NCEA’s Most Outstanding Horsemanship Performer – Mallory Vroegh of SMU

“Now, I don’t want to scare you, but I plan on being a zero or a hero today.” – Mallory Vroegh to Coach Brad Kearns, April 15, 2023.

 

By Delores Kuhlwein

All eyes were on Ocala this past week as the 2023 NCEA National Championship kicked off at the World Equestrian Center.

As Thursday, April 13^th came to a close, SMU, TCU, Oklahoma State, and Auburn all advanced to the semifinals after the first round.  It was the third year for SMU to advance to the semifinals, and after everyone faced off Saturday for fences, flat work, reining, and horsemanship, SMU Equestrian Team was crowned the champion.

They made history, according to NCEA, because not only was it their ninth national championship, but it was also their first in Equestrian competition.  “It also marks the first time a school outside of the Big 12 and SEC has won the equestrian National Championship. Saturday’s victory is two days shy of the 20th anniversary of SMU’s announcement that it would add equestrian as a sport.” (NCEA News 4/15/2023)

All stats aside, for SMU team member Mallory Vroegh, it was also a personal achievement – she was named Most Outstanding Horsemanship Performer in the 2023 NCEA Awards, and for her Horsemanship ride earning 238 with her equine partner, Chili, she was recognized afterward by US Equestrian with the Ride of the Month (video can be found on US Equestrian Facebook page).We had a few questions for Mallory, who is no stranger to the media of The Equine Chronicle due to an incredible Youth and Amateur show career.

Read on – if you are a horsemanship rider, you’ll especially appreciate her comments to her coach before her celebrated horsemanship ride, which also happened to be her final college ride:

 

Q: Obviously it’s a huge honor to be recognized in such a manner for Horsemanship, but we wondered why this class has been such an incredible point of strength for you.

A: Thank you so much; it really is such an honor to be recognized in such a way at NCEA Nationals. I started riding and competing in the horsemanship at a very young age and to be completely honest, there is no one thing I could pick out that got me here to this point. I have been endlessly lucky to have so many opportunities within the horse industry to become a better horse woman and to fine tune my horsemanship skills in particular.

When it comes right down to it, I have to say that I have had a ton of help getting to this point. My mom, Shannon, started me out riding and has been behind me pushing me ever since. From there I rode with Jason Gilliam for a few years who taught me a ton, and finally moved to Blake and Kendra Weis who I finished out my youth career with and I have been in training with Blake ever since. These trainers have been pivotal in my career and my development as a rider, improving my horsemanship tenfold over the years.

In my early years at SMU I had the opportunity to work with McKenzie Lantz, who taught me a ton, she spent a lot of her life in the reining industry and genuinely, having that perspective was instrumental in making it so I felt like I could ride any horse I got on whether it had a horsemanship background or not. Recently, Brad Kearns took the position of western coach at SMU and it has been an honor to be coached by and learn from him over the past two years. I’ve spent a lot of time in the saddle over the course of my career, but none of it would have mattered if I didn’t have this village of people behind me cheering me on, truly wanting me to get better, and pushing me to do so. My strength comes from them.

 

 

Q: What does this honor mean to you personally as a rider, and also as part of a bigger team of equestrians?

A: I won’t be as long winded as before here but absolutely this honor means the world to me and I will cherish every moment of it, but the greatest part for me is knowing that all of those people that helped me get here can share this moment with me. I am so incredibly grateful for each and every person that has wrote something on a scorecard, told my mom I needed to fix something, spent time in an arena with me, and everything in between. I wouldn’t be here without you guys.

 

I am very humbled to be receiving these honors, but let me tell you, this team that I have the opportunity to ride with and practice with every day is FULL of the most talented in the industry. When I go into horsemanship practice and I see Nya Kearns, Lily Anderson, Alexa Black, Megan Waldron, Macie Soderquist, Brianna Merklin, and Lydia Brahler out there working their tails off to get better and making the horses they are on better it is the most inspiring thing I can think of. I owe them a lot for pushing me to be better every day and I am just so proud I got to be a part of it all.

 

Q: US Equestrian says it was your ride that was pivotal for SMU Equestrian to jump ahead of Auburn.  Did you feel any pressure and how did you prepare and handle the pattern mentally?

A: There is no feeling like closing out a section of a meet like that, the energy, the intensity, the atmosphere is just crazy. The horsemanship was tied up when it came down to my point and I remember standing at the back gate with Brad, watching my opponent go, who was incredible, I mean she really rode great, and I told Brad, “Now I don’t want to scare you, but I plan on being a zero or a hero today.”

What I mean by that is, when someone goes first ahead of you and they really lay it out there, you don’t have an option but to push every limit to the max and hope you don’t accidentally pass it. Luckily, we had drawn a horse that you could really do that with and I will touch on him in the next question but he let me press every button and was right there with me every stride. And I wouldn’t say I would do this kind of thing every meet, but at the National Championship, with everything on the line, my teammates counting on me, I just made the decision that no matter what I didn’t want to come out of the pen with any regrets.

 

Q:  What would you like to say about the horse you rode – Chili?

A:  There are not enough thanks in the world to express how much gratitude I have for Chili. This being my last college ride ever, nationals on the line, the atmosphere chaotic, I knew when I warmed him up in my four minutes that I was going to ask him for everything that he had in my pattern so I just kind of took that time to do the slow work and feel him out and I knew he was going to be very honest in the pen after that. I would have thought I would have felt terrified with all of that going on and being on a horse I had never ridden before but he was the most honest college horse I had ever had the opportunity to swing a leg over and he made my last collegiate ride the best one. Chili has been horse of the year three times now after taking home that accolade this year and he absolutely deserves it. He’s truly an incredible horse and I applaud Larry Sanchez and all of OSU Equestrian for keeping him going at such a high level for so long; that can really be a feat In college equestrian but truly, what an amazing horse.

 

Q: For other riders coming into the College Equestrian experience, or getting ready to apply, what do you say?

A: Enjoy every minute of it. There are hard times, it’s a D1 sport, there will be times where it pushes you to your breaking point but there are times that you will cherish forever. College equestrian is an opportunity unlike any other, the people you are surrounded with are world class, the riders are the most talented, the horses are unique and fun, and the fact that you get to do it all while getting your higher education is even better.