Horse packing involves interacting with a horse for a long amount of time, but also preparing for a lengthy trail ride with them. It can consist of packing two horses with gear to camp on the trail for one night or up to a week at a time. Horse packing can lead to potential job opportunities that aren’t widely publicized, especially in other states with large amounts of land with cattle. In 2019, there were 902,900 Agricultural Worker positions in America according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (An Agricultural Worker maintains crops and tends to livestock.)

Jackson 4H and Rockcastle Agriculture and Natural Resources Agents saw the potential to involve children and teens in a horse packing clinic to educate on the basics of packing. This packing clinic was held at a local ranch in Jackson County. It covered topics like preparing your horse for a long trip, how to tie a knot in your lead rope, and a testimonial from a local horse packing expert. Because these trips involve packing food, they collaborated with the Whitley County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent to talk about keeping food safe to eat while outdoors, keeping cold foods cold, and creating a trail menu for a short or long ride.

An evaluation was given to all participants to see what they learned and could use in the future. The results showed that 100% learned at least one way to tie and secure their horse, while 88% said they learned how to safely pack a horse for a trip. One hundred percent of the participants learned that it was important to prepare your horse ahead of time for packing. Because of this clinic, 100% learned why it was important to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. This program was such a success that the agents in each county are going to offer this program again in hopes to get the 4H participants more involved with each topic.