If successful, it would be a first in the polo team’s history.

The competition was tough — UofL had to get past the University of Pennsylvania, to which it had previously lost. That done, it then faced Michigan State University on its home field — all while being without six of the nine horses from its string.

“We were pretty pumped up going into the game. Losing was not an option,” said Lauren Poole, a member of the varsity polo team.

Losing may not have been an option, but winning was not assured. The lead bounced back and forth: When one team scored, the other team answered. Play was intense and physical. A UofL player knocked an MSU player from her horse. In the end, a last-minute penalty against MSU was the deciding factor. UofL got the ball for a penalty shot. MSU was unable to score the tying point. UofL emerged with the first tournament victory in its nine-year history and advanced to southeast regional tournament play.

Most people — including those on campus — never knew about the competition or the team’s triumph over adversity.

That’s largely because the UofL Equestrian Team, an umbrella group with teams that compete in four different disciplines, is a recognized student organization and not an NCAA-sanctioned sport. Each team, however, takes its sport as seriously as if it were. Whether polo, hunt, western or saddle seat, they clock countless hours practicing and refining their skills. Getting to practice isn’t a walk across campus, either. It involves driving as far away as Shelbyville and Prospect, Ky., and Lanesville, Ind., where their horses are stabled.

While the teams receive some Student Government Association funding as an RSO, they also have to work hard raising money to cover the expenses involved with their sport by hosting horse shows and exhibitions.

The polo team’s spring break win was just one of the Equestrian Team’s high points so far this year.

In February, both the hunt seat and western teams earned several individual blue ribbons and placed second in team high point competition in the final Intercollegiate Horse Show Association show of the regular season.

Freshman Madeleine Kemp earned high-point rider honors in the equitation division at the same show. She did it in head-to-head competition with three other riders — two of whom compete two levels above her in that discipline.

Equitation tests a rider’s horsemanship — both her ability to control a horse and her form, through a variety of difficult tasks. The rider is judged, not the horse. At IHSA shows, the main equitation test is the rider’s ability to adapt to the horse that she is given. Riders are assigned a horse other than their own and have little time to get used to it before competition begins.

Kemp said she “was extremely surprised” when the announcer called her name as high-point winner. “It was an awesome feeling to know that I did my best. It’s true. Hard work does pay off.”

Seasons are over for polo, hunt and western riders, and the saddle seat team is preparing for the end of its season in April. Still, each team continues to log many hours of practice each week. They already are looking forward to what the 2013–14 season might bring.

(Editor’s Note, April, 23, 2013: The saddle seat team took top honors at the Intercollegiate Saddle Seat Riding Association’s spring horse show at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington April 12. UofL’s team won the 2013 Cumulative Year-end Championship Team Award at the event.

Two UofL students also won the state riding association’s Rider of the Year awards. Kristen Smith was named champion senior and Jenny McGowan, reserve champion senior.)

The communication department offers the special topics class that focuses on the important relationship between the Kentucky Derby and the media as well as the race’s historical importance to Louisville.

A devout horse racing fan, Reed has missed covering only two Kentucky Derby races since 1966 and is considered to be one of the most knowledgeable and experienced writers when it comes to the race.

“I hope the students learn about how the Derby got to be the world’s most famous horse race and why it’s important to our history and culture in Kentucky,” Reed said of the class.

Junior Megan Devine is among his students. She said she expects to increase her knowledge of the history of the “greatest two minutes in sports.”

“I love the class! We have been able to learn so much about the history of this amazing event,” said Devine, who described her love for the Kentucky Derby as perhaps being greater than her love for Christmas. “The class can provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn so much about the Kentucky Derby from Billy Reed.”

While students will benefit from Reed’s expertise on horse racing, he brings more than his knowledge to the class. Guest speakers from the horse racing and media worlds share their experiences and knowledge with students. Among them are such notable writers as Tim Sullivan, Craig Ewing and Jennie Rees from the Courier-Journal as well as Darren Rogers of Churchill Downs and Angie Fenton of The Voice-Tribune. Students also will take a field trip to the Kentucky Derby Museum.

This isn’t Reed’s first go-round in the teaching world. His past experience includes teaching at UofL and at Indiana University and running the Academy for Character in Sport at Georgetown College.

Reed has worked for many publications, including the Courier-Journal in Louisville, the Lexington Herald-Leader and Sports Illustrated; and he has contributed to many books about horse racing.

He also was a strong contributor to the development of the Equine Industry program at UofL’s College of Business, helping to start the program alongside then-Dean Robert Taylor in the late 1980s.

After listening to speakers such as Mayor Greg Fischer and keynote speaker Delquan Dorsey, executive director for the Governor’s Office for Minority Empowerment, the group headed out into the Parkland community to collect trash and to help beautify the community.

“We have been doing this program for about six years now with the university,” said Pam Curtis, director of the Office of Civic Engagement, Leadership and Service. “Every person in this room could have done anything else today that they wanted to do, but they chose to be here.”

Meagan Stites, a 2012 UofL graduate, said she is proud of the student body’s motivation to serve and volunteer in the many diverse communities of Louisville.

“I think UofL really has a strong sense of service. Most of these kids could be sleeping in until noon or later or doing homework. Instead, they gave up their day off,” said Stites, who joined the students.

Many different student groups were represented this year including sorority and fraternity members as well as members of the women’s field hockey and soccer teams. The large and diverse group of students impressed Fischer.

“When you see this sea of students out here saying, ‘I want to make this community a better place through service,’ it’s who we are as a city, and to see these folks stepping up and doing this says a lot about UofL and the type of person who’s at UofL,” Fischer said.

The MLK service day is just one of the many different service opportunities put on by campus as and community groups that keep UofL students active within the community throughout the year.