08 Sep 2024 The equestrian’s education

By Carol Rolf

As Leah Goff gets ready to head back to the University of Central Arkansas to begin her senior year, she can’t help but reflect on recent events.

“It’s been a very busy summer,” she said, laughing. She’s been to London, England, as well as a suburb of Atlanta. And she’s leaving soon for a suburb of Kansas City, Kan. All these places relate to her interest in animals, horses in particular.

Goff, the 20-year-old daughter of Shannon and April Goff of Vilonia (Faulkner County) is working toward a degree in biology with a pre-veterinary medicine concentration. She will apply to veterinary schools this fall, hoping for acceptance to the fall semester of 2025.

“There are not any veterinary schools in Arkansas,” she said. “I don’t really have a preference where I attend. I‘m open and will be grateful for any opportunities offered to me.”

Goff, who is a student in the UCA Honors College with a 4.0 GPA, received an introduction to veterinary school a few months ago. She was accepted to work on a cutting-edge research project at the Royal Veterinary College in London.

“It’s often ranked as one of the best veterinary schools,” said Goff, who participates in English riding competitions, similar to what some local residents may have watched on this summer’s Olympic Games televised from Paris. “I worked on a research project for developing stem cell treatments for soft tissue injuries for sport horses.

“I’m interested in this research because my former competition horse, Castall, a 2011 Hanoverian, was sidelined with a soft tissue injury and went lame during a competition,” she said. “I compete now with a Holsteiner that I call Pax.”

Goff “was working on the role of inflammation in tendon injuries in horses and performed a large amount of background reading in addition to helping with various different experimental techniques,” said Dr. Debbie Guest, senior research fellow in the Department of Clinical Science and Services at the Royal Veterinary College. “Leah was very enthusiastic about the project and was a pleasure to have on the team.”

Goff said she has always loved animals, and after the experience with Castall, she knew she wanted to become a veterinarian and now hopes to pursue a residency to specialize in equine medicine after she completes veterinary school.

In addition to preparing for veterinary school, she also participates in eventing competitions. Eventing may not be a term known by some, but she knows all about it. Eventing is an equestrian event that requires Goff, the rider, and Pax, her horse, to participate in competitions all across the country.

She started English riding when she was 6, taking lessons at Caney Creek Farm in Conway, then started competing at local shows sponsored by the Arkansas Hunter Jumper Association. She now trains at River City Training Stables in Little Rock.

From the local shows, Goff progressed to traveling to three-day eventing competitions or horse trials, where the rider and horse compete in three phases: dressage, which shows the graceful partnership of horse and rider on a flat surface; cross country, in which the rider and horse navigate a series of solid obstacles over varied terrain; and show jumping, in which the rider and horse clear a course of fences. These competitions are sponsored by the United States Eventing Association, and include her most recent event, the Bouckaert Equestrian Eventing Horse Trials and Area III Championships held June 28 through July 8 in Fairburn, Ga.

“I competed on the novice level on Pax and placed seventh and eighth,” she said. “I was pleased as equestrians come from all around the area to participate in this event.”

She will travel next to Olathe, Kan., to participate in the Heritage Park Horse Trail on Sept. 20-22. This event is sponsored by the Mid-America Eventing Association, which is a regional affiliate of the USEA.

Goff has qualified for the American Eventing Championships every year since 2019. When she was 9 and 10, she was the Arkansas Hunter Jumper Association High Point Rider. She has competed in many states, including Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia.

Goff is a member of Delta Zeta Sorority at UCA. She is also active in the community, volunteering at HorsePlay, which provides hippotherapy for special needs children; at the veterinary office of Dr. Mike Pallone; at Community Connections; and at New Life Church. She works at Companions, a nonprofit spay-neuter and vaccine clinic in Spring Hill, and in the cell biology lab at UCA under the supervision of Dr. Kari Naylor, associate dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.