MSU Equestrian team wins High Point Team

The MSU equestrian team demonstrated their talent and versatility at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) competition last month. The team took home first and second overall across three days of events. 

The competition was held from Oct. 24 to 26 at North Dakota State University (NDSU) and was put on by the IHSA. The IHSA is an organization that holds competitions for college students to compete on randomly drawn horses, meaning the riders do not bring their own horses or know which horse they will compete on.

The team earned the High Point Team title — which is given to the first-place team — on the first two days and the Reserve High Point Team — for second place overall — on the final day, based on the individual placings. 

MSU competed against five other universities: NDSU, the University of Wisconsin River Falls, Rocky Mountain College, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire.

“A lot of us didn’t get to bring horses to school,” IHSA Co-Captain Shae Looker said. “This is kind of like our way of still staying connected and doing what we love at school, which is nice because it’s not easy to bring horses to Montana.” 

IHSA competitions feature either Western or Hunter riding styles, according to the IHSA website. MSU’s team mainly competes in the Hunter Classic, an English style of riding based on the horse's look and how well the rider communicates with the horse.  

In the Hunter Classic style, each rider draws a horse and then, based on their level, is either asked to do jumps on a course, or walk, trot and canter on a flat course. All of these activities are judged based on the horsemanship of the rider, according to IHSA Co-Captain Kate Stauffer. 

The event features eight skill-based classes, from lower-level flat courses to advanced jumps. Teams that perform well across all categories at all levels can place overall, as MSU did on the first two days of the competition, Stauffer said.

“It was really cool because we’ve competed against these schools before, and haven’t done this well before,” Stauffer said. “It was pretty fun, given that we have a smaller team this year. It was cool to see that we have the talent and drive to win those bigger ribbons.” 

According to Stauffer and Looker, there are only 12 girls on the team this year, although the team typically has over 20 girls competing. 

“We all are really good friends, like we genuinely hang out outside of practice,” Looker said. “At competitions, we’re all rooting for each other. We all want each other to do so well. There’s always a little bit of competition if we are in the same group, but we all tend to be each other’s biggest cheerleaders.” 

Judges score the competitions based on how well the rider can work the horse in addition to a variety of specific criteria, like where the reins are positioned. 

“Every judge has their own idea of what an effective rider and the best equitation position looks like,” Stauffer said. “So it kind of depends, but it’s also the horse, too — I mean, a lot of it is luck of the draw.” 

According to Stauffer, schools that hold competitions use their own horses in the drawings, giving them an advantage because they compete on the horses they practice on. 

“It’s interesting that we were able to go over there and do so well on their own horses,” Stauffer said.

Both Stauffer and Looker have been competing in equestrian events since they were kids. According to them, IHSA was the best way to continue competing in college.

“It’s a very different kind of thing that IHSA is,” Looker said. “It’s very different from traditional horse showing, where you practice on your horse all the time, and then you bring your horse to competition and compete. It’s kind of a testament to how versatile our riders are and how talented these girls are.” 

To learn more about the equestrian team, follow it on Instagram @montanastateeq.