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Andes Central FFA traveled to Redfield on March 1st for the first Career Development Event (CDE) competition of the season. At this competition the Horse Judging team made up of Riata Bultje, Marin Bultje and Callie Bergin finished third as a team and qualified for the state CDE competition. It was an excellent first competition for the team followed by a 4th place team finish in the next competition at Bridgewater-Emery on March 11th. Here is a little bit more about the three members of the Horse Judging team and what their event all entails.

As part of the Horse Judging competition, the event begins by taking a 50-question exam with questions relating to horses and their anatomy, the breed types, basic health questions, and riding/ harness identification. Afterwards, the students go out and judge live horses. In most competitions, there are only four or five classes of four different horses. The horses are then judged on their conformation which includes how they are built, their breed types and their performance for riding classes. The judging teams then place the horse’s 1st -4th place. This is followed by either a short 5 question exam about the horses or the team gives oral reasons about why they placed the horses the way that they did. The questions usually consist of which horse has a brand, which one was the most muscled, or what one has the most ideal quarter horse head shape. For the reasoning portion of the event, the team has about 30 minutes to prepare their speech, and then anytime within that 30-minute time frame the team can go give their reasonings to any of the event facilitators.

Riata Bultje

Riata Bultje is the daughter of Brice and Darci Bultje. She is a senior at Andes Central. Riata chose this particular event because of her love of horses. She grew up with horses and has been obsessed with them since she was very little. Riata already knew quite a bit about the competition before entering, but still had to do a lot of practicing to be able to get to where she is today. The only time she regrets having picked the outdoor event of Horse Judging is when the weather does not cooperate. Overall being on the horse judging team has been a great learning experience that will set her up for her future by gaining skills in public speaking and horse judging.

Riata’s favorite part of FFA is that there are so many opportunities for everyone, and it really does set a person up to be successful in their future career. After graduating, Riata plans to study Agriculture Education and she would never have chosen this path it if was not for all the knowledge and experiences that she has gained throughout her time with FFA. Riata has also competed in other CDE’s during her time with the Andes Central FFA. She has competed in Lifestock Evaluation which requires judging cattle, sheep, goats and pigs in the same format as Horse Judging. She has also done Natural Resources which is a competition with a lot of tree, mammal, fish, and wildlife identification and includes a test.

Riata also competed in the fall Leadership Development Event (LDE) competitions in Prepared Public Speaking. She competed at both the district and state levels.

Riata originally joined FFA because her mom is an alumni of FFA. Darci Bultje was one of the community members that really pushed for Andes Central to start an FFA chapter, which they did in 2019. Being one of the few kids at Andes Central with a background in agriculture played a big part in Riata’s choice to join FFA. Riata would tell a non-FFA student that FFA has opportunities for everyone, even if one is not a farmer or does not have an agricultural background. Many people think that FFA is just for farm kids, but really it is for everyone because agriculture is so much more than just farming.

Marin Bultje

Marin Bultje is the daughter of Brice and Darci Bultje. She is a freshman at Andes Central. Marin chose the Horse Judging event because she has always had horses and this event would help her learn more about them. Marin’s favorite part of FFA is getting to travel to new places and meet lots of new and interesting people. FFA also teaches many skills that she will be able to use throughout her life.

Marin has also competed in Natural Resources but otherwise that and Horse Judging are the two CDE’s that she has so far competed in during her FFA career. She has also competed in LDE’s including this year in Ag Issues and last year in Creed Speaking. Marin joined FFA because she enjoys agriculture and there is a lot of valuable knowledge that can be learned in FFA. When asked what she would tell a non-FFA student, Marin said that she would tell them about some of her fun experiences in FFA, talk to them about all of the fun places they can go, the great people that they can meet and the skills that can be acquired from being a part of FFA.

Callie Bergin

Callie Bergin is the daughter of Junior and Jayme Bergin. She is a freshman at Andes Central. Callie picked Horse Judging because she has always loved horses and wanted to learn more about them. Callie’s favorite part of being in FFA is being able to learn new things and getting to spend time with her friends. This is Callie’s first CDE. She has competed in the LDE’s of Ag Issues and Creed Speaking.

Callie joined FFA because she lives on a farm and loves the farm life. She wanted to join in order to get more agricultural experience and learn more. When asked what she would tell a non-FFA student, Callie said that she would encourage them to join FFA because they will have many new opportunities and be able to learn a lot of new and different things.

Congratulations to the Andes Central Horse Judging team of Riata, Marin and Callie. What a great start to the CDE competition season.