Merritt’s Niah Prowal, 13, was a first-place winner in the 4-H Club’s regional senior horse judging competition, held at the B.C. Stockyards in Kamloops on May 7.  Prowal was one of four members of the local Nicola Valley 4-H Club who attended the event. The others were fellow seniors Megan Dunsmore, Olivia Schmid and Amy Gunn, along with junior Lexus Thomas. Prowal explained that each of the 25 or so participants in the senior horse judging were presented with four horses that had to be evaluated and then ranked with respect to their confirmation and movement. Each contestant was then interviewed by a senior judge, and asked to explain the reasons for their rankings.

“I entered the competition last year, but really had no idea what I was doing,” said Prowal with a laugh. “This year, I practised a lot ahead of time, and felt much more confident.”