Above anything else, I’ve learned that horsemanship – the art of understanding, caring for, and riding horses – teaches you patience, resilience, and comradery. These tenants were proven again and again through minor setbacks, small victories, larger obstacles, and huge moments to be proud of both as an individual, and as a team!. If the 23-24 IHSA season taught me anything, it’s that every victory is worth celebrating and hard work will eventually pay off.
I joined the Arcadia University Equestrian Team as a first semester freshman, eager for the opportunity to ride in an affordable and communal way. Since then, the sport, and the team, has stolen my heart. Through the national IHSA program– the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association– we travel to barns and venues as each team in the region takes turns hosting, running food tables with powdery coffee and walking tacos (my favorite), and presenting riders with ribbons and prizes (my second favorite). In the region, each rider in their division works hard to accumulate enough points to ride in Regionals at the end of the season.
My hunt seat show career began late my freshman year. My inexperience and anxiousness held me back until I had a good footing on the sport itself– a solid heel in the stirrup. The most difficult piece of Introductory riding is the rising trot, accompanied by the correct diagonal (matching your movements with that of the horse’s shoulders), but with some practice it became second nature. Once I accumulated enough experience and through the help of my team, and some second-hand show gear, I was ready to start showing. In the IHSA program, Introductory riders can either earn enough points through placings to class up, or eventually time out of their class after a year of showing. As I worked my way through the 23-24 season, I knew that time was rapidly approaching – but, then again, my points were catching up to me once I got more lessons under my belt. Before long, I was more confident in my riding than ever, due to wonderful coaches and fantastic horses.
I acquired my first blue ribbon on a cold morning in November. I had, finally, invited a good batch of friends and family to watch, including my childhood best friend who happened to be home from college. With many watchful eyes and a trusty chestnut gelding, I managed to take home first place in Introductory at Moravian and East Stroudsberg’s hosted show– well worth the weather, even if I had to borrow my coach’s heated vest to keep warm. It was one of those moments, those hand-over-face, bury-nose-in-horse’s-neck-to-keep-from-crying moments that I will remember forever.
I obtained my second blue ribbon three months later in the beginning of the spring season, when we were all just beginning to thaw and get the blood pumping again. At Scranton’s hosted show, I traveled alone with my team for the first time, prompting an immediate call to the family with the ribbon in hand. These two victories helped give me more confidence in my riding, but I won’t let the color blue define my horsemanship career. This I learned from accumulating my thirty-six points and heading to Regionals.
In the IHSA program, universities are divided into Zones, then further into Regions– as an IHSA rider, you will spend the season riding with schools in your region, and if you qualify for Regionals, you will ride with others in your region who have also qualified. The 23-24 Regionals were hosted by DelVal, in a facility I knew and loved, with horses I knew to be reliable and hardworking. Going into my Regionals ride, I did not expect any large victory, as I was happy enough to have classed up rather than being timed out. In my class, there were six riders, each having worked hard to make their every move perfect in a class where you can only be judged on so much. As we lined up to be handed large, fluffy, elaborate ribbons, the surprise on my face as I was named Reserve Champion caused a few laughs from my team. It was more than I could have hoped for, and the best part was walking over to the hugs and smiling faces waiting for me.
The Champion and Reserve Champion of each class in Regionals go to Zones – and, mathematically, that places eight riders in each class, which was more than had been in my class all season long. Luckily, I appreciated the fact that they had ribbons and prizes all the way to eighth place since each rider had worked hard to get there and deserved a ribbon. This show was when the nerves kicked in – my coach and everyone at the barn believed I could place top two and ride in Nationals, a show hosted for every single university in the nation. Nationals for the 23-24 year were being hosted in North Carolina, and only the best got to ride. I spent the day running about to help with our team’s responsibilities, a welcome distraction as I waited all day for my class. Eventually there was nothing to do but ride. I did my live draw and mounted a sweet gelding I had ridden before. Once the stirrups were even and the reins drawn, we all headed in and were off in our circles, perfecting posture and calculating each step. There were flaws to this ride, I knew, such as the speed in which we set off at, since the pony had been waiting all day to get moving, and the fact that my steering was never as tight as it should be. Yet, when we all lined up and patted the horses’ neck, I was inexplicably thrilled to be placed fourth in the zone, with a white ribbon and a baseball cap to remember the event.
This 23-24 season, Arcadia University Equestrian Team did things we never would have dreamed possible. Our devoted team captain totaled to sixth individual rider in the region, while we as a team brought home two third place ribbons as one of the smallest huntseat teams in the region (one of these times, we had only four riders showing!). As the chaos of the season dies down and we prepare to say goodbye to our seniors and take on new responsibilities, I can only be endlessly grateful for all that we’ve done this season.
So, no– we’re not driving to North Carolina, not riding in Nationals with the rest of the country’s most elite (womp womp). Instead, I am preparing for the next chapter of AUET and the next show season where I’ll be showing Pre-Novice Hunter Seat Equitation. I still have much more to learn and do as a rider for AUET.
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