HAMILTON, Ohio – Dust swirls around the arena where kids are riding their horses – pleasure riding, pole bending or whatever. Parents watch from the stands. All of this swirls around Tracey and Chad Ingle, who supervise the facility and encourage the kids in whatever they are doing, primarily 4-H.

“We do a little bit of everything,” Tracey Ingle said. “We work mainly with our 4-H kids. Our club is Young Riders Etc. We had to add “Etc.” because we’re not just a horse club anymore. We are a multi-animal club. So many people wanted to come into our club, and we now show everything from rabbits, turkeys, chickens, pigs, any kind of livestock, all the way up to horses.”

The Ingles own 18 horses. Many of them were born there. The couple have trained the horses themselves. However, the stable is also home to one heifer, three goats, and a number of cats. When the club members show pigs, they keep them at the barn, too.

“We lease the horses to them, but we get no money,” Tracey said. “You’re not supposed to do that when you’re a 4-H adviser. You’re supposed to be helping the kids, you’re not supposed to make money from them. They take care of the horse’s shots for fair and their shoes; everything else, the horses are here, they’re ours, we take care of them.”

The Ingles’ two kids, Chloe and Colby, are now adults. They were in 4-H from little on. They showed horses, hogs and cattle. Tracey rode too, then. But bad knees put a stop to that. Besides the fair, the Ingles also take the 4-H kids and the horses to open shows all over.

“We were always on the show circuit with our kids,” Tracey said. “It is not something I ever gave up. I like it.”

Added Chad: “We enjoy having the kids around, they keep us young. They keep us on the move. We just enjoy kids, and they appreciate what we’re doing. I have said it a million times. 4-H is a wonderful program, and I think it helps kids who are either headed the wrong way, or who could possibly head the wrong way, to keep their lives straight. We don’t have that here. All of these kids are good kids; they always bond together. These kids become part of our family.”

Tracey added that they have a lot of kids now, and she hopes that when she dies, each one of them has something positive to say, that she gave them opportunities they would not have had.

“We do give kids opportunities,” Tracey said. “A lot of people can’t afford horses. They are a very expensive hobby. If it means helping kids out, then I will help them. It is giving them something that our kids had and appreciated, and I think it made them better people. It’s the responsibility, the commitment, the relationship with the animal is unbelievable. That’s not just with horses, that’s with any animal. Their ribbons and trophies are proof of that.”

McKenna Judd keeps her quarter horse, Fergy, at the Ingles’ stable. She does contesting – barrel racing, pole bending.

“It means a lot that they help me get to the fair,” she said. “I love horses.”

Carrie Judd, McKenna’s mom, said that Tracey helped McKenna switch from riding English to contesting. Two of Carrie’s nieces also ride there now. When Carrie was inquiring about an equine 4-H club, everyone suggested the Ingles’ club.

“Tracey and Chad come out here and they drag this arena every night for the kids,” Carrie Judd said. “They keep water, popsicles, snacks, everything for the kids out here. Tracey likes to cook, so she’ll have meals to eat for everybody while they are watching their kids ride. We have become family. It’s been a blessing.”

Added Carrie’s dad, Jeff: “It’s unbelievable. We have been coming out for years with our daughter. The Ingles have been so good to her. They are good people. They have touched so many people’s lives.”

JoAnn Moeller’s two daughters, Anna and Elle, were in the Ingles’ 4-H club and rode at the facility for many years. Both girls have competed in out-of-state shows and done well. The Moellers had no experience with horses, knew nothing about them. But both girls were born horse lovers.

“Both of our girls had opportunities they never would have had otherwise,” JoAnn Moeller said. “Tracey and Chad just opened their hearts to our family. We met them at a 4-H dinner, and they said yes, bring the girls to the farm. So, we did, and they just really embraced our kids all the way through. Both of our girls were in 4-H and then FFA with equine projects (Anna Moeller was Ohio 2024-25 FFA president).

“This was the foundation for all of the things they got to do,” Moeller said. “They were here when they were little and got a lot of opportunities to do things they would not have been able to do otherwise.”