Each year the Indiana Horse Council, in cooperation with the Indiana Horse Council Foundation, awards scholarships to Indiana students with equine interests.  The purpose of the scholarship program is to encourage support of the equine industry by providing educational assistance to outstanding men and women.  IHC scholarships are available in four categories: Associate/Technical Program, Beginning a Bachelor Degree Program, Continuing a Bachelor Degree Program, and Professional or Graduate Degree Program.  Scholarship applications may be obtained from the IHC web site at www.indianahorsecouncil.org.  For more information about IHC scholarships, contact IHC at Inhorsecouncil@aol.com or 317-692-7141.  Congratulations to the 2009 recipients of scholarship awards who are featured below! 

Jessica Peters

Vallonia, Indiana

(Beginning a Bachelor Degree Program)

My name is Jessica Peters and throughout my first semester at Purdue University I grew as a person tremendously. My proudest academic achievement was making the Dean’s List my first semester.  I got excellent grades and could not be happier.  I also believe that being involved in clubs is an academic achievement due to the ability to balance clubs and grades at one time.  Clubs are a great way to build relationships with people that could help you advance in your plan of study.  I am in the Pre Vet club, 4-H Collegiate Team, and the Western Equestrian Team.  All of these clubs pertain to my plan of study and have helped create a path for networking with people who would be beneficial to me in the future.  The IHC Scholarship has been so beneficial to me.  Without the extra help I would have had the constant worry about the financial stress and binds I would be putting on family.  Every dollar of this scholarship was and still is appreciated and for that I am grateful.  Student loans are also a scary thought.  With the help of the IHC scholarship I was able to steer clear of taking out any loans for my first year at Purdue.  Thank you again for choosing me as a recipient for the Indiana Horse Council Scholarship.  My first year at Purdue was great and I hope for many more good years.

Hayley Redman

Pittsboro, Indiana

(Beginning a Bachelor Degree Program)

The Indiana Horse Council Scholarship has helped to fund my education at Purdue University.  It has provided money for my much needed and appreciated books.  Without them, I surely would not be doing nearly as well.  The scholarship may not cover all of my tuition but when you are in college, every little bit of money is a great help.  The IHC scholarship has been very helpful on taking some stress of money away and letting me focus on what I really want to do in my life.  Currently, I am studying Pre-Vet with a concentration on Animal Sciences so that one day I may be able to help the horses that have done so much for me.  So far I have excelled in my animal science and agriculture classes.  My hope is to someday either become an equine veterinarian or enter into the equine world and change it for the better in something such as research.  My own horse suffers from head shaking syndrome and I would like nothing more than to help give her more comfort and hopefully my degree will assist me in doing just that.  Although the classes are difficult, I really enjoy learning about many different types of animals and the information that I will need to take my education further in this field.  I have also been given the tools in many of my classes, such as Agriculture 101 Honors, to help with world issues on a much higher level that I would have never thought was tangible to me before.  My education here at Purdue has opened my eyes to all the possibilities out there and the fact that I can actually do whatever I want to do in life.  There is nothing holding me back here, unless it is myself.  I am very grateful for what the IHC has done for me. 

 Megan Belcher

Stilesville, Indiana

(Continuing a Bachelor Degree Program)

My name is Megan Belcher and I am currently a student within the Purdue University School of Veterinary Technology.  I am focusing on the academic field of Equine Business Management with medical interest in the areas of both equine anesthesia and equine surgical suite circulation.  I must tell you that I am grateful to have been selected to receive the 2009 IHC academic scholarship award.  This financial award was applied toward my summer 2010 Purdue University tuition expenses, which allowed me to complete an externship at an equine veterinary referral practice located in Ashland, Virginia.  Following my experience, I concluded that a daily working career with an exceptional veterinary health care team focusing on cutting edge equine medical and surgical technique is what I will strive for.  Subsequent to this summer externship, I completed an additional semester of course work, which allowed me to achieve the academic requirements necessary to be granted an Associates Degree in the field of Veterinary Technology from the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine.  As a continuing Bachelors Degree student within the Purdue University Veterinary Technology program, I will complete two additional semesters of course work, as well as a twelve week externship at an equine veterinary practice of my choice.  I would like to thank members of the IHC scholarship selection committee for allowing me to benefit from this academic scholarship award.  By investing in my future, the Indiana Horse Council funded the necessary education so that I may advance on the path of becoming a Registered Veterinary Technologist.

Caitlin Vonderohe

Indianapolis, Indiana

(Continuing a Bachelor Degree Program)

I would like to sincerely thank the Indiana Horse council for awarding me the 2009 scholarship for continuing my bachelors degree program in Animal Science at Purdue University.  This past year has been very busy for me as I balanced semesters with 16 credit hours apiece with preparations for the Pinto World show and national Pinto Queen Contest.  I took a wide variety of classes including horse evaluation, organic chemistry, agricultural economics, biochemistry, and genetics.  I also became active on the Purdue Intercollegiate horse judging team and worked part time at a barn in Lafayette.  Last summer I represented the state of Indiana in the National Pinto Queen contest in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Unfortunately my mare was unable to make the trip with me for the horsemanship portion of the contest as she was laid up at Purdue’s vet hospital with a complications resulting from strangles.  I was only able to compete because of a fellow horse-person’s generosity in that she loaned me a mare for the contest.  I had an amazing time in Oklahoma; the contest gave me an opportunity to meet a great deal of people and I won the speech and horse knowledge portions of the contest.  The IHC scholarship was very helpful this year in helping offset my schooling costs so that I could afford to go to Tulsa and pay for my mare’s veterinary expenses.  I will continue at Purdue for the next year then plan to attend Purdue’s School of Veterinary Medicine with hopes of becoming an equine veterinarian.