Whitt Bell
Age: 21
Parents: Kim and Mark Bell
Hometown: Fayetteville, Ark.
Favorite Aspect of Ag: “I like row crop farming and especially equine science. I learned my love of horses from my grandfather, Jerry Bell, who owns and raises cutting horses. Rather than buying cutting horses, he breeds, competes and sells them. I especially like planning the breeding season and deciding which stud is best suited for each mare. I guess all this makes my grandfather the most influential person in my life. He also influenced me socially and taught me how to interact with people and how to speak to audiences easily. The combination of his influences will definitely help me in my career.”
Current Involvement in Ag: “I am working in the D.E. King Equine Program at the University of Arkansas, which involves volunteering time to work with horses and to learn facility management. I also am a farmer’s son and help on the family farm driving a tractor or doing whatever else is needed.”
Awards: “I compete on the national level and have twice won reserve champion at the American Quarter Horse Youth World Show. I have also won reserve and champion and a variety of high-level competitions and have earned total prize money of $80,000.”
Future Plans: “I want to become a veterinarian specializing in lameness in performance horses. I would someday like to have a private practice like a guy I know that travels to rodeo competitions and treats performance horses. He is well enough known that he gets calls to travel to treat horses. I would like to do what he does but on a smaller scale so I could have a centrally based private practice, probably in Arkansas, and then travel on weekends to continue competing while treating performance horses as well.”
Most Memorable About Your Competitions: “What I’ve really learned was to remain humble because sometimes I win but other times I have to be willing to lose in order to win another time, since so many factors involved are outside of my control.”
