The WTAMU horse judging team recently returned from their trip to Columbus, Ohio, where they competed in the All-American Quarter Horse Congress Judging contest. The horse judging team brought home another National Championship for WT, marking the 74th National and World championship or reserve championship the University has won.

“Any time a team wins any type of National Championship, it is a fantastic achievement,” John Pipkin, WT’s Horse Judging team coach, said. “This is a great accomplishment that brings national recognition to WT and the students.”

The WT horse judging team beat out 22 other senior collegiate teams including Kansas State University by 26 points while competing at the All-American Quarter Horse Congress.

“This group has worked very hard […] to continually get better and have stayed focused on improving and working towards their goals,” Pipkin said.  “They have a fantastic attitude, an outstanding work ethic and great team chemistry.”

Not only did the team bring home the National Championship title, but there were also two individual successes as Felicia Kimmel won the High Individual Overall award and Kayla Wells was Reserve High Individual Overall.

“This was my last time competing in the Congress judging contest; I have competed in both the youth and junior college divisions and now in the senior college,” Kayla Wells, junior Agriculture Media and Communications major, said. “I was thrilled with how our team did and I was incredibly honored to be reserve overall.”

In collegiate horse judging, each person is only allowed to go through each contest one time, unless one judges in both junior and senior college. Initially, each student only gets one semester to compete in horse judging.

“The last several years of my life have been dedicated to working on judging and ending my congress contest career with a team championship and individual title made everything come full circle,” Wells said.

At WT, the horse judging team is made up of several individuals who either come from a judging background, competing in horse judging their whole life or they have never even judged before.

“The Congress was an unforgettable experience,” Julia Roberts, junior Equine Industry and Business major, said. “I have always dreamed of being a Congress Champion by actually riding in the show pen, but never expected to win by judging.”

The WT horse judging team won the All-American Quarter Horse Congress by earning 3,168 points in the contest.

“To be a part of such a hard working team is truly an honor and I’m thankful for my coaches and teammates who continue to push me to be a better judge,” Roberts said. “Winning Congress was a great reward for all the tough work we put in.”

There were many successes for the horse judging team while at Congress. Felicia Kimmel, junior Animal Science major, placed first in performance, fourth in reasons and ninth in halter. Wells placed second in performance, second in reasons and fourth in halter. Lindsey McNeil, junior Equine Industry and Business major, placed eighth in performance out of 96 competitors.

“Congress was a great experience,” Wells said. “Our team was very successful and having your name called at a contest of that caliber is such an honor.”

The WT horse judging team has returned home from Columbus, Ohio where the All-American Quarter Horse Congress was held and is now preparing for their next contest.

“With the World coming up, we’re continuing to work just as hard and want to repeat our Congress performance,” Wells said.

The next contest for the team will be the American Quarter Horse Association World Championship in Oklahoma City.

“We have been working just as hard if not harder for World,” Roberts said. “We are a confident team and ready to go take names.”

The AQHA World Championship show starts this weekend and the team will be traveling there to start practicing for the contest. The actual contest however, will begin on November 15.

“While I am extremely proud of what this group has done so far, I am really excited about how much potential they have to develop,” Pipkin said.

The WT horse judging team has won one of the three National or World Championship titles in order to take the trifecta of collegiate horse judging.