Good news for Southern Oregon University students: The equestrian team will be back next year, and the best part is owning a horse is not a requirement.

Many students may not know that SOU currently has an equestrian team. The team currently has only one member, and due to personal reasons she has not been participating in recent events.

Katie Andrus will be next year’s team captain and student representative, but she is hoping to find a professional coach to lead the team. The team’s advisor will be Mikala Minn.

For next year, Andrus is looking for members and community supporters to get on board. While she tentatively has three participants lined up, she is looking for many more people to join. As of now, Andrus said it looks like Ashland Hills Stables may provide practice horses for participants to use.

The rule in place now states that members will be asked to use the horses provided and will not be permitted to provide their own, but Andrus is working on changing this policy.

"[The team will] take anyone interested in participating despite their skill level or experience," Andrus said.

She hopes this, combined with the provided horses, will be major factors in recruiting applicants. One person who has already committed to the team is Tristan Beech, a freshman. Beech is from Santa Cruz and will therefore be unable to bring her own horse, but because they will be provided, she will be able to compete. She is a hunter rider, which is competition oriented around the flow and rhythm of the riding. Beech is looking forward to the equestrian environment as a whole package and hopes to find a family atmosphere among the team.

The team will travel to northern Oregon for most of its competitions, mainly to Oregon State University and Linn-Benton Community College. Next year’s semi-finals will be held in Texas, and if the team goes further than this, they will be traveling to either North Carolina or New York, according to Andrus.

The club sport will participate in Intercollegiate Horse Show Association competitions, but Andrus is hoping to get the program associated with the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association as well. IHSA events consist mainly of contestants performing memorized patterns in front of judges for a score. With the NIRA, members will participate in all kinds of events, according to Andrus, including calf roping, bareback riding and bull riding. Because of the variety of events that will be available, she is strongly encouraging men to join.

Equestrian will be a year-round sport, with events from October until spring when Nationals are held. Andrus plans on practicing twice a week at the beginning of the season and to eventually work her way into practicing three times a week.