Matt Weir / The Collegian

No. 9 Fresno State hosted No. 5 USC last weekend

English events in one arena. Western in the other.

Riders of Fresno State̢۪s No. 9 NCAA equestrian team and those of University of South California warmed up with their horses at the Student Horse Center last Saturday as they prepared to begin the meet with the first event of the day: equitation over fences.

Twelve girls dressed in hunt coats, GPA helmets, riding pants and high black field boots leaped over the various fences set up; each being judged on their ability to lead the horse in the correct body positioning to create an effortless performance.

“Everything is modeled after fox hunting,â€Â head coach Becky Malmo said, and explained that everything from the type of clothing to the potted plants and barrels that surrounded the nine fences were a part of the English tradition.

The second English event is equitation of the flat, which takes place in a rectangular dressage court. The five riders from both schools performed a series of nine maneuvers with the objective of getting the large, cropped-mane horses to perform exercises in the correct body position.

For Christina Ling, 18, the Thoroughbred was what she learned to ride on at an early age and has continued to train in the English events.

In most cases, Malmo explained that those who come into the program have good foundations in either style and it is up to the coaching staff to decide where they̢۪ll stay.

Ling was able to join the team as an English rider and believed the fences were the more exciting of the two events, even with its risks.

“You need to have really strong legs to stay on the horse and keep it going,â€Â Ling said. “And you need to have good posture and balance.â€Â

Matt Weir / The Collegian

Malmo agrees.

“It takes a very bold rider to jump,â€Â she explained. “It’s far more challenging than people realize.â€Â

Strains of the American West

An even more difficult aspect in collegiate competition for both styles is the way riders are assigned horses. Each participant randomly draws what horse they will be riding and only have a short practice time with them before competing.

“You get four minutes to ride and practice with a horse you’ve never seen and never been on before,â€Â western rider Sammie Jo Stone said. “You just have to adapt very fast.â€Â

Dressed in a bedazzled show shirt, chaps, Bulldog belt buckle and a western hat and boots, the 18-year-old philosophy pre-law major was one of 10 western competitors for horsemanship on Fresno State̢۪s team.

Similar to how fox hunting relates to English, the style that the horsemanship and reining events are executed in mirrors that of cattle-herding and cowboy riding.

“The way you position your body when you’re riding is very difficult to maintain when you have so many things to focus on when you’re in the pen,â€Â Stone said.

In the reining event, Malmo explained that it was taken from working cattle and the riders have to perform the maneuvers with one hand on the reins and in the correct body position, all the while appearing in complete control over the horse.

Stone explained that many spectators aren̢۪t aware of the difficulty in making it look easy.

She said, “In a way it’s a compliment and in another way it’s kind of like, ‘If you only knew.’â€Â

The 12-year-old varsity team has improved in the quality of horses, training and competition since it departed from being a club sport, Malmo said, and lost by one point to the No. 5 USC team in the last event.

As both the English and western competitors improve in their events, it is important for the team to minimize the divide between styles.

“We work very hard to blend the two,â€Â Malmo said. “There have been issues in the past and it is something we work on every day.â€Â

Correction

In the Mar. 6 edition of The Collegian print edition, there was an error in an equestrian photo caption on page 8. The rider pictured was Shawna McClurg riding horse Ghost.