The UO Sports Dude

Bubbling Across the Border with the UO Equestrian Team

Posted on 27. Nov, 2009 by Keith Becker in Oregon Ducks

Who knew there was even a video game?

Editors Note: Sometimes it’s good to take a break from football and give other sports a little spotlight. In honor of that, here’s a piece by Christina Barth about the University of Oregon’s equestrian team. I bet you didn’t even know they had one. Shame on you!

After a long show day, when all you want to do is shower and change out of uncomfortable clothes that are grimy, wet, muddy, somewhat musky, and covered in horse hair, the last thing you should expect to see is a bunch of girls in a La Quinta Inn Jacuzzi.

That is, unless you are a member of the University of Oregon’s Equestrian Team.

The University’s equestrian team is a conglomeration of girls, from freshman to graduate students, who have been trained in all styles of riding. We have Dressage riders, we have Eventers, we have Hunter-Jumpers, we have Reiners and we have people who just love to ride. Senior Martha Clay loves being a part of the team because “It is such a great way to meet people who share the same interests. It’s a fun, easy way to meet new friends.”

A usual show day starts off with the shrill sounds of someone’s phone alarm going off and the general mumble of “Please- just 5 more minutes.” Sounds like any other student’s day, right? Well, at 5:30 am, in an uncomfortable bed, in a strange hotel, those five extra minutes may mean the difference between a good ride and a bad one. So as the covers are thrown off, and the shuffling for long johns and breeches begins, our day grudgingly starts.

This time, we are waking up in Richmond, B.C. Instead of a 5:30 a.m. hustle to get our things together, we have a leisurely 9 a.m. call for a continental breakfast, before the mayhem of an IHSA (Interscholastic Horse Show Association)  show begins.

Our season opener started off on a gloomy morning, with promise of rain, and lack of a nearby Starbucks. Too bad its time for us to get on the road. Don’t believe that navigating a Motorpool truck and van, which only slightly resembles a DDS van, through narrow downtown Vancouver, to find a riding club set back in a residential neighborhood, is easy.

As we arrive at the show grounds, we are pleasantly surprised to see a facility complete with full racetrack and several indoor and outdoor arenas. Horses are warming up outside, and riders from 12 different teams scattered throughout the Pacific Northwest, look on in anticipation. The call for coaches meeting comes, and slowly, riders trickle to the clubhouse across the arena. Now, the day really has begun.

I definitely couldn't do that!

In an IHSA show, a team hosts the show; in this case the hosting team is University of British Columbia. The hosting team is responsible for supplying the facility, the prizes, the judges, and of course, the horses. The visiting teams drive from their university to compete on horses that not only have been graciously donated to be used throughout the day, but also, horses that they will not have the chance to ride, or get to know, before going in the arena to be judged.

Basically, you’re a rider, in a strange place, on a strange horse, with equal footing as the riders you are competing against. This really is a display of the riders’ ability. The coaches have a meeting prior to the show, primarily to draw numbers, which are indicative of a specific horse, out of a bucket to assign them randomly to members of every team. There is a horse description to get a brief idea of who you will be riding, but no photos, and definitely, no practice time.

On this particular Saturday, the first rider of the day is senior, Brittany Kelley. Kelly, who is one of three Open division riders for the University’s equestrian team, has drawn a horse that is proving to be a true test of her riding abilities–and her patience. Stopping mid-canter to attempt to exit the arena, the horse shows no signs that he is willing to cooperate with his rider. Other riders will share Kelley’s lack of amusement at her horse’s behavior over the course of the day. Though her horse was not the most cooperative of sorts, Kelley completes the round gracefully.

When asked, what was running through her head during her ride with a horse who wouldn’t stay put in the arena, Kelley simply said, “Well, what am I supposed to do now?”

And that- is the way the cookie crumbles in the world of IHSA showing. Junior, Ashlee Branham pointed out “In IHSA it’s always a challenge but it feels good when it goes our way.” Ashlee, who is primarily a Western rider, has flourished in the English flatwork, and represented the UO, along with three other members from last year, at Regionals 2009.

This would never happen to the U of O equestrian team!

Sophomore, and also new to the Equestrian team, Katy George, who is also a Duck Football fan said about the unexpected loss to Stanford, “Well, the Ducks may have sucked tonight, but at least one UO Team rocked it today!”

As the 13 UO riders who participated in this competition packed into the vehicles, we added to our load, a colorful array of ribbons, a box of individual boot polish kits, and a team high-point ribbon. All in all, it was a pretty successful weekend in the realm of horseback riding. As a team, we walked away with three firsts, a four seconds, a third, two fourths, five fifths, and lastly, four sixths.

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Tags: brittany kelley, christina barth, equestrian show, ihsa, keith becker, oregon ducks, oregon equestrian team, university of british columbia, university of oregon, uo, uo equestrian team, uo sports, uo sports dude