Menu
Putnam County youth excel in horse judging competitions
The Putnam County 4-H Junior and Senior Horse and Pony Judging teams have continued to grow in numbers and have had a busy and successful competition season.
Participating in the Senior Division this year were Boston Campbell, Kayla Evans, Jessica Hays and Grace Harris.
Participating in the Junior Division were Sonora Erwin, Emma Summers, Aubrey Summers, Callie Buckman, Lilly Stanley, Sydney Moore, Mackenzie McCollough, Kyley Pelfrey, Izabella Summerlot, Skylar Cradick, Rachel Salee and Leah Salee.
The team began the season competing April 1 at the Hoosier Horse Fair Judging Invitational. It is rare that everyone comes home from a contest with a ribbon, but that was the Putnam group’s experience at this contest. This was the only contest broken into three divisions: Junior, Intermediate and Senior.
In the Junior Division, Aubrey Summers placed fifth and Skylar Craddick placed fourth. Earning individual honors in the Intermediate division were Emma Summers in fifth and Rachel Salee in third. Also in the Junior Division, the team of Emma Summers, Sonora Erwin and Sydney Moore placed fourth while the team of Izabella Summerlot, Rachel Salee and Leah Salee placed third. The Senior team of Boston Campbell, Kayla Evans, Jessica Hays and Grace Harris brought home fourth place.
The next weekend, April 8, the team traveled to Foxton Farms in Romney to participate in the Purdue Western Equestrian Team Invitational.
In the Junior Division Putnam County had three individuals earn the top 10 – Sydney Moore in ninth, Mackenzie McCollough in sixth and Izabella Summerlot in fifth.
In the team rankings, the Junior team of Moore, Summerlot and Lilly Stanley brought home fifth, while the team of Callie Buckman, McCollough and Skylar Craddick brought home third. Rounding out the day, Grace Harris brought home 10th place in the Senior Division.
On April 22 the teams headed to St. Mary of the Woods Equestrian Center for the Area competition, where Putnam County again had an outstanding showing. In the Junior Division, the team of Mackenzie McCullough, Callie Buckman, Sonora Erwin and Aubrey Summers brought home third place and the team of Izabella Summerlot, Emma Summers, Sydney Moore and Lilly Stanley brought home second place – qualifying them for the state contest.
Additionally in the Junior Division, Emma Summers placed fifth and Izabella Summerlot placed fourth individually. In the Senior Division, the team of Boston Campbell, Kayla Evans and Grace Harris dominated the day taking home top honors and earning a trip to the state contest. Additionally, in the Senior Division, Grace Harris took top honors placing first overall.
Rounding out the season, the State Horse and Pony Horse Judging competition was held May 6 at the Hendricks County Fairgrounds in Danville, and once again, Putnam County found its way into the awards with the Junior team of Sydney Moore, Izabella Summerlot, Emma Summers and Lilly Stanley bringing home fifth place.
“The purpose of these types of events is not just to learn to judge a variety of breeds of horses and various riding disciplines, but to develop life skills such as evaluating choices, decision making and being able to present an organized and concise verbal summary of their evaluations,” Coach Lisa Pitts said.
“I just could not be more proud of the hard work all of these kids have put into learning the material and preparing for the contests. Even those not making their way into the ribbons had an excellent showing at one contest or another. And while so many programs are struggling in the state, it is a privilege to see our county judging program continue to grow.”