In addition to the high-caliber horse showing taking place at the National Reining Breeders Classic, top-notch college students from schools across four states gathered in Katy, Texas, to compete in a horse judging competition.

Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, took first place in the Team competition. Karinda Dickens, Cassie Holloway, Amber Marcum, Libby Hallet and Megan Webb were coached by Clay Cavinder and Jeannette Mawyer and recorded a winning cumulative score of 4,757. Hallet also took the Individual title for her school with a 979 score.

The second-place team was Laramie County Community College. Making the trip from Cheyenne, Wyoming, were teammates Laura Schwiegert, Sterling Cumpoton, Jordan Matthews, Karmon Rosencrance and Katie Richardson, who also won the Individual Reserve Championship. Will Golden is the team’s coach.

Also representing their schools in the judging competition were teams from the University of Wisconsin River Falls, Iowa State University, Sam Houston State University (Texas) and Northwest College (Wyoming).

Alicia Burton has served as the NRBC Judging Coordinator for several years and was thrilled with the outcome of this year’s competition. “We moved the contest from its usual Saturday slot to earlier in the week because of the Easter holiday season. We appreciate everyone supporting the event in light of the schedule change. We are so happy to congratulate Texas A&M University and all the talented individuals from each school, and we look forward to seeing everyone again next year.”

The NRBC also features a full-slate of National Reining Horse Association-approved classes, which run in the East Arena while the Classic is held in the Coliseum. The National Reining Breeders Classic is the most successful stallion incentive program in reining history. In just fourteen years, the NRBC has grown to include nearly 200 subscribed stallions. Annually, the payout at the National Reining Breeders Classic exceeds $1.4 million. For information on the NRBC, visit the web site at www.nrbc.com or call 580-759-3939.