Giddy up! Equestrian team gets ready for show

Caroline Dunn-Rankin Guest Writer

In the early years of the College, horseback riding was one of the physical activities keeping Vassar girls as sound in body as they were in mind. The brick façade of Avery Hall, now the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film—once known as the Calistenium and Riding Academy—still recalls those days, but it isn’t the only reminder. Vassar women (and men, too) still ride and compete—though few may realize it.

On March 1, the Vassar equestrian team will host its first horse show in three years at Valley Crest Farms in Millbrook, N.Y. The team, which is an entirely student-run club sport funded by the Vassar Student Association, competes in approximately 10 shows a year.

Recreational riding has a long history at Vassar. Although the riding academy was closed in 1873 because it was too expensive, the tradition has been carried on today. The club provides riding lessons at a reduced cost to anyone interested, from beginners to advanced riders. About 15 students who take lessons through the club are also involved in the shows. Anyone who has ridden for at least six months can show.

Michael Sekor ’09, the team’s treasurer, describes his experience on the team as the equestrian version of the American Dream. “I went from never riding, never being on a horse to now being part of the exec board,” he said. “We can take anyone, we want to take anyone who is interested in horses.”

The highlight of the experience for most of the members is showing.

“Being in my first show is such an adrenaline rush,” Louise Conner ’11 said, “It’s great to be out there in front of everyone and to have the team cheering for you.”

As a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA), Vassar competes in a league with 12 other schools in the area. A show consists of five divisions: walk-trot, walk-trot-canter, novice, intermediate and open. In order to do well, the rider must exhibit an excellent handle of the horse at each different gait.

Novice, intermediate, and open are called jumping classes. As the divisions get more advanced, the jumps get higher. For the upcoming show, Vassar has at least one person in each division.
The upcoming show is the first show that is in the Vassar area, and the team is looking for a lot of support from their friends and the Vassar community.

The Valley Crest Farms show will likely be a challenge, since the team competes in a tough division and has few of the perks granted to other schools. Schools in their division—such as Centenary College and the United States Military Academy—have their own barns and horses and practice anywhere from four to six days a week.

The members of the Vassar team practice once a week, and only for an hour, at the Southlands Foundation in Rhinebeck. Yet, they still manage to do very well individually and as a team, and they usually place in the middle of their competitors.

The team’s success is owed partially to Coach Lucy Donahoe. Last year, the team went through three different coaches. The changes in coaches discouraged some riders, but this year, co-captain Emily Firman ’08 described the coach as “fantastic” and “so encouraging.”

The team’s organization falls still to the executive board: co-captains Firman and Danielle Sporkin ’08, Sekor, and secretaries Caitlin Burke ’08 and Joanna Weill ’09.
The board, along with the team and club members, have organized this event as a chance for the new members and riders to observe a show for the first time.

After all of the work they have put into the upcoming show, everyone is hoping it will go smoothly and that people will come to the show to be supportive. But either way, said Firman, “We like what we do. That’s why we do it.”

While comaraderie is important to the team, competition is their aim for Saturday, and they’re confident about their chances. “Keep your eyes on the equestrian team,” said Sporkin.