Horse Judging

Contacts:
Ann Duran

Horse judging consists of making a careful study of animals, measuring them individually against a commonly accepted ideal. Horse judging is an art where an authoritative person expresses his or her opinion of a class, by his or her order of placement. An educated judge should be able to express his or her opinion orally to reinforce the order of placement.

Being on a 4-H judging team teaches youth the skills to become an authoritative person. The commonly accepted ideal type and performance should be learned for each of the various breeds (Arabian, Morgan, Quarter Horse, Paint, etc.) by practices held by the coach. One should learn the parts of the horse, blemishes and unsoundness, and conformational faults. After they have the background on breeds, they have to learn to evaluate and compare animals in a class of four, like horses (Quarter horse mares, Arabian geldings, etc.). Taking notes to weigh the differences in faults and blemishes assists young judges in making the decision on how to place the class.

At a contest, young judges are allowed approximately fifteen minutes to do an evaluation on one class. Young judges then must defend their placing in oral reasons. To give oral reasons they must understand the various breeds and know the terminology to describe the attributes of each breed. It is very important that the coach know the basics of oral reasons so that the 4-Hers know what they are doing. Oral reasons are the most stressful part of being on a judging team, or judging at a real show defending your placing to horse show parents! The coach must prepare the 4-Hers to give a flowing comparison and contrasting set of reasons. Judges should be able to describe the placing of the class in two minutes or less. As always, practice makes perfect, and you can never practice judging horses enough.

Anyone in 4-H can be on the horse judging team, they don't have to be in the horse project. The coach should be someone with experience about judging and giving oral reasons. Judging Teams can be put together anytime of the year. The earlier you start the better of you will be for contests that are usually held in the summer and fall. To find information on horse judging you can go to your local extension office or surrounding extension offices. Judging teams may consist of individuals from various counties. To get educational material you can write to your various breed registries. Arabian and Quarter Horse put out wonderful judging material

Margaret Lawson has compiled a list of helps for Team Coaches. Feel free to contact her.