The West Texas A&M University Horse Judging team is galloping towards success, recently ranking in theReined Cow horse contest when the Buffs traveled to Fort Worth to compete, ranking second and third overall.

“So, the students learn the selection criteria for a particular Horse Event in this case, and they rate them, they assess them. And then they rank them. Whether it’s a one through four, or in this case, this particular competition they just recently went to was one through 10, they had two different groups, that they had to rank from one through 10,” said Regents Professor of Animal Science Dr. John Pipkin.

Representing WTAMU and starting off the 2021 competition on a high note hopefully will put the Buffs on a roll for future horse judging competitions around the area and grow their knowledge of judging and field.

“ So, your focus has to be, has to be at the top of its game, because it’s a lot of things going on. And in the rein work, not so much. Because once you have the pattern set, you can figure out where your penalties go. So it a lot easier to spot them. But in the cow work, since obviously, not all the cows do the same thing for us, it would wouldn’t matter. But since they’re all so they vary so much and how they are handled by the horse, or how they’re how whoever’s exhibiting how they show, you have to be very, very focused, very conscious of what what penalties can be included, what you’re looking for, as far as like a standard goes. So mental preparation obviously is huge,” said senior equine business major Calli Montague said

Many students from WTAMU placed in the competition of the National Reined Cow Horse Association as well as The National Horse Judging Team.

According to wtamu.edu/news, “Taylor Scheulen, a junior agricultural business major from Linn, Mo., placed third overall. Sierra Stammen, a junior agricultural business major from Allen, placed fourth. Reilly Dhaliwal, a junior agricultural business major from Boulder, Colo., placed sixth. And Josh Worten, a junior pre-veterinary major from Lake Butler, Fla., placed ninth.”
Competing allows students to gain helpful skills they can use in everyday life.
“What that does is, it’s an opportunity for them to develop their critical thinking, and decision-making skills. And those are really, you know, part of the university missions. So, it’s really consistent with the university mission. And so, they have to literally think through the information they have, and then make some decisions based, so critical thinking kinds of decision based upon their decision making process. And then also a number of these competitions have a communication component, where they have to explain the rationale for why they did what they did.” Pipkin said
The WTAMU Horse Judging team along with different facets of judging in this field plan to shine with these students in future competitions.