NorthWest Montana Back Country Horsemen, based in Kalispell, MT, would like to be considered for the BCHA Double Diamond Award for their 4-H Trail & Packing youth program.
We started our youth program in 2016 with a partnership with the Flathead County 4-H program. Termed “4-H Trail & Packing” we have developed a training program, complete with educational outlines, 4-H Packing manual, horsemanship skills, and what your horse needs to know to be safe on the trail. With this program we teach youth how to pack and how to get their horses ready for the trail.
4-H Trail & Packing is offered in Flathead County but have recently attracted 4-H kids from Lincoln County. In 2022 we have 4 kids from Libby enrolled in our program.
We started the program for two reasons, to pass on what we know, and what we do so that the art of packing with stock shall not be lost in our area. We also wanted a way to get more youth involved in our chapter as well as volunteering to help with the BCH mission.
The Trail & Packing program is taught in 4 clinics starting in January of each year, one each month through April, then in May we have an overnight campout for the kids to practice their skills. Level 4 & 5 students are then able to participate with chapter projects during the summer months, Level 2 & 3 students may “ride along”.
4-H Trail & Packing projects have been created for Level 4 & 5 students and are completely accomplished by 4-H students. To date they have built corrals at Pentagon Cabin, constructed an outhouse at Shaw Cabin, picked up fencing at Salmon Forks Cabin, packed hay into Silvertip Cabin and Shaw Cabins, and started rolling up telephone wire on the Big River Trail south of Black Bear Cabin.
