By Ron Wilson, Director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.

Today we'll go to the National Championships. The competition is heated, as teams compete to become No. 1. Let's meet two of the key players. One is a college senior, a young woman just over five feet tall. The other one weighs in at 1,200 pounds. Wow, that one is as big as a horse - and the reason is, it is a horse. This is a national competition for collegiate equestrian teams. Some of the best of these riders come from rural Kansas. And that’s the subject of this  Kansas Profile.

Teresa Slough is the coach of Kansas State University’s Equestrian team. Equestrian is a horsemanship competition where the performance of the rider is evaluated. Essentially, it is horseback riding as a highly trained science.

K-State adopted Equestrian as an intercollegiate sport in 2000, when the athletic department wanted and needed to provide more opportunities for women. Several women's sports were considered, but Equestrian was chosen – which seems like a great fit for the state of Kansas. The person who was hired as K-State's first equestrian coach was Teresa Slough.

Teresa's interest in horses came early in life. She grew up on a ranch in Cheyenne County. Teresa says with a smile, "When I was the ripe age of four, my mom gave me the choice of dance lessons or a horse..."  The horse won out, and sparked a lifelong interest and commitment to the equine industry. Teresa was active and successful in showing horses as a 4-Her.

When Teresa came to K-State, she helped out with an intercollegiate horse show team that had been organized as a club sport. A year later, she became the first official coach when equestrian was adopted by the athletic department. She went to Colorado State to work on her Ph.D. and then rejoined K-State as head equestrian coach in 2004.

Teresa explains that there are two types of equestrian competition: Western and English, sometimes called hunt seat. Western competition involves use of cowboy-type saddles and rider attire, while English uses flat, lightweight saddles and high boots, breeches, jacket, and jumping helmet for the rider.

In the Western competition, the rider competes in horsemanship or reining, which involves riding a horse in a particular pattern with various stops and turns. In English, the rider is judged in equitation, sometimes over fences where the horse jumps over barricades of various heights. But in both cases, here's the catch: The rider doesn't get to ride her own horse.

When these teams go to a competition, they draw from among a set of unfamiliar horses which they are then supposed to ride. Unlike a horse show or sale where the horse is evaluated, at these competitions what is evaluated is the rider.

Teresa says, "All the judging is based on the rider's ability to communicate and control the horse." Those who are most effective at riding and controlling an unfamiliar horse are those who rank most highly.

This has created the opportunity for lots of young women - even beginners - to learn, upgrade, and showcase their equine skills. Nationwide, more than 300 colleges have equestrian clubs. Twenty four have equestrian as a varsity sport. The Big 12 has more of those than any other major conference.

Some 70 women are part of the K-State team. They come from both urban and rural backgrounds and 32 different majors. Two-thirds are from Kansas, but 12 other states are also represented, from Maryland to Alaska, plus Australia. The Kansas girls come from places like Viola, population 212, and Netawaka, population 168.  Now, that's rural.

These girls have had tremendous success, winning their region consistently and ranking in the top seven nationally as a team and scoring national championships individually. Now Teresa is involved with fundraising for a new K-State EquiCenter, which would be a wonderful academic facility and arena for equine education.

It's time to leave the National Championships, where women and horses are involved in intense competition. We commend Teresa Slough and all the women involved with the sport of equestrian for making a difference with their commitment to being the best. We wish them all a great ride.

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The mission of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is to enhance rural development by helping rural people help themselves. The Kansas Profile radio series and columns are produced with assistance from the K-State Research and Extension Department of Communications News Unit. Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/huckboyd/.