The U of A's equine judging team defended its title and won the National Cutting Horse Association Judging Contest in Fort Worth in December.

Competitors are graded on an NCHA rulebook test, a penalty clip test where students must identify penalties in videos and in placing two sets of 10 horses. The top 10 individuals then move to a second round and judge a set of 10 horses in a live finals contest.

Arkansas, coached by Jordan Shore and Sidney Dunkel placed five individuals in the top 10 and six in the top 12. Seth Wirtz finished second overall, Lauryn Veach fourth, Max King sixth, Hannah Wright seventh, Kelsey Willis ninth and Braylen Jones 12th.

"Our students worked hard all semester in preparing for this contest and it showed," said Shore. "It's not very often you see an entire team in the top 10 individually in a contest, but these students accomplished that. The students deserved all they were awarded, and I am extremely proud of them."

The team is housed in the Department of Animal Science in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, and all team members are animal science majors.

They were awarded Gist belt buckles and trophies, and the program earned $2,000.

Arkansas also won the NCHA championship in 2019. There was no 2020 event due to the pandemic.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the top 3% of U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.