ABOVE: From left: MCW FFA students Evelyn Curtis, Lily Truesdell, Jocelyn Lange and Ellie Nelson stand with their first place state award in Horse Evaluation, which qualified them for the national competition at this year’s National FFA Convention. Submitted photo.

FAIRMONT – With the 97th annual FFA Convention and Expo starting Wednesday in Indianapolis, two area schools are bringing students to the show.

Martin County West (MCW) has a four-student Horse Evaluation team competing at the event, consisting of Junior Lily Truesdell, 8th grader Evelyn Curtis, Junior Jocelyn Lange, and Senior Ellie Nelson.

MCW is Minnesota’s representative for the Horse Evaluation competition, having won the state contest last spring. They will compete against all the other winners from States and U.S. Territories that hold Horse Evaluation contests.

Horse Evaluation teams compete in several events, including an examination covering various horse-related topics, live horse judging in halter and performance classes, team activities where they answer questions on topics ranging from genetics to horse facility management, and speaking with a judge to justify their horse judgment.

MCW FFA Instructor Stephanie Wohlhuter said the team’s original coach left during the summer, so they had to start preparing later than they were hoping for.

“Once or twice a week there were practices where we would work on the different skill events,” she said. “We have another instructor, Jessica Daberkow, who works with the team by going out and practicing judging live classes. They met with a judge and did judging practice last week.”

When preparing everything for the trip to FFA convention Wohlhuter said having a competition group going adds an extra layer of difficulty. As an educator of over two decades, she said the event as a learning experience is what she hopes her students get.

“MCW has a strong tradition of teams performing pretty well at the national level,” Wohlhuter said. “It’s always good to carry on the tradition so our members have something to strive for. Success is good, but I want them to learn something with everything they do. Even if they place 30th in the state, I still feel there’s value in what they’ve done.”

Truesdell said the whole team is nervous but excited about the competition. She said they’re hoping to learn more and meet new people to have a really fun and positive experience.

Through competition and skills and information learned, members of the team have potential careers to pursue.

“We’ve all gotten better at giving reasons and not being nervous talking to judges,” Truesdell said. “We’ve learned a lot about all different types of horse breeds. Some of us are looking into judging too, and this gives us some of those skills. Some of us want to do vet work so this helps us find out what to look for. Looking for lameness and structural correctness in a horse.”

The team is shooting for a strong finish like the last MCW team to participate at nationals, a farm business management group that finished 8th.

“We want to do good, try and win,” Truesdell said.

Granada-Huntley-East Chain (GHEC) is bringing a group of 20 students to the national convention. GHEC FFA Coordinator McKenzie Wagelie said their trip started Monday with a dairy farm tour in Wisconsin. She said GHEC’s only had an FFA chapter for five years, but they’ve gone to nationals every year.

“When I came to Granada three years ago the chapter was very small with 20 kids total,” Wagelie said. “Now we have 20 kids going and 60 kids total. Seeing the involvement and growth is awesome to see and they are the ones who want to do these things and put in the effort, I’m just here to organize and help out.”

Wagelie said they fundraised throughout the summer to afford the trip and with all the work done, the kids are very excited to go. GHEC FFA will be awarded with recognition as a three-star chapter, and it provides participants with plenty of opportunities regardless of their particular interest.

“It’s a big learning experience to meet new people from across the U.S. in FFA,” Wagelie said. “There is a college and job expo, a rodeo, a concert, a variety of things going on throughout the week.”

Fairmont and Truman will not send anyone to the national convention this year. Fairmont FFA Leader Andrew Moeller said they are starting an every-other-year schedule, meaning kids will be sent next year.