(Canyon)—Success seems to breed success for the West Texas A&M University horse-judging team.
West Texas A&M had five of the top seven overall individual scorers as the team captured first place at the National Reining Breeders Classic (NRBC) April 25 in Katy, Texas. This was the team’s first time to compete at the NRBC, which is a relatively new competition, but the championship hardware will be placed in a crowded trophy case.
The WTAMU horse-judging team has won first place at the National Reining Horse Association National Championship each of the past five years, and the NRBC victory marks the 12th national or world title won by the team in the past dozen years.
“The members of this team work awfully hard, but it’s always worth it when you come away from particularly stiff competition with a championship,” John Pipkin, director of WTAMU’s Equine Industry Program and coach of the horse-judging team, said. “I’m proud of everyone on this team.”
WTAMU scored 3,348.5 points to outdistance second-place Texas A&M University, which tallied 3,310 points. Middle Tennessee State University was third at the 11-team, 52-contestant event.
WTAMU was led by Tyler Crouse, a junior accounting major from Easton, Mo., who placed second overall. Jessica Crouch, a sophomore equine industry and business major from Vancouver, Wash., was third, Brittany Morgan, a junior political science major from Mt. Juliet, Tenn., was fourth, Laura Wilder, a sophomore equine industry and business major from Houston, was fifth, and Brian Dundon, a senior equine industry and business major from Clymer, N.Y., was seventh.
Members of the team are listed by their hometowns along with their classifications and majors.
