Alison Bos, a senior in Agricultural Communications at Missouri State University in the Darr School of Agriculture, qualified for Semi-Finals in the Advanced Horsemanship division at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Zone 7 Region 5 Championships hosted at Pinegar Arena this weekend. Bos took Reserve Champion in the Advanced Western Horsemanship division. The top two riders in each category qualify for Semi-Final competition.

Bos beat out students from seven Universities for the coveted Semi-Final spot. Competitors draw a horse to ride from a potential pool. The competitor must then compete in a series of tasks that demonstrates his or her ability to ride and control the horse. If Bos does well at the Semi-Final competition at the University of Delaware later this month and places among the top four riders, she will be eligible to compete at the National Championships held in North Carolina in May. Along with her involvement in competitive horse shows, Bos is the president of the Missouri State Horseman’s Association and was one of six students honored by the Missouri State Board of Governors as a Citizen Scholar for the 2011-2012 academic year.

Overall, Missouri State University had a strong showing at the weekend competition. In addition to Bos, Cari Printz captured the fourth spot in Beginner Horsemanship and Micala Penton placed third in Open Horsemanship. Missouri State finished as the 2012 Reserve Champions in Western Team, taking a second place spot to Black Hawk College located in Kewanee, Ill.

We wish Alison the best of luck as she travels to Delaware at the end of the month!