By: Reporter, Paige Jones
In Mid-September, the Paulding FFA Equine Team consisting of Lonna Saylor, Jennifer Stahl, Jordyn Merriman and Riley Noffsinger traveled to Massachusetts to compete at the Big E in West Springfield. Despite several plane delays and troubles, the team finally made it to Massachusetts late Thursday night.
The following day the members took a tour of Boston and looked at the lake and historical sites throughout the city. The rest of the night was spent studying and preparing for the competition.
On Saturday September 15th, the team was ready to compete. The equine competition consists of judging six horse conformation classes, which includes looking at four horses and ranking them from best to worst based on the muscle definition, bone structure, and overall soundness.
Two performance classes where horses are judged on how they change leads, their stride, and how they act when being ridden. They also had to identify different types of tack that is used on horses, as well as different breeds and markings on them. Then they must give oral reasonings of why they placed the horses in the order that they did.
Later that night they shared a meal at the annual FFA Banquet with all of the students that had competed earlier that day. The banquet also served as an awards ceremony for all the students.
The team placed 8th overall and represented Ohio and the Paulding FFA proudly! The team would like to thank all the sponsors that helped with the trip and the chapter is very proud of the team and all that they accomplished!
