By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

WEST CHESTER, Ohio — Donald and Pamela Conley of West Chester always hoped their daughter, Laura, had the athletic skills to play at the collegiate level. Laura Conley was a highly-talented cross-country runner in high school, but they never dreamed her equestrian skills would take her to the college of her choice.

“Horses were my love growing up, and that’s what eventually led me to Oklahoma State University and their equestrian team,” said Conley, now in her junior season at OSU.

Conley sent transcripts of her grades along with a list of her riding accomplishments to several universities, including Kansas State University, Baylor University, Texas Christian University and OSU. She chose the latter, which is her parents’ alma mater.

“I fell in love with the OSU equestrian team and the community surrounding this school,” she said. “It’s just awesome.”

The OSU Cowboys equestrian team consists of 63 riders and seven coaches. The equestrian competition season is divided into two seasons, fall and spring. The OSU team consists of jumpers and flats. Conley competes with the flat squad.

The 11-event season in fall starts in early October, with action against such teams as SMU, New Mexico State, Baylor, Kansas State, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Auburn and Texas Christian. The spring season is capped off with the Big-12 championships in Waco, Texas with the national championships held in Waco in April.
“Horses were my love growing up and I was a member of 4-H when I was in elementary school,” Conley said. “4-H had a lot to offer, but being around horses was all I wanted to do.”

Conley and her registered American Quarter Horse (Groovy Move) hit the competition trail at an early age, competing in many American Quarter Horse Assoc. and Ohio Quarter Horse Assoc. sponsored events. At age 16 she became a member of the Ohio Hunter Jumper Assoc.

“We attended a lot of shows when I was growing up and many of those shows took us to the Kentucky Horse Park,” said Conley, now 22.

While in high school she finished in the top 10 at the AQHA Congress in 2005 and was among the top 10 in Region 4 in all-around competition. In 2007 she captured the Robert Murphy Equestrian Event in Kentucky.

Now in college Conley majors in agricultural economics with a minor in animal sciences. She’s a repeat member of the Dean’s Honor Roll with a 3.61 grade point average. Those grades made her an annual recipient of the Equestrian Coaches Association Scholar Athlete Award.

She is a member of the National Honor Society of Collegiate Scholars and actively participates in community service projects and is on the OSU horse team committee.

Aside from her equestrian accomplishments, she has been awarded the Oklahoma State University non-resident achievement scholarship, agricultural economics scholarship and the J. Flemming Memorial Scholarship.

“The thrill of all of this is being around a lot of nice people and having a good learning experience,” she said.

“I just love the sportsmanship that everyone exhibits and having the ability to show my horsemanship skills.”

Last season the OSU squad claimed its first-ever Big 12 equestrian championship and finished third overall at the national championships.

Other members of the OSU team from the Farm World readership area include Maraguax Tucker (South Bend, Ind.), Ellis Sparks (Glencoe, Ill.), Nichole Chirico (Naperville, Ill.), Chelsey Zulia (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Mackenzie Clason (Medina, Ohio).