The Horse Judging Team at WTAMU will attend the All American Quarter Horse Competition on Oct. 20-21 in hopes to bring home another trophy to add to their 65 national and world championships.

“This is my first year on the judging team,” Addie Davis, a senior Mass Communications major, said. “We judge a lot of horses and need to know everything about the 20 classes of the horse competition and know the perfect terminology and reasons within two minutes.”

Hundreds of competitors from Texas Tech, Texas A&M, New Mexico State University and Oklahoma State University are just a few that WT compete against. Competitors speak in front of a collegiate judge justifying why they have put a horse in a certain classification. Scores are on an individual level as well as on a team level.“I’ve never been in a competition level like this before,” Jason Schenk, a junior studying Elementary Education, said. “[As for competition] I think we are going to do very good. We have different guests that come and listen to us and they say we are ahead of the curve.”

WT students who have been in the Agriculture and Science building have probably heard members of the horse judging team practice their speeches in the hallways.

“It’s stressful but rewarding at the same time,” Davis said. “We have the best coach, [Dr. John Pipkin] and he has been successful with every team he’s had.”

“He’s been doing this for a long time, and has a tremendous track record,” Schenk said. “It’s a huge passion of his.”

Dr. John Pipkin is the equine program director and a professor of Animal Sciences. He has won 33 national championships and 32 world championships and has taught several coaches from other universities.

“Dr. Pipkin’s philosophy is not to make us a world champions, but to be the best judge we can be,” Sarah Baldrige, a sophomore Equine Industry major, said. “He has taught us to judge for what we love and not for the championship that goes with it.”

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