Pendleton County is a rural county comprised primarily of countryside and farmland. Subsequently, nearly 60 4-Hers show livestock animals raised or bought for their family farms.  A huge component of being successful with livestock animals on the farm and in the show ring is establishing a base knowledge of desirable livestock characteristics.  This expertise creates productivity within livestock herds based on performance, rate of gain, longevity, etc.; all crucial constituents to maximizing efficiency, profits, and successes for present and future endeavors on the farm and in the show circuit.  With these concepts in mind, the Pendleton County 4-H Livestock Judging Team was established 9 years ago with intensive training and practices both classroom style and through on-foot judging practices.

Throughout the years, new and returning males and females, ages 9-18 continue to participate on the judging team, further building and developing their livestock judging knowledge base.  The Pendleton County livestock judgers have not only become extremely competitive in multiple competitions with numerous individual and team awards but they experience phenomenal successes in the show ring on a county, district, and state level with the use of their more educated “eye” in picking out their show stock.  

After 7 years of competing with the Pendleton County Livestock Judging Team, 2 individuals, Lydia Gosney and Zach Wyatt, earned a spot in the Top 12 Overall for the senior division at the 4-H Kentucky State Livestock Judging Competition for 2018.  This allowed them to attend “Top 12 Week” which consist of an intense week of training through livestock evaluation, oral reasons, and EPD scenarios with University of Kentucky’s Livestock/Agricultural Specialists. Upon completion of “Top 12 Week” both Pendleton County individuals ranked in the top 8 which placed them on the Kentucky State 4-H Teams allowing them to travel and compete in national competitions where Zach also competed at the final contest completing his 4-H judging career.  

They returned this past spring to coach the remaining Pendleton County Livestock Judgers through the 2019 judging season.  Lydia was still able to compete herself and made “Top 12 Week” for a second year.  Comprising one of the top 4 individuals from that training week, Lydia and her team represented Kentucky at numerous competitions throughout the nation in the fall of 2019 and were very competitive everywhere they went.  The final North American International Livestock competition completed their journey which was a success to say the least.   Lydia placed 2^nd high individual overall tying for 1^st.  The team placed 1^st overall which is the first time Kentucky has ever won the most elite national competition in the United States.  This winning earned the team a trip to the Scotland international competition scheduled for June 2020 (which unfortunately was later canceled due to COVID-19).  It was going to take over $40,000 to fly team members and coaches to that competition and all funds were sponsored and donated within 3 months of asking for financial assistance.  Lydia has been featured in copious newspapers, Ag articles, publications, and radio segments in response to her win.  Lydia and the team were recognized in the House of Senate and House of Representatives at the State Capitol in February.  This huge win led to a small fame across Kentucky which has been highly embraced by businesses and organizations as evident by the press coverage and financial support.  It was truly remarkable to watch Lydia grow up through a 4-H program, reach her potential, and give back to the organization that helped her get started as she still coaches the Pendleton County 4-H Livestock Judging Team today.