Inductees

Nearly 40 years ago, a donation from Larry and Marilyn Daniel helped start what is now the Missouri State University Equestrian program.

The Missouri State equestrian team is a horse-and-rider-based organization within the William H. Darr College of Agriculture. The campus sits on 125 acres in southwest Springfield on Kansas Expressway.

The program got started in 1988 in Ash Grove at the Daniels farm. Using horses and facilities there, Laura (Lindsey) Walker and Jane (Pruitt) Bagley taught horsemanship/equine as a class and guided the program through the 2001 season.

A quarter century later, the program continues to produce some of the top riders in the country. That is one of the reasons the Missouri State Equestrian Team became the first in the sport to join the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, with the Class of 2026.

Missouri State University joined the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) in 1989. Bagley said that Dr. W. Anson Elliott, the department head of the Darr Agriculture program, was a big supporter of the IHSA team traveling. The latter part was aided by Howard Fisk of Fisk Transportation, who provided a van and driver to help the team travel to competitions in other parts of Missouri, as well as Kentucky and Tennessee, during the season.

“This recognition validates the commitment made by Dr. Anson Elliott, Missouri State University and agriculture and industry leaders like Marilyn Daniels to support the student and industry interest in horses,” said Sue Webb, who was the coach from 2001 to 2019. “Hopefully, this recognition will encourage continued support of the horse program that provides the horses, facilities and faculty needed to maintain this team and the other very successful student teams and organizations that are also part of the overall equine program. It gives the students opportunities to not only pursue their riding and showing while on campus, but also allows them to travel to competitions where they meet and work with a very diverse population of students that all have a similar interest, horses.”

The Equestrian Team is one of six teams that call the Darr Agricultural Center home, joining the Ranch Horse Team, Soil Judging Team, Trap and Skeet Team, Horse Judging Team and Beef Cattle Show Team.

During the penultimate weekend in February, Pinegar Arena was the site of the team’s Western show and Regionals. The arena, first built in 1989, was remodeled in 2006 and renamed after the late car dealer Ed Pinegar.

The Bears did what they often have done inside that arena: win.

Recently, five riders took first place in the regional competition and the Bears had the region’s high-point rider and were the region’s high-point team.

In the Webb era, Missouri State saw several individuals earn top 10 honors or become Reserve Champions. From 1995 to 2019, 16 riders filled 25 of those placings.

Webb explained why winning, even with experience, is not easy at this level. This type of competition requires the riders to not only ride horses at different gaits and intricate patterns, but also to do it on horses that they have never ridden. It would be like a NASCAR driver in a Ford all week in practice, but shifting to a Chevrolet for the race.

The equestrian team has two different formats: Western and Hunt Seat. As the days ticked down to the Hall of Fame induction, Coach Natalie Mook has her Bears in the midst of postseason competition. The former West Texas A&M equestrian athlete has been the head coach of Missouri State since 2019.

For this sport, there’s a three-part postseason that leads to nationals in May. Two weekends after this induction, the Bears will go to Las Cruces, N.M., to compete in the Western Semifinals at New Mexico State University.

“I call us the hidden gem of Missouri State,” Mook said. “Just because a lot of people don’t know we have an equestrian team or an equine program and we have actually had a lot of success. The team has had a lot of success over the years and there hasn’t been a lot of recognition. I think it’s a really great step forward. Equestrian is a very unique sport and doesn’t get a lot of press. We aren’t as flashy as football or soccer, those traditional sports. For us, it’s a really big deal and we are really excited to get recognized.”