MTSU Horse Judging Team

Frequently Asked Questions

The MTSU horse judging team has a long history of successes and contributions to student development.

Dr. Dave Whitaker started the judging team program in 1976. The first team members were Julie Murphy Smith, Kelly Rice Walters, Johnny Newman, and Steve Brazier. None of the four had judged in youth judging and had less than six weeks to prepare for the first contest at the Quarter Horse Congress. Needless to say, we did not have to rent a trailer to bring back awards from that trip. Their next competition was at the National All Breeds contest then held at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The team won first overall, and Steve Brazier was third high individual overall, so the skill level as well as the confidence level made dramatic leaps. The program took off from there. Today the MTSU teams are respected in their every competition, and the program boasts of winners and/or high individuals in most of the National contests.

The team generally competes at two or three fall contests. The first is the Quarter Horse Congress held in Columbus, Ohio, and the second will be the Quarter Horse World Show contest in Oklahoma City. Later, the team may return to Oklahoma City to judge at the National Reining Horse Association Futurity.

A new team is organized in the spring semester, and they will judge in the MTSU Horse Judging contest and the Paint Horse contest held in Fort Worth, Texas. The trip to Texas is usually for six or seven days, allowing the team the opportunity to visit some of the nation's best horse breeding facilities and ranches where many current and past world champion horses reside. Additional spring contests may be included if time and funding permit.

Dr. Dave Whitaker remains the head coach of the MTSU horse judging team. In addition to serving as Director of the MTSU Horse Program, he teaches Animal Behavior, Selection and Judging, and Advanced Judging. His judging credentials include serving as an AQHA judge for twenty two years, and he has judged three World Championship Shows, two AJQHA World Shows and one Select World Show. He has served as a judge in nine foreign countries and thirty-eight states, and he has judged ten different breeds of horses.

MTSU's Horse Judging Team has won the World Championship Quarter Horse Show contest twice and been reserve champion three times. The team has won the Quarter Horse Congress judging contest three times and been reserve champion twice. One of those wins was with a four-person team in 2005, the first four-person team ever to win the Congress since the first judging contest in 1969. The team has won the Paint Horse Contest once and been reserve champion once, and they have won the Morgan contest, the Appaloosa contest (not held currently) and were reserve champions at the National Arabian contest.