FFA Horse Judging

Lillian Helbig, Staff Writer

This past Friday, September 16, six FFA students went to Carbondale for horse judging with Mr. Berg. The participants were Paige Riechmann, Madison Gogoleck, Lily Helbig, Kate Borrenpohl, Abby Brennfleck, and Preston Coats. There were 6 categories to judge: Conformation hunter, Quarter horse halter, Hunter under Saddle, Hunt Seat Equitation, Western Pleasure, and Trail class. 

They first started out with the Conformation hunter which was placing the horse by which one looked the best. Next was the Quarter horse halter which was the same as the first one just a different age group. After judging the horse, next was the Hunter Under Saddle. The Hunter Under Saddle was judging the saddle and how the rider sat on it. Then, was the Hunt Seat Equitation and for that, they had to judge the way the horse walked, trotted, cantered, and jogged. Once they were done judging the Hunt Seat Equitation, next was the Western Pleasure and for that one, they had to watch to make sure the horse followed the right order and make sure they did the right steps that were being called. The last part you had to judge was the trail class. The trail class was where they had to judge the horse by how it went through the obstacles. 

Later that day they got their results back. Lily Helbig led the team with a score of 258/300. The team placed 7th in our section.