KQHA Members Help KSU Equestrian Team To 5th Place Overall

KSU Equestrian Team with Sister, Outstanding Horsemanship Horse of the Varsity National Championships

The western team was represented in Horsemanship by Lindsey Salsbury, Jana Lechtenberg, Laura Browne, and Alyssa Freeman, and in Reining by Morgan Campbell, Tara Hallan, Alecia Zimbelman, and Alyssa Freeman. The western team was 3rd at the VENC competition. In the first round we competed against the University of Tennesee-Martin and won 8-0. We moved into the second bracket feeling good to compete against Texas A&M. We competed against Texas A&M in Horsemanship the first night and lost 1-3. We went back to the hotel not feeling great, but trying to keep our spirits up. The following morning we finished that bracket against Texas A&M in the reining, winning 3-1. We tied that round and won the tie breaker by a half a point. That afternoon we moved into the third round of competition against TCU. We tied the horsemanship 2-2 and fell 1-3 in the Reining. TCU went on to win the National Championship. In the last round of competition we competed for 3rd and 4th against Oklahoma State. We won the Horsemanship 3-1 and went on to win the Reining 3-0 (1 tie) for an overall score of 6-1 and the 3rd place western team.

The Hunter Seat team was represented in Fences by Kendall Marvin, Ashley Collet, Whitney Snyder, and Leslie Yates, and on the Flat by Jenny Giraldin, Whitney Snyder, Leslie Yates, and Julie Wolfert. In the first round of competiton against Deleware State, the Hunter Seat team won a 4-4 tie breaker. Going on to compete against 2nd ranked Texas A&M, the team fell 2-6. Texas A&M went on to claim the Reserve National Championship. The team headed to compete against Baylor in the third round of competition and lost a 4-4 tie breaker, putting them out of the placings.

Overall, Kansas State was the 5th place team!!

Sister (I Aint Misbehavin) donated by Susie McCreary of St. Joseph, MO was an outstanding asset to the entire Varsity Equestrian Nationals Championship. She was the oldest horse in the competition, and everyone liked her from the time she entered the warm-up pen!! She competed all three days of competition and was a favorite among many teams. She went on to win the 2008 Varsity Equestrian National Championship Most Valuable Horsemanship Horse. Purina will offer her free food for one year for this award.