Equestrian club to compete at nationals
the most points over the course of the season.
Two individual riders, Alisha Smith (open rail) and LeAnn Roundy (advanced), qualified for zone competition.
Smith, an American Quarter Horse Association high point-individual in her region, was able to qualify for special competitive classes.
“She had the most accumulated points this year out of anyone in our region for western [riding],” said Equestrian Club President Annie McAsey.
At zone, the team placed first as a team against Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Fresno and Oregon State. They also qualified in advanced riding in open rail.
For nationals, eight of the 11 club members will be competing in Harrisburg, Pa., during finals week, May 4-7.
For the equestrian sport, there are 29 regions and nine zones, and more than 400 colleges with 7,200 riders competing.
McAsey said more people in the club were able to qualify for nationals because of the “team” category.
All of the members except Roundy will be competing as a team and Smith will compete in both team and individual riding, as well as representing the region as the high-point individual rider.
The members who will be competing are: Roundy (advanced), Smith (open rail), Katie Rose (walk trot), Courtney Fleming (intermediate), Mike Gagnon (novice), Kristin Schade (advanced), Addie Shelton (open reining), and McAsey, (rail and reining).
Each area of competition is different. It begins with least ability: walk trot, intermediate, novice. And then to the highest, advanced, and open.
To travel to nationals, the team will fly into Maryland on Thursday and then drive into Pennsylvania. They will compete against top-ranked schools Texas A&M, Ohio State and others.
“Our team is really solid. I’m looking forward to placing well, keeping our consistency and doing well against other schools,” Gagnon said.
When the team travels, they do not need to take their horses with them, since they compete by riding on the horses of the host school. Gagnon said he liked that the teams didn’t have to haul horses or carry around the saddles.
“[It’s] a lot less of a hassle,” he added.
“At the horse shows, when we first get there we have to draw for our horse. We have never ridden the horse, we can never warm up on it, we just have get on and compete with it,” Fleming said. “That really tests your horsemanship skills because you don’t have any experience with the horse that you are riding.”
The group practices at their equestrian outdoor arena, located just northeast of Lee’s Marketplace in Logan, every Tuesday and Thursday from 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
Tuesday night is Western riding and Thursday is English riding.
English riding is more jumps and Western is more reigning and flat riding.
“English riding will always give you a higher seat,” McAsey.
She said that Western riding, which is more rangling and reining, is difficult as well.
“People work years on making good reining horses, and you are asked to go show a horse to the best of your ability that you have absolutely no history with,” McAsey said.
Any student, in any major on campus can compete on the team.
New members do not need to know how to ride or horse or even own their own horse.
“I love the equestrian team because the students come from all walks of life and they come from all areas of the university as well,” McAsey said.
Only two members of the team are agriculture majors and only one member is male.
“I wish that more guys did it, but I understand that most guys don’t like to compete,” Gagnon said.
He said there are only two other male competitors in their region, and they joke about “showin’ the girls how it’s done.”
Gagnon said what he liked about the team was, “the camaraderie, feedback and positive critiques you get back from people.”
Team member Schade said, “I’ve imporved my riding a lot, horses are like people. They have different personalities … you’ve got to find the happy medium.
“I just have to go in there and do the best I can,” Schade added.
The club is always looking for more riders and tryouts for the team will be held in the fall.
To sign up or to find out more about the club, e-mail Annie McAsey at
annie.mcasey@usu.edu.
-ranaebang@cc.usu.edu