Decatur – The Texas A&M Stock Horse Team won the overall championship title at the American Stock Horse Association Intercollegiate Show for the second consecutive year.

Team member Kyla Kalinowski, pictured here riding Blackaroni, won the novice division at the American Stock Horse Association Intercollegiate Show. In addition, Aggie team members won high individual honors in non pro and limited non pro competitive divisions.

On Oct. 26 the Aggies cruised to the top earning the highest team award and adding to its collection, multiple individual honors.

The Stock Horse Team consists of six members who ride individual horses and compete in four separate events: stock horse pleasure, trail, reining and working cow horse. Students are divided into three separate divisions, based on their previous show experience and years of riding.

This year’s team consists of Kyla Kalinowski from Schertz, Nicole Brooks from New Braunfels, Ryan Birkenfeld from Nazareth, Kyle Birkenfeld from Nazareth, Kimberly Pritchett from Joshua, Anna Haines from San Antonio, Carrie Estrems from Kingwood, Elizabeth MacConnell from Plano, Brynna Diller from Canutillo and Kalley Fikes from Bay City.

In each of the three competitive divisions, non pro, limited non pro, and novice, an Aggie rose to the first place position. Haines earned top honors in the non pro division, followed by Pritchett in third. The limited non pro was won by K. Birkenfield followed by the third place finish of R. Birkenfield. Rounding out the novice division was Kalinowski in first and Brooks in second.

The team is coached by Dr. Dennis Sigler, professor and Extension horse specialist, Raul Valdez, graduate assistant in animal science, and Ari Sear, graduate assistant in animal science.

As the Aggies continue to impress, this marks their second win for the fall season.  On Oct. 5, the team was named champion team at the Stock Horse of Texas Show in Bryan.

“With two wins under our belt, the fall season has been off to a great start,” Sigler said. “This team is continuing to show promise in all divisions. Each rider has put in a tremendous amount of work and dedication and it’s paying off with each show. Our goal is to work toward the National Championship Show, which is held each year in April.”

This year’s National Championship Show will be held in Pueblo, CO.  For the past three years, Texas A&M teams have been named National Champions once and Reserve National Champions twice.

-30-

For more information regarding news from the Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University, please contact Courtney Coufal at cacoufal@tamu.edu or (979) 845-1542.