The competition took place April 15 at the Pauline Whitaker Center in Fayetville. 

“There was a team of four girls: Megan Trammel, Allison Stamps, Jessica Stamps, and Kelsey King,” said Mrs. Patti Priest.

The girls took 1st place out of 44 other teams in Arkansas. 

“We won by 9 points, it was very close,” said Mrs. Priest.

In addition to this, out of the 152 individual participants in the competition, Megan was the second high individual, followed by Allison Stamps who was the third high individual, with Jessica close behind at 5th high individual.

From here the team has the honor of  going on to compete in the national level competition, which will be in Indianapolis, Indiana in October.

“Only the 1st place team gets to compete at nationals,” Said Mrs. Priest.

There is quite a bit that goes into judging a horse, all of which is important to know if you’re going to buy one, or if you’re interested in pursuing a career in proffesional horse judging.

“They place them on confirmation and balance, just how the horse looks.  Then they also place them on performance either wester pleasure, hunter undersaddle, or western horsmanship.  They also have to give a set of oral reasons,” said Mrs. Priest.

But according to Jessica Stamps, theres a little more to judging a horse than textbook rules.

“Lastyear we got caught up in the textbook horse judging rules, but this year we went by our horseman instincts, and I think that’s what got us 1st,” said Stamps.