Junior captain Cheyenne Otto jumps over a fence on the horse Prodigy on Saturday, Oct. 26. Otto placed third in the intermediate fences class of the competition (Kara Burke - Managing Editor).
The Geneseo Equestrian team began their season this past weekend with back-to-back home shows where they competed against nine different teams. This year is the 15th anniversary of the varsity team and they started it well by winning their first show of the season on Saturday Oct. 26, followed by a sixth-place finish on Sunday Oct. 27.
While home shows are an advantage in that riders know the horses they will be riding, they are also a disadvantage because riders must organize and manage the show in between rides. This adds a lot of stress to the show experience.
The team has been getting their horses, of which 40 were used in the show, ready to compete since they came back to school.
Coach Kim Sanford explains, “[The team] had to prepare those horses from the minute they came back to school; they got them fit and working well together. You can’t just put a ball on a shelf and say, ‘see you next spring.’ These horses really need the work and [the team] did the homework. They got the horses suited up so they can handle the situation.”
On Saturday the team scored more points than all other teams at the show, earning them high point team—or 1st place. Points are earned based on where each individual rider places in their class, whether it be over fences or on the flat. Only points earned by “point riders,” designated before the show starts, count towards the team’s final total.
Senior Jordan Testa, who placed first in her limit flat class, sophomore Liz Louie, who placed second in her introductory class at her first show and senior Catherine Fedor, who placed second in her intermediate flat class, led the team to their overall win on Saturday.
On Sunday, junior captain Cheyenne Otto and sophomore Katy Munn lead the team with both riders placing second in their classes.
Otto explained they had a more difficult day Sunday due to how much work all the team members had put into preparing and managing the show, which ultimately had tired them out.
One of the team’s main goals is to get riders qualified for regionals, according to Sanford. From there the hope is for riders to move onto Zones and the nationals, both of which are difficult tasks. Testa has already qualified for regionals in the limit flat and over fences division due to her first-place finish on Saturday.
According to Sanford, the team’s strengths come from the riders’ discipline. “The girls are good riders and focused individuals. They get opportunities to ride many different types of horses here, so they’re prepared for any kind of horse that comes along since some stables are limited in the amount [of horses] and those girls don’t get to try different kinds of horses,” she said. “So, we get a lot more exposure here because of the number of horses we have.” She goes on to say that they have riders from many different backgrounds, so they all learn a lot from each other.
The team’s main weakness is that it takes a bit for the new members of the team to adjust to being on a team, as horseback riding is usually an individual sport, accord to Sanford.
Otto explains that they want to work more on team bonding because they have a very young team this year. “We’re just trying to get everyone to understand what our expectations are and how things work so we can grow as a team and promote a better team culture and make sure everyone is included.”
The equestrian team will have another home show on Saturday Nov. 2 and will be traveling to St. Lawrence to compete on Sunday Nov. 3.