Versatile Emma Filiatreau prefers reining over basketball for her collegiate career

Emma Filiatreau has been playing basketball as long as she can remember and the 6-2 junior has become an elite player for Bethlehem, a two-time All “A” Classic state champion and back-to-back 5th Region champion. She averaged 13.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game during the recent season and shot 43 percent overall from the field, 37 percent (33 of 90) from 3-point range and 79 percent (90 of 114) at the foul line.

Those numbers make it easy to understand why her college athletics future is already set — but it’s not in basketball. Instead, she’ll be on scholarship at Oklahoma State as part of the equestrian team where her specialty is reining.

Reining is a western riding competition where the rider guides the horse through a pattern of circles, spins, and stops. Judging is based on precision and finesse.

Many of her friends and some school officials consider her a “rodeo” star. She just laughs and credits the hit TV show “Yellowstone” for making it easier for her to explain what she does in the show pen.

“It’s the same things you see them doing with horses just without the cattle,” Filiatreau laughed and said.

Oklahoma State is one of 19 Division I schools that offer equestrian/reining scholarships. Some of the others are Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas A&M, SMU, Fresno State, Delaware State, South Dakota State and TCU. She went to camps at Oklahoma State, sent videos and a resume to the coaches, and got invited to visit to land her scholarship offer.

Filiatreau, age 17, has always been around horses. Her grandparents had horses and her mother grew up being around horses.

“I went with my grandfather to Indiana when he took a horse to a trainer and the trainer told him he had two horses for me. They were both reiners. That’s how it started and it never stopped,” the Bethlehem junior said. “I was about 4 when I started riding and 5 when I showed for the first time.”

Filiatreau worked with various trainers. Her grandfather eventually built a barn with an indoor arena and hired a trainer to work with her there. She made one more move to a trainer in Indiana but now again has a trainer working at her grandfather’s barn.

“It’s not unusual for people to move around quite a bit just to get new ideas. A lot of it is also based on your horse. Whenever we bought a new horse, we would stay with the trainer we bought it from because the horse knows them best and the trainer knows the horse best,” Filiatreau said.

Frankfort hosts the only in-state show where she competes. She goes to several shows in Ohio as well as one in Tennessee. She’s also been to shows in Oklahoma City, New York, Michigan and other places.

That travel schedule often made it difficult for  her to play a full AAU basketball season. She had to skip some tournaments or go back and forth between AAU games and a horse show.

“I have a busy schedule,” she said.

That’s why Bethlehem, a small private school, has fit her so well athletically and academically.

“There is a lot of work I have to make up and I do miss a lot of school because we have to travel for shows,” she said. “I miss more school than a normal student but they (school officials) have worked with me a lot to make it easier for me to do everything.”

Filiatreau will go into the 2022-23 season as one of the state’s top senior basketball players. She has opportunities to play in college if she wanted to do that.

“I don’t think I would change my mind. I think I am fully committed. Things happen, I guess. It (Oklahoma) State is really far away. I have thought about that,” she said.

“It was a really hard decision about what to do in college. I know there could be some more opportunities coming for me in basketball but I just love horses. I like the side of basketball where you push yourself to get better as a team but with horses, it’s more individual. I will be on a team in college but it is also all on you when you are in the show pen with your horse. It’s hard to explain why I love it so much.”