Horse judging team qualifies for state

By Melinda L. Lucas

Shackelford County horse judging teams placed well at the District 7 Horse Judging contest held in San Angelo last week, with the senior team qualifying for state for the third consecutive year.

Veteran team members Madailein Beard and Grace Fry were joined by Bradee Stautzenberger for the senior competition, finishing first in the team standings to earn the trip to the state roundup.

The three local girls earned the top spot in Team Reasons, and Beard  was the second pace individual, qualifying for the state level as an individual in addition to helping get her team there. Fry was fourth place individual and second place in reasons.

The trio will attend the State 4-H roundup in June at College Station.

“I am super proud of our kids,” Shackelford County extension agent Kelsey Bell said. “It was a tough group of seniors this year, so we were thrilled with the win.”

In the junior division, the team of Artie Bell, Cody Fry, Carly Kreit­ler, and Rainy Nitschke earned a fifth place standing, while the other junior team of Kerrigan Howard, Ayers Bezner, and Baigh Bell came in third. Howard was third place individual, and Artie Bell got a second place in reasons.

“Our juniors are still just getting the hang of competing, so we are very happy with their successes,” Kelsey Bell said.

In addition to her results at the 4-H horse judging, Beard also experienced a good outcome with her Hereford and Angus heifers at Rodeo Austin last week, according to Albany FFA adviser Chris Beard.

She earned fifth place with both heifers.