Middle Tennessee Lady Raider
head women's basketball coach Rick Insell is an avid follower of both the
Tennessee Walking Horse industry and Blue Raider
athletics.
The horse enthusiast Insell
(a highly successful former Shelbyville Central High coach and
National High School Hall of Famer) will bring 2 of his passions together prior
to the MTSU vs. Arkansas State football contest.
He will be riding a
Tennessee Walker onto Horace Jones Field prior to kickoff. Rumor has it that he
will be decked out totally in Royal Blue.
Insell's former hometown of
Shelbyville, TN, promotes itself as the "Walking Horse Capital of the
World." Shelbyville hosts the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration,
an 11-day event which ends on the Saturday before Labor
Day .
Middle Tennessee's mascot
Lightning symbolizes the university's aerospace program and the region's
heritage in the walking horse industry.
Coach Insell will ride
Ironwork's Tin Man from Chad Way Stables in Shelbyville. Ironworks Tin Man is a
two-time World Grand Champion.
Fans had better get into
Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium early in order to see Insell & Ironwork’s Tin Man strut around the
stadium (before Dwight Dasher does some strutting of his own).
Kickoff for
the Blue Raiders vs. the ASU Indians is slated for 2:30 PM
on Saturday, October 20th.
Click "play" in the video
below to see Coach Rick Insell practicing his riding
technique.