4-H team places third in animal judging competition

Cape Girardeau County 4-H members finished third in the senior division of the University of Missouri Extension 4-H State Horse Judging Contest on March 21 at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The team included Devon Beard and Emilie Beard of Oak Ridge, Leslie Birk of Gordonville and Micayla Gray of Whitewater. In individual competition, Birk placed second. The Cape Girardeau County teams competed with 170 4-H members, who tested their ability to evaluate the characteristics of individual animals in seven breed classes. In the contest, students compared four horses in each class based on desirable breed traits, ranked the animals from most to least desirable and explained their rankings to the judges.