Taylor Ford of Lewisburg was among the five Virginia Tech “Hokies” who recently performed as a team effort in preparing and competing at the All American Quarter Horse Congress Horse Judging Contest in Columbus, OH. The group came away with a victorious effort. Every Hokie received individual recognition for their evaluation skills in the limited collegiate contest which culminated in four of the top ten individuals overall hailing from VA Tech.
One of the longest running and most prestigious horse judging contests in the country, the contestants were challenged to place 11 classes of four horses exactly as the official judges for the contest. The classes ranged from conformation to reining, pleasure, hunter hack, western riding, hunter under saddle, trail, and even equitation/horsemanship where rider skills are evaluated. Scores were tallied within the halter judging, performance class judging, and oral reasons when contestants explained their reasoning for class placings.
Members of the Hokie team included: Shelley Brown who placed fourth in halter judging; Taylor Ford who placed second in halter, eighth in reasons and seventh overall; Hannah Geisler who was ninth in halter, eighth in performance, and fifth overall; Hannah McDonald was third in halter, eighth in performance, fourth in reasons and third overall; and Andrea Oliver who finished fifth in halter, tenth in performance, second in reasons, and sixth overall. All the students are majoring in Animal and Poultry Science and coached by Dr. Julia McCann of the APSC department.
The VA Tech Horse Judging Team is appreciative of the Animal and Poultry Sciences Department, faculty, and others who support their efforts. The Pat Stuart Funds financially supported the team expenses for practice workouts and the competition.