Students compete at Decatur in interscholastic equestrian teams

Teams competed Sunday at Legends Equestrian Center.

Rebecca Torti, a member of the Ozark Legends team, competed in the Interscholastic Equestrian Association horse show in Decatur last Sunday.
Rebecca Torti, a member of the Ozark Legends team, competed in the Interscholastic Equestrian Association horse show in Decatur last Sunday.

— For most students, high school sports bring to mind games such as football, basketball and soccer, but the Interscholastic Equestrian Association gives middle and high school athletes with a passion for horses another option.

Riders in grades six through 12 can form teams and compete in the hunt seat, western or saddle seat style of riding, even if they don’t own their own horse. They receive recognition from the association and, in some cases, from their schools.

The Ozark Legends Equestrian Team, based at the Legends Equestrian Center in Decatur, is the first interscholastic equestrian team in Arkansas, and the Decatur team hosted the first ever IEA horse show in a six-state area last Sunday.

Two teams from Missouri, the Heritage Livestock team and the Hayburner team, traveled to Decatur to compete onSunday in hunt seat classes, both over fences and on the flat (meaning not over jumps).

Stephanie Keough, a representative for the IEA’s national office in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, attended the show and served as a steward. She said Sunday’s show was the first ever in IEA’s Zone 7, which encompasses Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

The IEA is now in its 10th year and has over 6,500 members, forming nearly 400 teams, Keough said. The organization’s founders decided that high school equestrians put just as much time and effort into riding as other athletes put into more traditional sports and therefore deserve the same recognition, she said.

At first the organization allowed students from private schools with equestrian teams to compete with one another, but it has since opened to students from any school district. In addition, athletes do not have to attend the same school in order to form a team.

Private stables can form their own teams, but Keough said the IEA is encouraging public and private school districts to recognize teams as well. Thereis no cost for the school district and all the expenses are paid by team members through club dues and by private stables.

One of the advantages of the IEA is that competitors do not have to own their own horse, Swope and Keough said. Horse show hosts provide horses for the events and students draw for a different mount for every class they enter before the show starts.

Competing on a different horse, sometimes one that is completely unfamiliar, presents both riders and horses with a challenge, said Heather Swope, owner and riding instructor at Legends Equestrian Center.

“It’s a fantastic place where riding ability is judged rather than the fanciest horse or the fanciest tack,” said Keough, “It really levels the playing field for riders.”

Avery Wilson, an eighth grade member of the Ozark Legends team, said she has been riding for the past five or six years.Although Wilson has her own horse, she said that she feels the challenge of having a new mount for every class helps her improve as a rider.

“It’s a new experience withevery horse you ride,” she said.

Wilson said she first became involved with the sport of eventing while taking lessons at LegendsEquestrian Center.

“This came up and we’re just giving it a shot,” Wilson said, “I’m really, really enjoying it.”

The Ozarks Legends team has 10 members. Nine of them take lessons at the Legends Equestrian Center and one takes lessons at a stable in Lincoln, Swope said.

“My hope is now that we’re kicking it off, more riders and teams will get involved,” she said.

For more information on the IEA, visit its web site, www.rideiea.org, or Legend’s Equestrian Center at www.legendseq.com.

News, Pages 1 on 02/29/2012