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Louisiana Tech University Stock Horse Team

Louisiana Tech University Stock Horse Team
The Louisiana Tech University Agricultural Sciences Department has just recently been granted permission to form a Stock Horse Team. The team will take part in clinics and competitions through the Louisiana Stock Horse Association, also known as LASH.
LASH is a Louisiana organization that was created by “fellow horsemen to offer affordable, fun, and standardized ranch horse riding clinics and competitions.” LASH aims to educate riders in order to “maximize horse trainability, performance, and safety.” The central purpose of the Louisiana Stock Horse Association is to “create better horses and horsemen.”
A collegiate team competing in a LASH show consists of three people, and they must each enter in at least one cow event and two other events. LASH events include the following: cutting, working cow horse, reining, ranch trail, and ranch pleasure. In the cutting class, the rider must remove a single cow from the herd and control the cow for the allotted time period without bothering the rest of the herd. This class measures the abilities of the horse and rider as a team, where the rider aims to communicate with the horse primarily through leg pressure with minimal spurring or reining. In the working cow horse class, the horse and rider must box the cow, do fence work with the cow and, depending on the division, must either rope or circle the cow. The purpose of this class is to show how well the horse can control a cow. In the reining class, the horse is expected to perform several basic handling maneuvers, and the horse should do it willingly without much resistance. In the ranch trail class, the horse must be able to maneuver through obstacles that a ranch horse might encounter. Lastly, in the ranch pleasure class, the horse must be able to exhibit its ability to be functional as well as a pleasurable ride. It must be able to transition well and respond to the rider without the rider using much rein or force. The collegiate team must also have one novice rider, one amateur rider, and one non-pro rider to compete.
The central purpose in beginning the Louisiana Tech Stock Horse team was to provide an educational experience for the team members. Dr. Laura Gentry, Assistant Professor of Equine Science and The Charles Leggett Professor of Agricultural Sciences and The Louisiana Tech Agricultural Sciences Department have been working hard to build their equine science program by adding more hands-on classes and learning opportunities. The Stock Horse team is an opportunity to further a student’s education while adding competition into the mix. The Tech students that are members of the stock horse team are practicing hard work and dedication, which the preparation for any competition requires, but are also learning a great deal about horses and the show/competition world. Team member Jessica Drake says this experience has already been educational for her, because the stock horse team is exposing her to a new horse world that she has previously known nothing about. As a member of the Louisiana Tech stock horse team, I have also already learned so much. I have learned about working with young horses, using primarily leg pressure to communicate with horses, and much more. I am becoming a better rider and horseman every time I even come out to practice, and I’m getting to ride at least a few times every week, which I love.
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There are several horses that we are using for our team, and they range in age and skill level. They all promise to be competitive in LASH, however, and we are finding horses that match well with each of our members. Riding the horses for our stock horse team also aids in the horses’ training and the tuning up of some of their skills. These horses are used for other purposes besides just the stock horse team; the farm crew also uses them, and they are used in Tech’s riding class.
Members of the Louisiana Tech Stock Horse team include: Jessica Davis, Hollie Hunter, Maggie Turner, Christina Cummings, Rachel Cargle, Robert Duncan, Chrystal Ainsworth, and Dana Bennett. The team’s faculty sponsors include Dr. Laura Gentry, Assistant Professor, and Mr. Dan Boyd, Equine Lab Supervisor. The members and faculty sponsors are all passionate and excited about Tech’s new team, and they are all eager to learn more and to be competitive with the other collegiate teams.
The Louisiana Tech Stock Horse team would like to thank the Louisiana Tech Foundation for allowing us to form this team. We would also like to thank the people who have already donated to support our cause. We are a totally sponsor-dependent organization, and without donations we would not be able to compete as a team. We would like to thank Dr. Gary Kennedy and the Agricultural Sciences Department, Mr. Douglas Madden— owner of Madden Farms Cutting Horses, Chicken Express of Bossier City, and Ladybug Boutique for the contributions they have made to our team. We are planning to have some fundraisers and raffles to help earn money to fund our team. We are also looking for sponsors. We have three levels of sponsorship: Platinum, Gold, and Silver. The Platinum level sponsorship is $1,000, and sponsors get their names or the name of their business on our T-shirts, as well as on a banner that we will display at the show. The sponsor’s name will also be announced at the show of their choice. The next sponsorship level is the Gold, which is $500. For this level, sponsors will get their names on our T-shirts and on our banner. The last level is the Silver sponsorship for $250, and sponsors will see their names on our T-shirts. If you would like to donate something to our team, we will appreciate any monetary amount or items that we can use to raffle off. We appreciate all donations of any kind, because they allow us to continue our stock horse team. If you would like to make a donation, you can mail it to: P.O. Box 10198 Ruston, LA 71272, care of Dr. Laura Gentry. Also, checks can be made out to: Louisiana Tech Foundation with Stock Horse Team in the memo line. We would like to extend a thank you in advance to anyone who makes a donation or supports our team. Source: www.louisianastockhorseassociation.com Written By: Dana Bennett