MSU Western Team Makes History
BOZEMAN—While the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Equestrians at Montana State University’s English Team enjoyed a clinic Friday October 28th with Lilla Lund, the Western Team traveled to Logan, Utah for their second competition of the season.
Seventeen riders from the Montana State University IHSA Equestrian Club competed in three shows, two of which were held Saturday October 29th and the final show was held the morning of October 30th. The Montana State University riders competed strongly against teams from Rocky Mountain College, University of Montana, Utah State University, and University of Montana Western, earning Reserve High Point Team for each of the three shows. After the conclusion of the final show, Montana State University (3rd in the region) earned a total of 64 points and Rocky Mountain College (1st in the region) trailed behind with 62 points. The Montana State University Equestrians showed notable improvement earning 19 more points than they did at the first competition in Billings, MT earlier in October.
An outstanding individual performance came from Rand Peterson who earned High Point Rider during the Saturday morning show after winning both the Open Horsemanship and Open Reining classes. Over the course of the weekend, Rand earned the team an amazing 22 points. Kayla Seaman, who qualified for regionals at the previous show, earned a total of 19 points for the team with her rides in the Advanced Horsemanship division. Amy Desjardins also had an impressive performance in Intermediate, qualifying for the regional competition after placing well during Saturday’s competition. The Western Team looks to qualify six additional riders at their next show in March, 2017 in Billings, MT.
The Western Team’s success clenched their third place position in the region, with a 57-point lead over fourth place team University of Montana, a 25-point gap from second place team Utah State University, and only a 37-point gap from region leader Rocky Mountain College. Earning Reserve High Point Team at all three shows, makes the 2016-2017 Western Team the most successful Western Team in MSU Equestrian Club history, and the season isn’t even over yet. Coach Amy Morgan proudly commented on the team’s performance, “This year’s Western Team is exceptional. Due to the talent they brought to the team, combined with their hard work at practice, our Western Team has smashed all previous team records. Titles that were previously out of reach for the Western Team are now within our sights. I couldn’t be prouder of our riders this year.”
