Ohio 4-H horse program activities can be found online at http://horse.osu.edu
Topics covered on this page:
Requirements for All Exhibitors
- Horse Safety and Ethics (EquiSTEP) *now required for all riders every year
- Purchase or be in possession of Uniform Rules for 4-H Horse Shows book
- Signed "Permission to Participate" and "Headgear Rule"
- Horse ID form by May deadline for each horse
- Horse class entry forms for Pike County fair
- Project book interview
- Read full description of horse project requirements for Extension, County Fair, and ODA
Horse Identification Forms (DUE May 2, 2026)
- Horse ID form
- Permission to Participate form: this is still an annual statewide requirement for all youth participating in Ohio 4-H Horse Program activities.
- Horse Leasing Guidelines
Horse Project Book Requirements
Interview dates for project book judging will be July 14, 15, 16, and 17
- 174 Beginning Horse Management
- 175 Light Horse Selection
- 177 Horse Training: How to Talk to Your Horse (Jr. Requirements)
- 177 Horse Training: How to Talk to Your Horse (Sr. Requirements)
- 182 Small Equine
- 188 Trail Riding
- 189 Dressage
2026 Open Ride Nights: Pike Co. Fairgrounds Horse Arena
| Pike County's equine key leader is Bryahna Branscomb. You can contact her with questions regarding open ride nights by calling 740-708-7407 or message her via Facebook during the workday. |  |
| TBA | Equine Ride Night 7pm |
| Equine Ride night 7pm | |
| Equine Ride night 7pm | |
| Equine Ride night 7pm | |
| Beginners (0-3 years experience) only; 7pm | |
| Western, Ranch, Pleasure, Showmanship 7pm | |
| Gaited 7pm | |
| Contesting 7pm | |
| Beginners 7pm | |
| Western, Ranch, Pleasure, Showmanship 7pm | |
| Gaited 7pm | |
| Contesting 7pm | |
| Contesting 7pm | |
| Western, Ranch, Pleasure, Showmanship 7pm | |
| Potluck dinner and fair prep, 7 pm NO HORSES |
Pike County Fair Show Patterns
Our judge has graciously provided horse show patterns for the 2026 fair. Download them by clicking on the link!
NEW (updated July 9): Horse classes matched to their patterns!
- Ranch Riding
- Western Riding
- Reining
- Driving Reinsmanship
- All other patterns
PAS Qualifying Information
| 2026 PAS SHOWS NEAR PIKE COUNTY | ||
| Ross County | Scioto County | Adams County |
- Members riding in Gymkhana classes at state fair MUST be enrolled in Gymkhana project at county level.
- The Out-of-County PAS Approval Form has been updated for this year and is available online at horse.osu.edu. Youth who participate in out-of-county PAS shows must upload a completed Out-of-County PAS Approval Form after each show to their 4HOnline account. A step-by-step guide to entering/uploading required horse information to 4HOnline is available online at horse.osu.edu.Members wishing to qualify to compete at the Ohio State Fair 4-H Horse Show must participate in and receive a qualifying score at a PAS show.
- A list of PAS show dates is available online at horse.osu.edu on the ‘PAS Qualifying Shows’ tab. Please note that this list only includes information that was sent to us so it may not contain all the PAS shows throughout the state.
- PAS shows must use a designated PAS judge from the 2026 Ohio 4-H Horse Show Judges List. This list is available online at horse.osu.edu on the ‘4-H Horse Show Judge’s Program’ tab.
- PAS shows must use the 2026 PAS patterns that are available online at horse.osu.edu.
- Youth may only attend 2 single-judged PAS qualifying shows or 1 double-judged show. Please keep this in mind when signing Out-of-County PAS Approval Forms.
- Youth must qualify in at least 2 PAS classes to be eligible to attend the Ohio State Fair Junior Horse Show. There is no statewide maximum limit on the number of classes in which a youth may attempt to qualify. Please note that dressage classes are separate from PAS classes. Information for dressage classes is included later in this email.
- PAS qualifying scores/times and class restrictions (such as no Ranch Pleasure and Western Pleasure at the same PAS show) are available online at horse.osu.edu.
EquiSTEP Details
Ohio 4-H’s Equine Safety, Training, and Education Program
Must be completed annually by ALL equine project members prior to the youth participating in any 4-H riding events or activities. EquiSTEP is an annual statewide requirement for all youth participating in Ohio 4-H Horse Program activities. (EquiSTEP replaces the statewide requirement of reading the Horses, Safety, and You (191R) resource and viewing the Every Time, Every Ride and Horses, Kids, and Ethics videos for youth and their families who are new to the 4-H horse program.)
All first-year equine project members must attend an EquiSTEP training in-person with a parent (two date options are being offered).
All other equine project members must either attend one of the in-person trainings OR can complete the training online through Scarlet Canvas. A post-training quiz is required to receive your EquiSTEP certification for the year.
FRIDAY, May 15 – Deadline for all 2026 equine project members to complete EquiSTEP
Two opportunities will be available for IN-PERSON EquiSTEP training. Choose one of the following dates:
- TBA 2026: EquiSTEP Training 6:30 p.m. in the Art Hall
- TBA 2026: EquiSTEP Training 6:30 p.m. in the Art Hall
While all equine members are invited to complete their EquiSTEP training in-person on one of the above-listed dates, if it is your first year with an equine project, you must complete the training in person and a parent or guardian must attend with you. When you come to the training, you will need to have an email address and know what your password is in order to take the required post-training test.
Equine project members in years 2+ can complete EquiSTEP online, or may choose to complete the training in a group setting at either of the trainings on April 17 or May 5. If done individually online, the certificate of completion must be received at the Pike County Extension office by May 15, 2026 in order to participate in 4-H riding events. Here is the link to enroll in/access the EquiSTEP training: EQUI-STEP ONLINE CLASS
To complete EquiSTEP individually, a participant must enroll using their own unique email address. (Participants should not use their school email addresses as the course enrollment invitation is often blocked by the school’s email system.) Participants must view all five videos (introduction and STEPS 1-4) which last approximately one hour in total.
Once the videos are completed, participants will be able to access the 10-question quiz. Participants must complete the quiz associated with the training and achieve a minimum score of 7 (out of 10) in order to pass the training.
Once the quiz is successfully completed, participants will need to complete the course survey to trigger a certificate of completion. The certificate will be emailed to the participant’s email address as well as their county’s 4-H email address (pike4h@osu.edu). The participant must select their correct county to trigger the email to the correct email address and they must click on the submit button at the end of the survey to trigger the email.
South Central Ohio Horse Clinic
Sign up for project book check interviews
2026 project book check interviews and skillathons for all market and equine projects will be held on the following dates:
TO BE ANNOUNCED!
Choose the date that works for you!
3-7:00 p.m. each day - Schedule your appointment time online: go.osu.edu/pikebooks25
Entry Form for Pike County Fair
Entry form for horse classes is due by July 10, 2026. Download your form here or pick one up at the office.