Collegiate equestrian teams across Mississippi are working to build their programs and attract more competition within their leagues.
The Ole Miss Equestrian Team recently competed in a scrimmage against the two other teams at Mississippi College and Mississippi State University.
Mississippi State’s equestrian team is based out of Redbud Farm Equestrian and was founded in 2001. Mississippi College’s team is based out of Providence Hill Farm and was founded in 2007.
Ole Miss’ equestrian team was founded relatively recently in 2015, but it already has more than 30 members. The team practices and is based out of Hunters Edge Stables in Collierville, Tennessee.
All three schools compete in English and Western style shows.
“Over the years I’ve had Ole Miss girls come to my barn to take lessons,” said Beanie Cone, Ole Miss Equestrian team coach. “In the fall 2015, one of the Ole Miss students came to me wanting me to coach the IHSA (Intercollegiate Horse Show Association) team.”
Cone is also the owner of Hunters Edge Stables.
Cone said the Ole Miss team is planning on competing within the Mississippi circuit, not for points or awards, but to strengthen the team with healthy competition and experience.
The first scrimmage between these three Mississippi schools took place Feb. 3 and was dubbed the “Mississippi Challenge.” Teams competed in English against one another and compared scores with other college programs, but the scores did not count toward their division ranking.
“We do plan on doing these types of scrimmages more often because they are great practices,” Cone said.
The Ole Miss team already competes with the two other Mississippi programs and 16 other schools from across its zone as well as collegiate teams in Alabama and Georgia.
But in every show the Ole Miss teams have competed, they have had to travel out of state to compete against schools less than three hours away. All of the competitions that have counted toward ranking in their zones have been in Alabama and Georgia.
Ole Miss Equestrian Team member Emma Kate Thome, a junior communication sciences and disorders major, said she grew up competing in high school level horseback competitions.
Thome said she would love to have some competitions closer to Oxford, so the team would not have to travel extensively for every single show.
The Ole Miss team traveled three weekends in a row for both English and Western competitions. Because of the distance to Hunters Edge Stables from campus, most team members already travel more than an hour each time they practice.
“You have to build up programs,” Thome said of hosting an accredited competition. “As we keep growing …We’ll get to host shows.”
Thome said she is excited about one day hosting a recognized competition, but she has enjoyed competing against fellow Mississippi teams.
Thome said the scrimmages against other in-state schools help get the word out about the programs and generate interest in the teams’ success.
“We were just excited for girls to come out and see all three Mississippi teams together,” Thome said.”It’s all on each other to grow.”
