MSU is home to only about 200 equine oriented students. These students care for, ride and maintain connections with horses that have gained national attention since MSU’s founding. This year is no different as MSU’s horses and riders received 10 different awards at the Sport Horse National Championships.
The Institute of Agricultural Technology Horse Management program, which accepts 20 students annually, and the Animal Science Departments bachelor of science degree offer students a chance to gain hands on experience training horses and learning applied sciences.
The MSU Horse Teaching and Research Facility has been around since MSU’s founding in 1855.
At first, MSU’s horses consisted of first-rate Belgians and world-class quality Percherons — it wasn’t until 1983 when MSU began breeding purebred Arabian horses after a donation from W.K. Kellogg of Kellogg Cereal, a Michigan native, farm manager Paula Hitzler said.
“Since that time MSU has continued to breed high quality Arabian horses which have garnered much success in the national show arena,” Hitzler said. Just this month, some of MSU’s horses and riders received national awards at the Sport Horse National Championships in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Horse management sophomore Torie Liniarski made top 10 in the Amateur to Ride Sports Horse Under Saddle class, meaning the horse was ridden with a saddle and performed tasks such as the walk, trot and canter.
Liniarski’s horse, MSU Showtime, won in the Amateur to Ride Sport Horse in Hand, meaning it was not being ridden, and instead was guided by Liniarski.
“I always wanted to like chase my dreams and my mom always pushed me to chase my dreams,” Liniarski said. “This was like the greatest thing I probably could have found for this, so it’s pretty awesome.”
These were only two of the awards students and horses made at the Sport Horse National Championships.
Horse management sophomore Karley VanWormer and her horse MSU Striking Command received a top 10 award for Sport Horse Geldings Dressage and MSU Bad Beat Benny — a purebred Arabian horse — won Supreme Sport Horse in Hand.
Bittner also won the U.S. National Champion Sport Horse Dressage Mares Open.
“I have worked really hard at improving my own riding and I have worked with MSU Strike a Pose for almost two years now, so we have built a really good connection,” Bittner said.
The MSU horse team returned to East Lansing with one national championship, two reserve national championships and seven top 10 awards.
These sort of awards do not come easy though and forming a connection with their horse is paramount to being successful. Because of this, students go to the facility before class each day to groom and practice with their horses — all in the hopes of making it to the Sport Horse National Championships and forming a stronger bond with their horse.
“This Arabian National Horse Show to my students is as important as the NCAA National Championships are to the basketball students,” Hitzler said.
