It's More Than a Job... It's a Passion

With the patience of Job, she sits front and center and watches as each young child takes their turn showcasing what their horse can do. There are times the routine gets broken or someone forgets a turn, but she remains diligent and brings to light the things they did do correctly, and then addresses any flaws in the performance. She is Melody Bilden, from Roundup, Montana and she has been judging horse shows for 54 years. Yes, it is her job, but more than that, it is her passion and love.

Bilden was on hand Saturday as the Phillips County spent roughly eight hours at the pavilion, patiently waiting their time to razzle and dazzle before the judge. With an ease that is to be commended, she asked questions of them, visited about the care of the horse and one could see her heart was in the project.

Bilden has been around horses since she was three and started showing at that young age. While the shows are great, she enjoys sharing a common bond with the youth...the love of horses.

Life has not always been easy for her, though, as she shared how the last year has gone for her. She said her horse herd is smaller now than it was, as she has turned her interest to draft horses. She owns Suffolk and Haflingers. Her husband mows with a team and her son feeds with his team.

The Haflingers will be her "show" horses. They are known as "gentle giants" and are aptly named.

It was a year ago in September that she had an incident with the team of horses, apparently, they spooked or something, and that is the last thing she remembers for a while. She was in a coma for 17 days and her injuries were significant. Her ribs were extensively damaged with many breaks and her surgeries required opening each side of her rib cage and she is still recovering.

No, this isn't her first rodeo, she has judged in nearly every county in Montana; she has traveled to six State Fairs including Wyoming, Louisiana, Texas, Wyoming, Colorado, Ohio and Montana. She is also the Commissioner of the Montana Draft Horse Expo and will be in Billings for that, and she extends an invitation to everyone to come down and enjoy the show. The show is on Saturday and Sunday, August 10th and 11th.

As a parting message for the day, Bilden stated that she loves coming to the show here and commended the parents and leaders on a fine job of helping the youth with the projects.