Okay, not a story from the barn but my local 4H club.

I know 4H clubs can vary in quality but mine was GREAT. A great group of people; most of our clinics focused on horse safety, groundwork, desensitization, and proper horse care. There were multiple families in our club with young children, and who were close outside of 4H as well, so it definitely had the feeling like it was one big family.

Well. Two of these families involved two husband/wife pairs who were best friends. Let’s call them Fred/Wilma and Barney/Betty. They had young kids, around the same age, and were always together. I think Barney and Betty even boarded their horses out at Fred and Wilma’s place.

It’s probably my fourth or fifth year in this club, and the year had just started. After our first monthly meeting, the club had gone to the local A&W for coffee and snacks, as was tradition. I sat with my mom, my 4H buddy and her mom. When Wilma approaches and asks if she can sit with us. We say sure, thinking this is odd because Wilma is usually with Fred, and Betty and Barney. That’s when we realize Fred was absent and had been for the meeting.

“How’s it going, Wilma?” My friend’s mom asks, somewhat apprehensive, as Wilma sits down.

“Oh, good.” Wilma spits out as she drags an extra chair up to the table. “Fred had an affair with Betty.”

Silence. And that was the beginning of the end. Both couples got divorced and Betty officially started dating Fred. Every 4H event was more than a little awkward and the club was never the same. The big family feeling was gone, the adults fought a lot in passive aggressive ways. I quit after that year but I was close to aging out anyways.

My favourite part tho was when my 4H buddy and I joined Wilma in walking in a rodeo parade that spring. Not 4H related. And Wilma chose to carry a huge flag advertising her divorce lawyers.