Ferguson heading to national equestrian championship

As an eighth grader, Emma Ferguson first set foot on the West Texas A&M campus.
Fast forward eight years and the 2018 Chase County graduate will be representing WT at the 2022 Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association National Championship May 5-8 at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Ferguson said she fell in love with the campus and people in the ag department even as a junior high student.
A participant in the Chase County Fair Horse Show and American Quarter Horse Association shows, it wasn’t until Ferguson was a freshman at CCS that she found out WT has an equestrian program that includes Western and Hunt (English) Seat teams.
Ferguson tried out for the team as a WT freshman. She competes for the Western squad in Level 1 Horsemanship. Other classes include Beginner Western Horsemanship, Rookie A Western Horsemanship, Rookie B Western Horsemanship, Level II Western Horsemanship, Western Ranch Riding, Open Western Horsemanship, Open Reining Pattern, Alumni Western Horsemanship and Alumni Reining Pattern.
Ferguson said the team has three core and leg workouts each week and three riding practices. Team members ride at least two horses at each practice.
Competitors don’t compete on their own horses. Colleges provide the animals and host schools provide all the horses needed for a show.
At a show, Ferguson said riders draw a horse’s name out of a hat about five minutes before performances start.
Over the course of four two-day shows, two in the fall and two in the spring, athletes collect points based on their finishes. Those who accumulate 36 points qualify for regionals and move up a level.
Ferguson basically redshirted her freshman year and just missed qualifying for nationals as a sophomore. Nationals that year were called off due to COVID, then no competitions were held in 2021.
That left Ferguson starting with 35 points in Level I Horsemanship at her senior season’s first show late September in Stephenville, Texas. After earning the one point needed to level up and qualify for regionals, Ferguson competed in Level II Horsemanship for the rest of this school year.
She said she won’t be returning to college next year for her “super senior” year after graduating with a agribusiness degree in May. If she did, she would compete in Level II Horsemanship.
Post season shows
All nine WT riders, including Ferguson, who qualified for February’s regionals moved on to the semifinals March 19-20.
The Buffaloes were at one of three semifinals held across the country. Competing at Lubbock, Texas, WT was reserve champion of the semifinal behind the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Other semifinals were held at West Virginia University in Reedsville, West Virginia and Black Hawk College in Galva, Illinois.
From each semifinal, the top four individuals per class and the top three teams advance to Nationals.
All nine WT riders qualified for nationals. Ferguson placed second in Level I Horsemanship with teammates taking first and third.
Ferguson will be one of the last competitors at the four-day national championships.
That’s a good thing, she said.
Not only does Ferguson like the idea of seeing what goes on behind the scenes before she takes to the arena, cheering on her teammates and getting motivation from them will help her performance.
Ferguson will ride May 8. The day’s nine events start at 6 a.m. MT. Level I Horsemanship will be the final competition of nationals.