In 2017 I became aware of a program within the Kentucky 4-H horse program that had been created over 20 years ago, but to my knowledge, no one had participated in since I had begun working here.  It was a horse achievement program, with 4 levels and various activities and lessons that required completion in order to move on to the next level.  It seems to be a quality program that was under utilized.  At the same time I had been approached by several volunteers with concerns that they didn't know where to begin in teaching lessons to their clubs.  That even though we provided the horse kit and manual, there was no path directing what was most important, or what should be learned first.  They were also frustrated that they didn't know what to study to help their hippology and horse bowl teams, especially the junior teams, because there was far too much information to cover in just one or two years into the program.  Kids were getting discouraged that they knew very little of the content that was on the hippology tests.  I had the idea to revise and update the achievement program, and tailor it to meet some of these needs.  I pulled together a group of agents and volunteers to review content and decide which lessons were important to learn and at what point in the 4-H career was it important to learn.  We create a 5 level system that consisted of lessons, activities, and hands on skills.  This will provide leaders with a road map of what to teach, give structure and purpose to the 4-H horse curriculum, and provide motivation for the students to learn the necessary skills.  Upon completion of each level the student will have to pass a proficiency test, and will receive a pin that indicates the level completion.   We have also announced that from now on, the junior level horse bowl and hippology questions will only come from subject matter in level 1 and 2 of the Horse Academy books, therefore they have specific material to study in preparation for the state contest.  Level 1 and 2 books have now been published and leaders have shown a great deal of interest in the program.  Levels 3, 4, and 5 will be out this fall.  My hope is that this becomes the core curriculum that the leaders teach and will garner interest and provide motivation to complete the program.