"If you want to ride the perfect ones," Malinda Grice shouts, "go down and put a quarter in the one outside of Wal-Mart!"

Grice, 31, is seated on a small wooden stepstool in the middle of a barn at Eastwood Farms in Bellefonte. Dressed in a green sweatshirt with a pink turtleneck peeking out, she lights up the dull wooden interior of the barn and its soft dirt floor on this dreary Saturday afternoon. Four women on horseback are circling Grice as she barks out instructions like a drill sergeant in her slight North Carolina accent.

"Kate, bend your elbows!" she says in between sips from a can of Coca-Cola. "Extend those heels, Nicole, let your calves push against his sides. Keep your wrists straight, Chelsea! Fingers closed. Sit up straight, Steph!"

Most of the women have trouble keeping their body movements in tune with what they want their horse to do, which is one of the hardest parts of equestrian riding. Riders control their horses by a variety of movements -- pushing their heels into the horse's sides tell it to go faster, pulling the reins tells it which way to turn, etc. The best riders need only slight movements of the hands, legs and feet (often invisible to the untrained eye) to get their horses to walk, trot, or gallop at a quicker pace called a canter.

The riding can be difficult, especially when horses are slow to respond to the more inexperienced riders' commands. As the women are finding out at today's Penn State equestrian club practice, perfectly controlling a horse that weighs 1,200 pounds (or roughly 10 times their own weight) can be quite a challenge, but it's a challenge they all enjoy.

"What I get from riding horses is the same as my mom's love for it," says Alicia Laughlin (senior-animal bioscience), the team's president. "It's something that takes your entire focus and concentration all at once. It's a big stress release. And for such an individualized sport, to make it a team aspect, it's just fun to have people to share it with."

Grice, the team's coach for the past five and a half years, has devoted much of her time and energy to building a team atmosphere -- and building a winning team. Under Grice's tutelage, the Nittany Lions have been a perennial championship contender in the 11-team Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA); two weeks ago they won Regionals, which earned them a trip to the national competition May 2-5 in Tennessee.

Grice, who is an employee at Eastwood, maintains the barn, cares for its 33 privately-owned horses (some of which are used by the team for practices and Penn State-hosted competitions), and also gives riding lessons to the team and the general public. The members of the Penn State team are required to meet with her, coach Dee Vonada, or the farm's owner, David Flynn, for at least 12 lessons -- $30 a pop -- throughout each semester. Four women have ventured to the farm this afternoon to get some extra practice for an upcoming show at West Virginia.

The different members of the equestrian team are at different skill levels, ranging from beginners to nationally recognized competitors. At shows, the less experienced riders compete in only walking or trotting events on what is called the "flat," while the more seasoned riders take part in jumping events, or "over fences." Today's practice is for Level 1 riders, the lowest level, and they will only be riding on the flat.

Other than the chirping of small birds high above in the barn's rafters, Grice's instructions are the only sounds heard. Judging by the women's faces, which strain to stay focused on a hundred little tasks at once, it doesn't look like they're having much fun. But for these women, horseback riding is their love, and today is just another day at the farm.

Practice makes perfect

It's another gray Saturday at Eastwood as some members of the Penn State equestrian team gather for their March circuit show. The circuit shows are set up basically like a regular intercollegiate competition, but with one catch -- only members of the Penn State team compete. The women are grouped by skill level and ride with one another, with coach Grice acting as a judge.

About 10 to 12 parents and a few boyfriends gather at the end of the 100-yard long upper barn as drops of rain are heard falling on the old wooden roof. A group of four women are already circling Grice, who is again seated on the mounting block amid the straw at the center of the ring. Grice carefully takes down notes into her clipboard as she watches each woman ride. Then, she abruptly stops the women and calls them to the center. She's unhappy about their form, and she tells them to start over.

"I'm marking out everything I had previously written down," Grice tells them. "Now's your chance to redeem yourselves."

The women return to their riding and, after a few more minutes, Grice again summons them to the center and asks them to dismount their horses. She announces the first-, second-, third- and fourth-place finishers, awarding each woman with a ribbon and a candy bar and telling each what she did right and what she can improve on. Despite its fun atmosphere, the circuit show is not meant to be simply a feel-good event, but rather like a football scrimmage, a learning experience in which Grice can act as a judge but also offer praise and constructive criticism so that each woman can improve for the real competitions.

The next group of women includes the "over fences" riders, those who have had enough experience and earned enough points through competitions to be allowed to compete in the jumps. The group includes Laughlin, the team president, and three other women.

The women take turns circling the ring, first in a trot, then a canter. After picking up speed, they begin their pre-selected routines, crisscrossing through the center of the ring and leaping over the four short white fences protruding from the soft dirt. The horses' massive bodies leap effortlessly as their riders strain to make their movements appear just as effortless. In equestrian, your control over your own body is just as important as your control over your horse.

When it's all said and done, Grice awards Laughlin with a first-place ribbon and Nestle Crunch Bar.

"You caught my eye," Grice tells her, "and I think that's what will help you in the show ring."

Laughlin leads her horse out of the upper barn and into the dreariness as the next group of women enters the ring for its turn with Grice. The fun is over for now, and Laughlin's got to get the horse put away in its stable so she can get some rest. The team's bus leaves at 3:45 the next morning for the competition at West Virginia -- a competition they'll go on to win easily.

Laughlin can still hear Grice's shouts of "have a plan, ladies!" echoing off the barn's walls and off into the gray tree-covered mountains as she gets into her car. Like Grice always says, there are no perfect horses here or anywhere else, but Laughlin and the rest of the Penn State team are still striving for perfection.