DALLAS (ABP) — Quick: what's the fastest-growing sports program in the Big XII Conference? It's not soccer. It's not lacrosse. And it's not cycling. It's equitation — sporting events involving horse riding — and it has quickly become a popular club and varsity sport on college campuses nationwide, particularly for women.
Interestingly, Baptist and other Christian schools are prominent among women's equine sporting programs.
Thirty-six institutions across the United States sponsor women's equestrian as a varsity sport, including 14 at the Division I level. Since 1999 in the Big XII, equestrian teams have been added at Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Baylor.
Baylor's squad embodies the explosiveness of the trend. This spring, the school's new team became the only first-year program invited to the 2006 Varsity Equestrian National Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. And in its first season of competition, the team recently won the right to host next year's event. The championship is an invitation-only tournament, and its participants are determined by a selection committee.
Unknown to many aficionados of other college sports, equestrian competitions include two divisions: Western and English, also known as “hunt seat.” There are nine different categories of hunt-seat classes, which usually involve jumping and riding cross country. Western — or “stock seat” — classes emphasize showmanship.
The host schools supply the horses for the competition. Because of this, smaller schools tend to have fewer people in their club or team. But most Big XII teams have 60 to 80 riders at the stable. And facilities like arenas and paddocks play an important role in equestrian life, as discipline in training will make or break riders vying for spots on a school's traveling team.
That's why the backing of a university has such an impact on equestrian teams — they have to provide pretty much everything for guest competitors. Fortunately for Baylor, its board of regents recently approved the construction of the Willis Family Equestrian Center, which will be a 45,000-square-foot facility. With 20 stalls, a covered arena and spectator seating, the new center will attract fans and recruits alike, according to Baylor officials.
And Baylor wasn't the first Baptist school to jump on board. Alabama's Judson College, for instance, has had a vibrant equestrian team since the early 1900s. Now with 16 horses and eight members, the program includes academic majors that combine an equine science minor with biology, business or journalism. Such degrees can lead to careers in veterinary medicine, equine business management or horse-related publicity. Located in Marion, Ala., Judson is a women's college affiliated with the Alabama Baptist State Convention.
“The program offers a lot of opportunities for young women, and it builds confidence and ability,” said David Potts, Judson's president. “It also is an enormous benefit to those going into veterinary medicine, giving them large-animal experience that is very valuable. That's one reason Judson has a high acceptance rate into vet schools.”
Potts also said Judson has seen an increase in applicants who chose the school based solely on the equine program.
Interdenominational Berry College in Rome, Ga., and Baptist-affiliated Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, also have active equestrian programs that consistently attract new members. Founded in 1902, Berry has designated its squad as a club sports organization. Its 30-member western show team is ranked 12th in the nation, according to the school's website. Hardin-Simmons is known for its Six White Horses equestrian group. The team, founded in the 1920s, does flag and stunt performances worldwide.
Like other small schools, New York's Houghton College uses the equestrian program as a recruiting tool — both athletically and academically. The Houghton, N.Y., school started in 1883 as a Methodist seminary. It now has a herd of 20 horses, two trainers, 51 stalls and several large arenas.
In addition to training students to compete in United States Equestrian Federation events, the school offers a minor in equestrian studies and a major in recreation and leisure studies with emphasis on equestrian studies. According to Jo-Anne Young, who has taught at Houghton for more than 20 years, the equestrian program is the “single biggest factor” in attracting students to the school.
That attraction comes for several reasons, she said, including Houghton's reputation for highly educated instructors with the “right life-attitude.” One facet of that attitude, she said, is instructors understanding that each student is a unique individual, regardless of their level of competition.
And competition is different, depending on the school. An equestrian program — equestrian events focused on an academic degree program — is not the same thing as an equestrian team, which focuses on winning competitions. The club at historically Baptist Wake Forest University, for instance, is registered in the National Intercollegiate Horse Show Association, has traveled to competitions together since 1999, and charges $20 club dues. Lessons for the popular hunt-seat team cost $660 per semester.
The main thrust at Houghton, on the other hand, is preparing and training riding instructors and trainers, not developing a competition team.
“Typically, people who are born with the 'horse-crazy' gene tend to regard their riding instructors as heroes to be imitated in all aspects of life,” Young explained. “This opens doors for witnessing that might not otherwise be accessible. We try to make our students keenly aware that their lives may be the only Bible many of the people they meet in the horse world ever read.”
What's more, Young added, just as the apostle Paul made tents to support his ministry, she wants to be as knowledgeable and skilled as possible about her profession to lend credibility to her faith.
She's apparently well on her way to that goal, having taught clinics and judged horse shows internationally for years. She has also trained horses in Bolivia and studied dressage in Germany. Dressage, a French term that means “training,” is a method of riding and competing that develops a horse's natural athletic abilities into graceful, ballet-style movements.
Another result of the Christian-focused “life-attitude” at Houghton is seen in the horses themselves, Young said. When the program first started in 1984, Young said, the horses that team members rode were basically “meat-packer rejects.” The riders had to use equine physical therapy, equipment readjustments and extra training to make due with what they had.
That hard work during those early years paid off. The latest additions to the Houghton program were two separate donations of horses imported from Europe and worth more than $35,000 each.
“God has truly guided and blessed as the program has developed over the years,” Young said. “I am truly blessed to be part of and supported by such a great team of colleagues at Houghton. It is a big part of what makes my job so fulfilling, along with the dedicated students I get to work with.”
Not to mention the horses.
-30-
— Grace Thornton of The Alabama Baptist contributed to this story