BROOKVILLE, Ind. – The Franklin County Horse and Pony 4-H Mustangers are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year and they have some big plans. Jenny Wilz has been their adviser for 28 of those years. Some parents of current members once were Mustangers themselves. This year they have 54 members.

From January to July, they stay busy, although Wilz and the five leaders start in December with a planning meeting. The members come for monthly meetings at the fairgrounds from January through April.

In May they start having fun workshops. This year they are working on trail class and in-hand training (working with your horse from the ground). Starting at the end of May they have weekly clinics, bringing in an outside clinician. When school is out, they have a two-day Mustanger Camp. The fair is in July and that’s it for the year.

“What I like is that we have very different kids,” Wilz said. “We have the kids who are very comfortable riding; they have been riding since they were little. They are there to increase their knowledge and to show. Then there are the kids who are maybe just learning how to ride.

“I love that you have to do it, you have to get on your horse and nobody else can do it for you,” she explained. “No matter what your mom tells you from the side. You have to do it. The self-confidence, the camaraderie that they get, it is just experiential.”

Karen Miedenthal is one of the leaders and she recently led a workshop on trail class. Her 46-year-old daughter was a 10-year member. Miedenthal has worked with the club since then. All the club leaders have a different responsibility.

“I help with the clinics,” Miedenthal said. “In April, we had an in-hand clinic. It helps in getting a relationship with your horse so you can communicate. It makes a safer, and more responsive horse, a more fun horse.”

Member Isabelle Cearley was there with her horse, Lena. She said she just loved horses. “I like showing and having fun and hanging out with everybody,” Cearley said.

Ten-year member, Clare Van Meter, who just aged out of the club, was helping coach the kids on trail class and in-hand work.

“I have been riding ever since I can remember. I think 4-H is great because you learn so much about so many different disciplines and it is great to have a group of your peers to ride with. And the fair is just really fun to show off what you learned all year.”

Clare’s mom, Jennie Van Meter, who was a 4-H mom for many years, agreed with her daughter.

“I think my daughter is not very challenged at school and this is a challenge for her,” she said. “She definitely had to work on this. It wasn’t easy because she had to control her horse not just herself. It is something she enjoys and it is a challenge.”

Those are the reasons Wilz has stayed involved with the club long after her own children have moved on. She gets help from all the other leaders, parents, and former members, but the “buck stops with me,” she said.

“My parents bought me a horse when I was 12,” Wilz said. “They had no business doing that financially and they didn’t know anything about horses. But they did it and it absolutely changed the trajectory of my life. Which is why I still do it.”

That’s why this year, the club’s 60th anniversary, she has plans for bigger and better things. In 2000, they put up a new rail and announcer’s stand for the arena. When people ask her if the annual show at the fair was a success, she tells them it was if no one fell off and they didn’t get rained out (that happened once). That is about to change.

“We’re raising funds to put a covered arena in that spot,” she said. “I announced that we are going to move forward with trying to raise funds for the covered arena. I know there are a lot of folks out there who love this club and will help once we get this thing rolling.”

She was able to get help with plans and drawings from former members who are now in those fields. Once the plans are approved, she will send them to the 4-H Association.

“We have not launched our formal campaign but the club knows I am really looking forward to raising the funds for this arena,” Wilz explained. “It’s probably going to be about a half-million dollars. I have a good friend who works with me writing grants. She is working on this. We are looking for private money rather than state or federal money.”

The Mustangers are raising funds for the arena, but it will become part of the 4-H Association property. They’ll rent it out and use it for the rest of the 4-H show, for tractor shows, and to rent for boat storage in the winter months.

“We are one of the most active clubs in the state of Indiana and our demographic is low- to medium-income,” Wilz said. “We talked about a covered arena for a long time. I thought our 60th year would be a good time to reach out to all of these folks who have followed us, who either were in the club or whose granddaughter was. We can do it with grants and some corporate help.”