Equestrian team opens at Kansas State

[filbert]

From http://www3.sdstate.edu/Athletics/Ne...cfm?Id=46,4545

News At State

09/29/2005
Rabbit riders open at K-State
The South Dakota State University women's equestrian team will make its official debut Saturday, when it competes in a dual meet at Kansas State.

Western competition is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. at Fox Creek Stables near Manhattan, Kan. English competition is scheduled to begin in a separate arena at 9 a.m.

In the Western competition, riders will compete in horsemanship, reining and trail, while English riders will compete in equitation over fences, equitation on the flat and sportif. A total of 19 SDSU riders are slated to compete on Saturday.

The Jackrabbits, coached by Megan McGee and Joe Humphrey, kicked off their inaugural season Sept. 24 with an intrasquad scrimmage at the Swiftel Center Holding Barn. Riders used the scrimmage as a dress rehearsal for Saturday's dual, competing in horsemanship, reining, equitation on the flat and sportif.

[89rabbit]

Re: Equestrian team opens at Kansas State

Here is the Kansas State story:

http://www.kstatesports.com/ViewArti...;ATCLID=194440

Equestrian Opens Home Slate Saturday

Courtesy: Kansas State University

Release: 09/29/2005

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State equestrian team, fresh off a sweep of two combined shows last weekend at Truman State, hosts South Dakota State Saturday in a varsity equestrian show at Fox Creek Stables. The Western show is set to begin at 8 a.m. while the English begins at 9 a.m. Admission is free and open to the public. . . .

“This weekend will be a little different than normal for us,” head coach Teresa Slough said. “Since it is a varsity competition against one opponent, instead of an IHSA event with numerous schools, our girls will be asked to do some things that they normally don’t do. They will be challenged Saturday with this kind of show coming early in the season, but I think they will benefit both individually and as a team after this weekend.”



An IHSA sponsored competition involves riders competing at different levels of both Western and English, where as a varsity event is centralized to just three categories in each Western and English. In the Western competition Saturday, riders will compete in horsemanship, reining and trail, while English riders will compete in equitation over fences, equitation on the flat and sportif.


Go Jackrabbits! ;D

[89rabbit]

Re: Equestrian team opens at Kansas State

Highlights from a Brookings Register story:

http://www.brookingsregister.com/mai...56&page=25


Rabbits are ready to ride
BY ERIC X. VICCARO

Sure, there have been those Taco John's commercials featuring "Whiplash" the rodeo collie-riding monkey.
But, Jackrabbits on horses?
You bet.
The South Dakota State University equestrian team begins the regular season this Saturday with a meet against Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan. Competition will start at 9 a.m.
Monday evening, English-style riders Sioux Falls' Katie Morris, Allison Carie (who came to SDSU all the way from Fairbanks, Ak.) and Iowa's Kaylee DeVries practiced for the upcoming date with the sixth-ranked Wildcats. . . .

McGee said taking on K-State is just what the Jackrabbits need.
"It's going to be a great opportunity for us," she said. "We will see the best of the best. It's going to be a good competition and good experience."
The team will be building on its performance from last Saturday's non-scored Yellow-and-Blue Intrasquad Scrimmage, which occurred at the Swiftel Holding Barn inside Larson Ice Center. Roughly 150 spectators showed up to see what equestrian has to offer. The good crowd certainly made McGee smile.
"I was very pleased with the number of spectators," she said, "and see what equestrian is like at the NCAA level. An awful lot of activities were happening in town and the weather was nice. It was nice to see them watch and cheer the riders."

Today, SDSU will have a team meeting in which McGee will prepare the riders for what they will face at the meet.
"They've never seen the horses they'll ride on," McGee said. In NCAA equestrian the host school is responsible for providing horses. "It's going to be a test of our horsemanship and our riders' composure."
McGee said she expects SDSU to compete up to task against K-State, a more experienced squad that currently fields a team of 85 women.
The numbers here in Brookings certainly aren't that grand. Twenty-six women tried out for the squad this season, some with as little as two years of riding experience and some who have been riding for a lifetime like Watertown's Kelsey Likness.
Two riders are transfers from other schools. Katie Hendrickson, of Lennox, formerly competed for the club team at Gustavus Adolphus in Minnesota. DeVries was on the Ellsworth Community College (Iowa) squad last year.
Riders will be split into two different styles of riding, English and Western.
English style appears more traditional, with the crop and riding pants reminiscent of fox hunts. Western riding combines control with showmanship — riders wear sequin-laden garb. The method the rider employs to get the desired result is the most fundamental aspect.
English riders will be DeVries, Carie, Morris, Lisa Assid, Anna Taylor and Molly Seidel.
Hendrickson, Likness, Jordanne Blair, Kate Gunderson, Abby Knobbe and Andrea Carstensen will be riding in the Western competition.


I really enjoy the stories that Eric writes, it is too bad the Register doesn't get them posted a little faster.


Go State! ;D