Beginning with this year’s Horse Validation Program the process will now be all electronically completed using the 4-H CONNECT online management system. 

ALL 4-H members who wish to show in a district or the state 4-H Horse Show(s) will be required to validate their horse(s) on the 4-H CONNECT system.

BEFORE YOUR BEGIN YOUR VALIDATION PROCESS, YOU MUST:

• Have a family and youth member profile established on 4-H CONNECT
• Be an paid/active youth member of Texas 4-H for the 2011-2012 year.
• Have digital photos of your horse(s) from the front, left side, and right side. These photos must be
accessible for upload during the validation process.
• For registered horses, you need to have a pdf copy of your horse(s) registration papers for upload.

IMPORTANT

Horse Validation is completed for EACH HORSE and will cover all 4-H youth members in that family profile. However, when validating your horses on 4-H CONNECT, you will select ONLY ONE 4-H youth member to conduct the validation under. Once a horse is validated, validation paid, and you begin registering for district horse show, the validate horse(s) can be moved to the appropriate 4-H member(s) that will be exhibiting the horse in the show.


OTHER FACTS ABOUT THE HORSE VALIDATION PROCESS FOR 2012:
• VALIDATION WILL BE OPEN FROM APRIL 1, 2012 TO MAY 1, 2012. Any horse validated before or after this date will not be accepted as a legitimate validate animal.
• An illustrated step-by-step instruction guide for families is available for download and reference from both the Texas 4-H website and the Texas AgriLife Extension Animal Science - Horse Section website.
• Validation cost for each horse will be $10.00. Each 4-H family validating a horse(s) will need to print an invoice for each horse and provide the invoice(s) and check to the County Extension Office. The County Extension Office will prepare ONE consolidated Club/County check, and mail it to the Texas 4-H Foundation. INDIVIDUAL, PERSONAL CHECKS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AT THE 4-H FOUNDATION OFFICE. The ONLY payment accepted at the Texas 4-H Foundation for horse validation will be a Club/County check.
• There is no limit to the number of horses that can be validated in the process.
• Ownership requirements are still the same as in the past.
• In the past there was a Grade Horse worksheet that included the need for sketching markings and colors of horses. That form is no longer required, however, it is a requirement for ALL horses that photos of the front, left side, and right side are uploaded during the validation entry process. The entire horse MUST be in the photograph. Photos should be as close as possible and markings should be clearly visible. The photo should be in jpg or gif format.
• A pdf or jpg of the registration papers will be uploaded for registered horses. If you do not have capabilities with scanning papers, contact your county Extension Office to see if they can assist or direct you in scanning the papers.

BECAUSE THIS IS A NEW SYSTEM THIS YEAR IT IS STRONGLY ADVISED THAT YOU
DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE IN CASE OF ANY COMPUTER, PHOTO, UPLOAD ISSUES!