High point equestrian finds early success.

• Position: Brief article

The High Point University equestrian team is in its first season of competition and has already found success despite going up against more established competition in every show. The team finished seventh in the recent regional competition and sophomore Jules Kime qualified to compete in zones last spring.

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Equestrian is a unique sport in that is requires a relationship between the rider and the horse. To successfully compete, the rider must be able to develop a trust with the horse.

"There really needs to be a lot of trust between a rider and a horse," Kime said. "Riding is 80 percent mental. People think riding is easy, that you sit there and the horse does the work but it is not. You have to do a lot to make sure the horse performs properly."

In regular shows a rider generally competes on their own horse and develops a long standing relationship. But in intercollegiate shows, that process is made harder by of the fact that for visiting teams the horse and rider are meeting for the...