I just graduated from high school and am now in my first semester of college. I’m a civil engineering major, so my workload from classes will be pretty high, and I didn’t want to lose my sanity between my part time job and school. What better way to maintain my sanity than with horses? I joined the University of Akron’s English Equestrian Team, and I’m really excited about it. The shows will be a new experience for me. Apparently, you’re given a horse at random to ride that you’re not allowed to come in contact with at all before your class. This excites me because it truly tests your skill as a rider, not who can afford the best trainer. Not only do you have to focus on the judges, but you have to meet your horse and learn his habits as well.
Has anyone else done anything like this in college? Any good experiences? Bad ones? I’m excited about it because it’s completely new, so I don’t know what to expect. Much different from 4-H!
I did it; it’s IHSA, right? It can be a lot of fun, depending on your coach and your teammates. I did it for about a year before I quit. I had always ridden for fun, and (for me) showing, or rather my coach, took all the fun out of it.
It can be fun. I had friends who did it all four years and loved it. So please don’t let my experience get you down. It just wasn’t what I wanted.
Shows are a lot of fun. You get to try to figure out your horse from a brief paragraph and watching other riders rid him/her. Plus, having teammates to cheer on means you have something to do besides waiting around for your class.
I didn’t do it, because it’s hunters (and I’m so not a hunter rider ), but the concept sounded fun (of not riding the horse beforehand, etc).
People I knew who did it said, overall, the horses were pretty good. Every so often you’d get one who just WOULD NOT do something, but for the most part, I don’t think they try to “trick” riders or anything. If you have a good team/coach, it can be a lot of fun.
Good luck with civil engineering, too, that sounds tough!
Hey, nice that you found horses in your new place I never competed much but I used to ride in riding clubs and places like this, with a lot of horsey social life around. Then I moved on to actually getting to know more about horses and at the end I quit riding at all. Now I’m so picky about the places and horses I would agree to ride that it’s almost impossible to find them and I would never ride a horse that I didn’t know before. But if you respect the animal and make its needs more important than your goals, it can be a great experience
Sounds like an awesome experience, wish we had that up here! I’m currently in Mining Engineering (3rd year) and I will say that the first two years I didn’t have time to ride much let alone work part time. Now I was taking a very full course load (about 8 classes) but I hope that you do have the time to enjoy yourself a little bit. For me it was hard to break away from the school stuff because there was SO much to do, but you end up going crazy if you dont.
I did it for a year as well, but as Shanthi mentioned, it’s hunters. (I had a phase as a junior rider, but quickly moved to eventing and then, exclusively, dressage, so it wasn’t really my scene). Skidmore’s coach was super competitive (perhaps, to a fault for my taste), so I made a quick departure and was ‘exiled’ to the under-funded Dressage club (where I had a blast). Nevertheless, it’s a fantastic experience and I think you’ll really enjoy it! I was in Pony Club prior to college, and we did a ‘Show Jumping Round Robin’ of sorts at Cornell every year which was a great intro (albeit, I think the horses were tougher). The IHSA horses are great and only the Open division generally gets what I would describe as the “tough ones”, which are still very well-schooled horses (just with some quirks). The descriptions they provide are detailed enough, and your team-mates are usually pretty helpful, especially if they’ve come from different riding backgrounds. I think juggling classes and getting to the barn to ride can be a bit much if you have other extra-curriculars or group projects, but make time for it (even if it’s at 5am!), plan ahead, make friends with the team and you’ll have a fantastic experience.
Haha, isn’t the Skidmore team famous for spending most of its time on the road at A shows? When I got in to Mount Holyoke, I went & visited and was super impressed with their facilities–and they said that Skidmore’s team was even better funded! I know in the end I really didn’t want to spend my college years being “normal” in a stable full of other people’s $300K horses…
I hadn’t heard about the fact that you get to read a paragraph about the horse, that’ll be good. Thanks for all of your input on your personal experiences with it! It is IHSA, I forgot to mention that. No one here seemed to stick with it, I don’t know if that’s a good sign. I think I’ll end up going with it all four years because I really want to start jumping competitively (and to make purchasing hunter show clothes worth it, if not anything else ).
I had my first lesson with the team the other day and it went really well. The coach is amazingly nice, and a few of my teammates invited me to Taco Bell after the lesson, so I think I’m making some new friends too. I really think this is going to work out for me.
I’ll post pictures of my first show at Lake Erie College later! That show is October 22-23. I can’t wait.
LOL. Yep, I’ve heard that rumor… There are definitely a ton of skinny, “A” equitation riders and some pricey steeds in Van Lennep, not to mention a Macclay medal winner or two. the IHSA horses are typically retired polo ponies or occasionally, a donated moderately-talented WB or TB that used to show H/J. The facilities are older, and there’s really no turnout. I think Mount Holyoke is way nicer! Horses and facilities included!
that’s awesome, good for you! Keep us updated; hopefully get some pictures as well! I always trained kids ponies and that was one of my favorite aspects of it; a new challenge with every horse. Galloping takes it even furthur; never know what I’m getting on in the morning!
), but the concept sounded fun (of not riding the horse beforehand, etc).
I never competed much but I used to ride in riding clubs and places like this, with a lot of horsey social life around. Then I moved on to actually getting to know more about horses and at the end I quit riding at all. Now I’m so picky about the places and horses I would agree to ride that it’s almost impossible to find them 
).
