By Evan Taylor
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee State University
presented the Stock Horse Show Regional Championship at the Tennessee Miller
Coliseum on Nov. 21.
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| Photo Provided by MTSU |
MTSU’s Horse Science students who participated practiced
two nights a week to prepare for the Stock Horse Show Regional Championship.
The event started with the novices trying to show control of the cows, and
prevent them from running off. After all the novices completed their part of
the competition, it was time for advance riders.
MTSU Graduate Student Andrea Rego is one of the advance
riders who participated in the event. One of her tasks was to box in the cows,
or control the cows to prevent them from running off. She plans to coach the
competitions after she finishes her degree.
“I trained a horse when I was an undergrad,” Rego said.
“It’s all about learning how to communicate with the animal. It’s easy to
communicate when you have another person who can speak like you. It’s a whole
‘nother game when you have to try to break a horse.”
Novices are given trained horses to ride, while the
advanced riders have to ride the more untrained horses as a safety precaution,
while also showcase skills within their range.
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| Photo Provided by Tennessee Stock Horse Association |
“We wouldn’t dare put a rookie on a beginner horse,” said
Rego. “We don’t want to have an incident where the new guy gets hurt on an
unbroken horse. We take care of that ourselves.”
Over 80 horses were shown off during the event, and all
of the contestants went through similar events to figure out who were the most
skilled at their task. Belt buckles were given to the best participant in the
division of novice and advance. The winner for the novice event was Hunter
Hazleton, who is not a MTSU student. For
more information on the stock horse show and the rankings of other
participants, visit www.tnsha.org.
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