NCEA Announces October Athlete and Horse of the Month

Waco, TX – The National Collegiate Equestrian Association announced its September Signature Academics Standout Student Athlete and Farnam Horse of the Month on Thursday, November 1.

Signature Academics Standout Student-Athlete

Every month the NCEA recognizes student-athletes for their accomplishments in the ring, however the NCEA would like to highlight athletes on their outstanding performances outside of the ring, including academics, philanthropy, outstanding attitude, and embodiment of an ideal teammate.

Name of Athlete: Mary Gracen Reed

School & Year: Junior, TCU

Hometown: Batesville, MS

Major: Child Development

Highlighted Accomplishments:  Served with Purple with Purpose in the Dominican Republic this Summer 2018 and heads up TCU Equestrian Philanthropy Committee which organizes and completes over 700 service hours per year.

Coach’s Comment: “MG” is perfectly represents what people mean when they talk about a ‘fully rounded student athlete.’ Not only is she incredibly hard working in the show pen, but she is supportive of her fellow teammates and works to provide to her community. She works with TCU Equestrian to provide service to Fort Worth and she traveled globally this past summer to lend a hand. MG is constantly working to do her part wherever she is, and she gets it all done with a smile! TCU is proud to have her as an athlete and teammate.”

Farnam Horse of the Month

This highlight is focused towards an outstanding horse, not just one that gets high score every meet or an “MOP horse,” but one that shows heart and represents the values of its respective school.

Name of Horse (Barn & Show Name): Hamlet

Discipline: Hunter Seat

Donor: Russell Roberts

Highlighted Accomplishments:  Hamlet is beginning his 13^th season with Texas A&M. He came to Texas A&M in 2005 as a donation. At the time, 7-year-old Hamlet was a very fancy hunter with a spook. He struggled a bit during his early years with the team. Many times, Coach Linzy Wolf was advised to find a new home for Hamlet because he didn’t seem to be working as a practice horse. Linzy didn’t give up on him, and she decided to spend some one-on-one time with Hamlet getting him where he needed to be for competition use.

A few years into his time at A&M, Hamlet developed an abscess on his left eye which never cleared up and eventually became infected. This led to Hamlet having vision problems, which wasn’t easy on an already spooky horse. Linzy was patient and took her time with Hamlet until he was comfortable and eased into being ridden again. Hamlet seemed to be getting used to his role as a flat horse and was behaving well in competition. Hamlet competed all throughout the 2010-2011 competition season as well as traveling to Waco, TX for the NCEA National Championship where he scored consistently in the mid 80’s. Hamlet continued to compete in regular competition and throughout the post season of 2014. At 21 years old, Hamlet has now taken a step back from being in the lineup and is our demo flat horse for all home meets. His most recent demo against Fresno State in October 2018 gave him scores of 94 and 91.

Coach’s Comment: “Hamlet loves his job! He has retired from full competition and now does our flat demo rides. He’s one of our flat stars during practice and is the best teacher for freshman learning the flat box. He continues to demo for us at all home meets and loves the attention he gets. He’s a veteran and always a favorite pick for girls to practice on. He’s certainly a standout horse!”