Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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HORSES • COIlTinUED FROdl 13 promotion of their sport to the university’s lack of enthusiasm for the team. , “We don’t get the media coverage the other teams get,” Brothers said. “I mean, we won nationals, and the football players getting arrested was on the front page and not the equestrians wining the national championship. That’s why no one knows about it.” Brothers and Pipkin believe that greater coverage of their sport would lead to a more educated student body, and thus, greater appreciation of their sport. “I think that a lot'of people aren’t very familiar with how horseback riding is done. They think it is just racing or swimming. They don’t really understand that it can be a team sport,” Pipkin said. Brothers agreed and said: “If the school started constantly H . . promoting us, like they do their .other sports, I think that would help a lot ... because people don’t know what we do. They may think that we walk around in circles, they may think we race. We don’t know what the general students think, but I’m almost positive that they have no idea what we really do.” In reality, the equestrian team does not race or walk in circles, but it competes in the two broad divisions of hunt seat, also known as English and western. Each division is comprised of two events: hunt seat with equitation on the flat and over fences, and western with reining and horsemanship. The team’s 17 hunt seat riders and 11 western riders are required to practice three times a week year round, though they can ride more if they like. The random assignment of horses for competitions is designed to add to the sport’s difficulty. “We don’t get the media coverage the other teams get,” Brothers said. “I mean, we won nationals, and the football players getting arrested was on the front page and not the equestrians wining the national championship.” TARA BROTHERS Senior hunt seat captain to their rival Georgia at home Friday at One Wood Farm. Pipkin is enthusiastic about the rest of the season. “We have amazing riders. We haven’t won the SEC yet, so I think right now we are working toward that as our big goal — but, of course, the biggest goal for 2006 is to win nationals again.” Team members say greater fan support would help motivate the team as it attempts to defend its championship. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm. sc. edu “The whole idea of this is that they have to get on a random horse, we do a random draw, then they have to get on that horse and in four minutes figure it out,” Duncan said. Half the team’s horses are owned by the university, while the other half are borrowed from team members or the coach’s friends. This early in the season, the Gamecocks have already recorded a dominating victory against Kentucky and finished runner-up at the inaugural Big Eight English Tournament. The Gamecocks only narrowly lost wrr« rock N-COUNTRY SALOON" C p *«- *°CR COP ^BSKSmfe or a Rcc'k'T^ EMffilML VW* c** fspisi' w£osir?*rrc . ■mm . mm - - m Kane Kirkland Til K (.'AMKCOCK The equestrian team’s main goal in 2005-2006 is to win an SEC championship, something the team hasn't done since its founding. —^—■ i i u i him i»■ » omii i ■ — <l ■« ipi «—■— More men and women on the front lines are surviving life-threatening injuries | than ever before for one reason: We have the most elite nurses in the world. As a U.S. Air Force nurse, you receive the most advanced training and have access to the best medical technology on the planet. And whether you're treating Airmen on foreign soil or their families on bases here in the U.S., you can put all of that training to use. If you're interested in learning more about a better place to practice medicine, call or visit us online. ^ 1-800-588-^60 • AIRFORCE.COiyHEALTHCARE £