be fun to share ideas with other youths. Maybe you have an idea that we can add to the list. If so, e-mail us at
smh4hc@yahoo.com.
