by Shannon Takahashi
Every year, nearly 700,000 ranchers, farmers, and rodeo enthusiasts from around the country make the pilgrimage to Denver to watch and participate in the world’s largest stock show and celebration of Old Western culture and heritage. The National Western Stock Show is a 16-day-long fair featuring rodeo shows, hundreds of food and livestock vendors, barbeque competitions, fiddling contests – and everything in between.
For 4-H members aspiring for a career with horses, the National 4-H Horse Judging Contest in the Western National Roundup is one of the world’s most prestigious competitions for youths looking to prove their knowledge of horse anatomy, behavior, and character. Horse judging contests demonstrate the youths’ ability to accurately assess horses and defend their evaluations, and aim to teach participants public speaking and decision-making skills. Teams are ranked on their ability to produce an evaluation of a horse that is the most similar to a professional horse judger’s assessment.
This year, for the first time in Hawaiʻi 4-H history, a team of three Oʻahu County 4-H members was sent to Denver to represent Hawaiʻi in the horse judging competition. Madison Eguires, Treston Lindsey, and Taejza Teves, along with their 4-H leader Debbie Eguires, joined more than 1,000 contestants participating in the Western National Roundup this year in hopes of earning national recognition. In order to compete on a national stage, the team had to qualify at both the county and state level.
Clearly, their hard work and dedication paid off. The Hawaiʻi 4-H horse judging team’s debut in this year’s contest was a huge success, with the team ranking 10th place in the categories:
- High Team Overall Performance
- Overall Halter Performance
- High Overall Team Reasons.
Team member Madison Eguires also placed an impressive 8th place out of 42 participants in Individual Horse Judging Reasons. What a great way to start off the year! We look forward to seeing what this talented team accomplishes next.
Congratulations to Madison, Treston, Taejza, and Debbie!