Don't tell Meagan Smith her passion is "not a sport."

"If they don't believe me, I say they need to come watch what we do," Smith said Sunday, surrounded by her teammates, some still wearing crisp traditional competition clothes, others in boots covered in dust and bits of straw.

The area's first Intercollegiate Horse Show Association competition was held Saturday and Sunday at Fox Run Stables north of Cape Girardeau. Seven teams from Missouri and Illinois universities competed in the event, including the Redhawk Equestrian Team, a nine-member team of students from Southeast Missouri State University.

Competitive horseback riding requires a lot of hard work, members of the Southeast team say, and success does not come quickly or easily, especially for a team that formed just two years ago.

The competition includes contests for jumping and several combinations of walking, trotting and cantering horses. Riders compete individually for points, but points they earn also benefit the entire team as they try to move from local to regional contests. Within the sport, earning enough points to move ahead to more competition is called "pointing up."

Competitors do not ride their own horses. Part of the challenge, according to Smith, is that riders have to quickly assess how to handle an unfamiliar horse provided by the stable holding the competition.

Two members of the Southeast team pointed up to regional competition last year and one went on to nationals. Still, the team consists of riders at all levels of experience, and members say participation is open to any student who wants to learn to ride and compete, regardless of whether they have any background at all in horseback riding.

Team member Kellie Constantin, a business management major from St. Louis, said there is something about being on the team that unites all team members, but that other than riding, most have varying interests in school and different backgrounds.

Kristie Miller, a member of the equestrian team at Southeast Missouri State University, rides Buddy Sunday in the novice fences event at Fox Run Stables. (Fred Lynch)

Smith, from Dexter, Mo., said she only rode horses using a western-style saddle before she joined the team.

"Before I did this, getting in an English saddle was something I basically swore against," she said.

Kristie Miller, a member of the equestrian team at Southeast Missouri State University, rides Buddy in the novice fences event Sunday, March 11, 2012 at Fox Run Stables. (Fred Lynch)

Now a member of the team, she is glad she made the switch, she said, because of what she has gotten out of membership so far. Smith transferred to Southeast from Murray State University in Murray, Ky., and didn't know anyone in Cape Girardeau when she came here. Now, through riding, her team is her friends and family, she said.

Team members also say their involvement in riding and caring for horses teaches them skills they will need beyond college.

"It teaches you a lot about responsibility," said Constantin, who owns her own horse, Homer.

Some team members have their own horses while others use horses owned by the stable, where the team practices five to six times per week year round. Their coach, SuAnne Remley, is a riding instructor at the stable.

Remley said she teaches the riders proper body position, how to get their horse in the proper body position and how to deal with the personality of different horses as she helps them prepare for contests. The Southeast team can't yet compete in every division in competitions because it does not yet have riders available at every riding level. Divisions are separated by riding ability.

Confidence is what Smith said she is getting from her participation. As one of the team members who is smallest in stature, she said she sometimes has a fear of how well she will be able to control a large horse. Her team members help her overcome that, she said, like they did Saturday when she was assigned one. They told her she could do it, she said, and she came out of the ring with a second place ribbon. Overall, the team placed fifth in the competition.

Team president Kristie Miller said she thinks the team will continue to grow and do well in competition as more students become aware of its presence and connection to the university. Its riders are constantly improving, she said.

Recognition of the team is becoming more common on campus as well, said team member Alex Wolf. Matching jackets worn by team members are prompting questions about who the team is and what they do, she said.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627