Horse-crazy 4-H members are leaving hoofprints all over New Mexico, whether they're novices on their first trail ride or seasoned competitors in the show ring.

The first time 10-year-old Sara Trujillo of Taos Pueblo got on a horse at a 4-H workshop, she was so anxious she cried. But with each clinic, and with encouragement from friends and volunteer leader David Vargas, her confidence improved. Soon, she will make her first trail ride, complete with an overnight campout for 4-H members, families and friends.

Veteran 4-H competitor Brooke Evetts of Tucumcari, on the other hand, has tried virtually every 4-H event, activity and contest having to do with horses.

At 16, Evetts competes in show jumping, barrel racing and pole bending events at 4-H horse shows.

"I like the excitement of a show and meeting new people," she says. "The competition gives me something to work toward."

Evetts, who dreams of becoming a horse breeder and trainer, increased her horse sense as a member of New Mexico's top 4-H hippology team in 1997, winning a trip to national contests in Denver. The hippology contest tests members' knowledge of tack, feeds, horse anatomy and problem-solving.

Last year, Evetts was among 150 kids who turned out for the Suzanne Norton Jones 4-H Horse School at the state fairgrounds in Albuquerque, where long, hot June days start with feeding horses at 6:30 a.m. and end after evening practice at 10 p.m.

In between, instructors help the kids work on basic horsemanship in small groups. Special interest sessions focus on showmanship, barrel racing or trail riding. When students excel, instructor Jan Settles, a longtime volunteer instructor from Mesquite, flips them a piece of candy from a bag on her saddlehorn.

Though it's no day at the beach, entire families have been known to spend their summer vacations at horse school. So many instructors are willing to donate their time that organizer Roy Vaughan with the State 4-H Office has a waiting list. 4-H is an NMSU Cooperative Extension Service program.

"I've seen kids with every color, size, shape and model of horses, even mules, at horse school," Vaughan says. "You don't have to own a five-figure horse to have fun and learn a lot of things."

For those who can't attend horse school, some county Extension 4-H programs offer mini-courses known as horse-o-ramas. Doña Ana County initiated the idea, and Roosevelt and Catron counties have similar events. Special-interest horse 4-H clubs, like Doña Ana County's H-Bar-C and San Juan County's Hoofbeat Gang, provide horse clinics and workshops.

Even without a horse, 4-H members can learn about horses by studying for the quiz-show style Horse Bowl contest or competing on horse judging teams.

At 4-H horse shows throughout the state, riders perform on their project animals. A premier event is the State 4-H Horse Show, held in Tucumcari in late July, where riders can compete in 27 different classes, including English and Western riding, reining and trail events, and barrel racing and pole bending.

The top novice, junior and senior competitors take home a saddle provided by the donors and volunteers who've kept the show running for 38 years.

Young Riders, a horse show club for 4-H members in Eddy, Lea and Chaves counties, helps introduce younger riders to competition with monthly training. More than 100 members now belong.

Events and rules are different for 4-H rodeos throughout the state, where competitors may ride any horse they choose to compete in timed and rough stock events. One of the oldest and largest is the 41-year-old Bernalillo County 4-H Youth Rodeo, which draws 250 competitors from around the state.

At many 4-H rodeos, the Pony Express drill team delivers crowd-pleasing performances. The riders from the Baptist Children's Home 4-H club serve as goodwill ambassadors for Portales and Roosevelt County. The teamwork builds confidence and fits in with the goal of the children's home to help young people work through problems so they can live successfully with their families.

The silver-clad riders on gray horses perform a choreographed routine with music and flags to loud applause.

"I like the speed. I like going fast," says Mark, a team member. "I like the partnership with all my friends and going on trips. It's fun."

While horse projects require patience and hours of practice, that doesn't scare away the 2,400 4-H members in New Mexico who can't wait to ride.

"With most kids, their horses are their best buddies," Vaughan says. "In 4-H, there's room for kids who want to be super-competitive at the world-class level and for kids who want to ride their horses along the ditch banks."