Four high school girls devoted themselves to hippology — the study of horses — for hours upon hours. Now they stand, heads high above their dresses, awards in their arms and ribbons in their hands. They went to a national hippology competition, and they crushed it.

The Riley County Hippology Team, which included two Manhattan High students, won Reserve Champion at 4-H’s Western National Roundup Jan. 6-7 at the Renaissance Denver Stapleton Hotel. They also placed first in Written/Slides, second in Stations, third in Team Problems and ninth in Judging. The competition was made up of judging horses’ performance, solving problems as a team and answering individual hippology questions several different ways. Eleven teams of about four members each, from states all over America, made the trip.

The team dominated the competition individually as well. Senior Rachel McPherson won 10th place Individual, with sophomore Chessa Parker close behind. Ryanne Ewell, who attends Blue Valley High School, won Reserve Champion Individual, first place in Stations and third in Written/Slides. Rachael Peterson, who attends Riley County High School, won seventh in Individual, fourth in Written/Slides and sixth in Stations.

“It was exciting,” McPherson said. “Mainly I was just worried about the competition. It was really nerve-wracking. We kind of just get hyped up about that. And then you get into it and you’re like, ‘oh I know this.’”

Parker quickly leaned in and said, “Or, ‘oh crap, I don’t know that.’”

What made the pressure bearable, according to the high schoolers, was being part of a team in which each individual had the others’ back.

“We’re a pretty tight-knit group, which makes competition easier,” McPherson said. “We all get along really well and like trust each other…It makes Team Problems so much easier because you know each other’s strengths and aren’t afraid to say, ‘hey I should take this bit.’”

Two other factors played a role in the team’s success: diligent practice and a diligent coach.

The group practices year-round, from once a week to once a month, for as long as six hours per session — and that’s just group practice. Their coach, Alessa Ewell, has a Ph.D. in microbiology and owns horses. According to the teammates, she cares about the team and knows what others without personal experience may not.

The students are not all originally from the same 4-H chapter, but they merged into one hippology team to have enough members.

Parker and McPherson say they enjoy the experience of working and expanding their knowledge together, including competitions.

“You get to learn so much about other states at national competitions, and you meet friends from everywhere, especially with 4-H,” McPherson said.

For both members, hippology has been and will be an important part of life. McPherson enjoys learning about science, which may be applicable to her future career. She considers the fact that the science is about horses an added bonus. Parker just loves the animals.

“I started because as a little girl, I got really attached to horses, and I never got out of that phase,” Parker said. “I think it’s more than a phase now.”