Miniature horses give 4-H youth chance to work with animals
Apple and Cider: Is it any wonder these two miniature horses are a bonded pair?
At a 4-H miniature horse camp held on the Mille Lacs County Fairgrounds in June 2025, Johnny, age 8, worked with Cider, a rescue horse he leased from the farm of 4-H’er Gary Wachs, age 14, and his mother, Joan Dobbert. The Dobbert-Wachs family also rescues chickens, ducks and llamas, providing extensive care and sharing them with the community. Dobbert is the Mille Lacs County 4-H leader for the llama-alpaca project. They even brought a llama up to the second floor of a senior care facility once — in an elevator!
Johnny made progress with Cider, navigating an obstacle course. Cider is missing one eye, and Johnny learned how to use voice and physical cues with the elderly equine.
Asked why his family rescues animals, Gary sums it up easily: “To give them a good life.”
Highlights
- 4-H in Mille Lacs County prepared youth for 4-H officer roles, whether they were new to the roles or wanted more advanced training. Hands-on activities helped them train and practice the various leadership roles.
- Master Gardeners in Mille Lacs County hold an annual plant sale, providing education to gardeners while selling plants they grow themselves. They also provide Gardening 101 workshops throughout the year and partner with local businesses, like Firefly Dahlias.
- RSDP impact: With support from a CERTs Seed Grant, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe’s Department of Natural Resources upgraded electrical service and installed two EV charging stations to provide more publicly available charging options.
- U of M Farm Family of the Year: Beezie’s Blooms (2026)
- Ben Winchester and Aiden Opatz produced a Transfer of Wealth Opportunity report for Mille Lacs County, which provides an estimate of the assets that will transfer between generations within the next 10-50 years. They found that capturing just 5% of the 10-year transfer of wealth potential would create more than $10 million in new endowments. Over 20 years, this endowment could support grantmaking of over $12 million.
- In collaboration with the Initiative Foundation, the Climate Adaptation Partnership enabled the creation of a new staff position focused on community preparedness and resiliency across the central Minnesota region.
Mille Lacs County office
Extension has 14 regional offices supporting all 87 counties in Minnesota.
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About the Minnesota 87 project
Spend time in any Minnesota county, and you will almost certainly encounter University of Minnesota Extension. Our faculty and staff, volunteers, participants, alumni and partners are woven into the fabric of rural, urban and suburban Minnesota life. This project showcases Extension in action through photos, stories and a sampling of the many ways Extension has touched the lives of people in every county.