A good pair of boots, comfortable jeans and the right hat are enough to equip students for a course in NMSU's College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences horse program. Determination, an innate love of horses and a tolerance for hard work keep them coming back for more.

From breeding a mare to birthing a foal, the program allows students to experience nearly every facet of the horse industry. They handle both mares and stallions during breeding, halter break yearlings, prepare horses for sale and break horses for riding. Students in the program can earn minors in horse production. Those who join intercollegiate teams compete in judging, riding, polo and rodeo events.

"We use our entire breeding herd for teaching," says Joe Armstrong, animal and range sciences professor and horse specialist with NMSU's Cooperative Extension Service. "About 80 percent of all the work, including vaccinating, worming and grooming, is done by students, not as a chief source of labor, but to give them the experience."

The students learn from their mistakes, he says. If they cut a horse's mane too short, it'll grow back. If they drop and break clippers, they're in the company of even the best groomers.

Forty percent of the 100 head of horses used in the program were gifts, Armstrong says. The rest were bred at NMSU. The program began with a donation of Arabian horses more than 20 years ago. After the college received four quarter horses, the Arabians were eventually phased out for full quarter horse breeding.

A breeding program is used to increase the quality of the herd. Horses used for equitation classes are kept at the Equitation Center on campus. Breeding stock and younger horses are kept at NMSU's Horse Center in Mesilla Park.

A chance to work with horses attracts students from all majors. Markus Boenig was a history major when he took his first riding class.

"The only thing I knew about a horse was how to spell it," he says. "On the spur of the moment, I took a riding class. I liked it. So I took another one and then another. I was hooked."

Boenig didn't know much about ranching or farming either, but he learned. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in animal science in December 1997, and now manages a horse farm in Fredericksburg, Texas.

"I found my niche," Boenig says. "I enjoy working with horses because it's outside and you can wear comfortable clothes all year round. Anytime a 200-pound creature and a 2,000-pound creature can work together, it's got to be something special."

NMSU's horse program became a model for Rebekah Sayles Bachman, a 1992 animal science graduate. Bachman, an instructor at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, teaches riding, behavior modification and hippotherapy (horse-assisted therapy). She also coaches the university's equestrian team.

"I think NMSU's horse program is extremely useful, especially the science classes," she says. "Dr. Armstrong was a mentor who has influenced my teaching, advising and coaching."

Bachman grew up on a ranch in Mesquite where her parents still raise registered quarter horses. The position I have now is close to perfect," she says. "I've been able to combine my love of horses with teaching."

NMSU's 46-acre Horse Center is not a typical classroom. It's a training ground that allows students to put their science courses into action.

In the early hours of a crisp spring morning, students in stable management round up mares with their foals and lead them into a barn for ultrasound tests to see if they're ready to breed again. Lou Berkompas, the Horse Center's livestock assistant supervisor, measures the follicles on the mares' ovaries and calls out the sizes.

"The students do everything else," he says. "They bring the horses in, keep them calm while I'm doing the ultrasound and record the information."

One mare's follicles are 45 millimeters in diameter. "This one's ready for breeding," Armstrong tells the class. "Take her out and get her ready. Some of you go catch the stallion, King Correon."

Around noon, sophomore Chrystal Ford arrives early for her fitting and selling class. With only weeks left before the college's horse sale, she washes, brushes and pampers her horse.

"You look so much better," Ford coos to the horse. "You're so pretty."

Armstrong gives the class a few tips before the sale. "The horses aren't losing that extra coat of hair like they normally do because it's been so cool," he says. "But you can put a shine on a horse just using your hands." He demonstrates how to rub the hair from horses.

By the afternoon, it's warm and windy. Students with horses slowly make their way to the south end of the center. It's the first breaking and training class after spring break. "These horses haven't been ridden for over a week," Armstrong says. "Anything could happen."

Junior Lance Akers is the first to enter one of the round pens. He stands in the center of the ring wheeling his rope as the mare runs circles around him. After about 10 minutes, the mare is ready to ride.

"Go ahead and let her lope a little so you can get her unstrung," Armstrong instructs. "Put your little finger toward her mouth and just pull out. Now get your left hand down. Keep your heels close up. Pull your hands straight out. Bump with your right leg while you're doing it. She's tight on the fence. That's the problem. Now flip it back. There you go. Very good."

Armstrong directs his attention to another student, sophomore Rose Wood, who has her hands full trying to break a horse that is the descendant of a champion racer.

"Rose, pull out, not back," Armstrong says. "Spin that nose on around. Make him give his head until he comes almost around to your knee. Pull hard enough and give him an inch of slack. When he gives you his head, you can kind of control him."

Junior Alison Sudderth waits for her turn in the ring. "This class has tested every bit of my patience," she says. "Today, all I prayed for was patience."

Despite some anxiety before going into the ring, Sudderth admits that breaking and training is one of her favorite classes. An experienced rider, she's also a member of the polo team.

"I enrolled in the program here because I wanted to learn more about horses and learn from the best," she says.

Students who want a little more action beyond the classes can join one of the intercollegiate teams. The stock seat squad, the Western-style riders on NMSU's Equestrian Team, has been a sensation in the 235-school Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). The squad competes against 5,000 riders nationwide. A member for only five seasons, NMSU won the national championship in 1995 and 1998 and was second in 1997. The team will enter the 1998-99 season as defending champion and holder of the American Quarter Horse Association Trophy.

At the national competition in Port Jervis, N.Y., NMSU's riders garnered four individual national championships, one second place and five other top-10 placings.

Larry Sanchez, instructor and coach, has guided the team since its inaugural IHSA season through dual, invitational, regional and zone competitions.

"I try to over-prepare students for competition," Sanchez says. "When I test them on all the possible situations that they might be confronted with, both mentally and physically, then I feel that they're ready to go to a show."

In Western and English competition, riders have to know the basics like getting horses to walk, jog or lope on command, Sanchez says. Unlike other competitions, where people ride horses they own or have worked with for years, intercollegiate equestrian competitors usually end up on horses they've never ridden before.

"Judges want to see a picture of the horse and rider appearing as one--moving at the same pace, speed and in sync," he says. "You don't want to see a separation between the two. It's like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire dancing. They never bump into each other."

Students who have a knack for spotting a good horse can join the horse judging team, which has placed in the top five in regional competition in recent years. Members learn to quickly evaluate the best and worst qualities of horses, place them and defend their choices. They also serve as judges at local horse shows.

Students can test their skills on the polo and rodeo teams as well. "These teams dovetail with the horse program, but are very independent," Armstrong says.

The two-year-old women's polo team placed fourth at regionals in its first year of competition. The men's team has placed third at regionals each year since it began three years ago.

Most students who start playing polo know how to ride but don't know much about the game, says junior Adren Nance. "I started playing three years ago, and I'm still learning."

A recent addition to the team--polo pony Mary Poppins--was donated by actor Tommy Lee Jones.

J.J. Arrington, a senior and team captain, worked on Jones' ranch in San Saba, Texas last year. "Jones bought a polo horse for his son who had other interests, so I asked him if he would consider donating the horse to us," he says. "She's a very good addition to our polo team."

The best animal for polo is a small quarter horse or thoroughbred, Arrington says. A thoroughbred has stamina, but a horse also needs to be able to turn quickly and run fast.

Polo can be a rough game, but rodeo can be even more intense.

Steer wrestling, calf roping and saddle bronc and bull riding are what some students have in mind. Their place is on the rodeo team.

The women's 1971 rodeo team won the last national intercollegiate championship in any sport for NMSU, prior to the Equestrian Team trophy in 1995. As a freshman last year, Casey Dove continued the women's rodeo tradition by being a national contender in goal-tying.

This year, the NMSU men's rodeo team was third in the tough Grand Canyon region. Sophomore Trey Miller and junior C.J. Aragon earned spots in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association finals. At nationals, Aragon finished as runner-up, and Miller, competing with a student from another university, placed fourth in team roping.

Following in the steps of generations of world rodeo champions is what motivates Miller, who also competes in calf roping and steer wrestling events. "My grandfather and father were world champions," he says. "I've won third twice in national competition, and I'm not too far off from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association championship."

Nicknamed the "little big man" because of his size, Aragon gives his brother Jake credit for his stellar season, even though he had a new hazer to help direct the steer at nationals.

"Jake and I both decided that we wanted to rodeo together, so we started looking for a school that fit what we wanted and decided to come down to NMSU," Aragon says. "We like the weather, and it's a good school."

The horse program has something to offer just about everyone who likes horses, but there's another course Armstrong would like to include. "If I could add one aspect to the horse program, it would be therapeutic horsemanship or riding for people with disabilities," he says. "This is one area where the horse program would have unlimited potential to give back to the community."

If you would like to view more information regarding horses, please visit our "Hoof beats at NMSU" site.