Out in the wider pastures of the West, cowboys use their horses to round-up the cattle, to the very last bull; this has been historic. Now fast-forwarding to the somewhat green “pastures” of the Polytechnic campus at Arizona State University, riders use their control differently. No, they don’t round-up anything but they make up for that in style. ASU’s western equestrian club uses their control to rack-up points.
Western equestrian is a competition based on style. Judges give points for how well the rider can control the horse at different levels of speed—walking, trotting and loping. The competition begins by introducing the field as a whole, then to individualize. At that point, the rider is the spotlight for what capabilities they have or lack.
“It’s all about the rider, not the horse,” says Becca Simpson, a global studies sophomore. “The goal is to look like you’re riding the horse to the best of your ability.”
No sweat, right? The rider figures out how their horse acts and how to control it; they should be fine. Not so much. According to Simpson and indifferent to their Tier I competition, the horses ASU uses for competition are not their practice horses. The “1000 pound animals with a mind of their own” need to be figured out beforehand and in short time. That is the true testament for the Sun Devils.
“The point is being able to ride a horse you’ve never rode before—it’s a great equalizer,” Simpson says. “You need to know how it (horse) works and it needs to know how you work.”
Simpson sees competitions like this: the more consistent you are, the better you’ll do. That way, judges will have to find something to mark down rather than notice imperfections in the routines right off the bat.
The competitions usually consist of not only the levels of speed but pattern—railwork, circling diagonally and reining. With a more confident rider, their routine will be more of a mix of the three. The less experience—the club has both experienced and inexperienced riders—tend to favor one aspect. Railwork is most common which is circling around the outer edge of the arena.
The team this season has doubled their total riders from six to a dozen. Currently, two of those riders have qualified for regionals later this spring—Simpson and Ariel Mancevice.
“Hopefully we can do a really great job. Our team goal is to get as many people to qualify for regionals as possible,” Simpson says.
The top six riders from each competition are rewarded points. To qualify, the rider must have a total of 36 points. Thereon, the qualifying field gets narrowed down to the top two riders for the national championships. What makes this a true endeavor is the fact that all competitions vary with how many competitors there are; some may have six total riders guaranteeing those points, some competitions on the other hand might have 12.
In the meantime, to make any outcome result in points, the club trains. With a scattered practice schedule, it allows individual, concentrated development. This is the key benefactor, to learn more and learn more by doing.
The club also takes the time to volunteer, also learning about the horses off the saddle. The club helps struggling animals at Luvshack Ranch Horse Rescue, a local business, as well as the Arabian Horse Association. The team looks to make an impact in their competitions while making an impact in what made their passion possible.
“At the end of the day, I love horses and it’s great to give back,” Simpson says.
The team is “on their high horse,” so to speak. They look to take this year’s club—who has its greatest turnout—and get the most success out of it. Success and companionship, both in teammates and the horse/rider relationship, falls hand in hand.
“The great thing about it is that everyone helps each other out,” Simpson says. “For me, I get nervous, but once you know that this is where you belong, it gets really easy.”
For Simpson and the rest of the club, knowing your passion only calms the nerves. It is now time to translate that into control in both their horses and in their competition.
Saddle-up and jump on the club sports bandwagon! E-mail me at bcapria@asu.edu.
