4-H horse judges compete at MTSU

Junior high horse judging team members included, from left, Adelia Smith, Heather Colwell and Johnny Smith.

Warren County 4-H members recently participated in the Central Region 4-H Horse Judging Contest. The event was held at Middle Tennessee State Univesity in Murfreesboro and featured over 46 teams from 25 different counties. This contest is traditionally the largest youth horse judging contest in the Eastern United States as it features 4-H teams, high school teams as well as collegiate teams from across the country. The horse judging contest is composed of eight different classes of horses. Team members evaluate and place the horses in each class based on performance and conformation criteria.

Classes at the contest ranged from Tennessee Walking Horse Pleasure to Western Pleasure to Hunt Seat Equitation. Horse judging teaches 4-H members to learn more about the form and function of each individual breed of horse. Even though the 4-H members receive a team score, they must work individually during the contest to complete their analysis of each class.

The Warren County Junior team, which is fourth- and fifth-graders, was Martin Grissom, Larissa Lopez, Cheyanne Newton, Nate Baker and Ethan Shields. This team placed 17th in their division. In addition, Ethan Shields was the 3rd high scoring individual in the junior division in halter classes from a field of 94 contestants.

Warren County 4-H was also represented by a Junior High team, which is sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade 4-H members. The team of Heather Colwell, Johnny Smith and Adelia Smith placed 22nd in the contest.