Hunter Seat Review 2011 - 2012

The fall 2012 History & Theory of Modern Riding class were tasked with following up on last year's publication of The St. Andrews Equestrian Program History 1969 - 2011by documenting the events of 2011 - 2012. I am now in the process of editing and laying out these papers to be shared as PDF files both printed and electronically. The paper below written by Tori Burkey tells a lot about the hunter seat program. I will have to do some serious editing to fit it into the 2 page format for electronic publication but wanted to share the entire paper in this forum.

The Hunter Seat Team
Fall 2011

 I asked St. Andrews University’s IHSA Hunt Seat Coach, Ashley Duda, what her first thoughts were of the new team and she states “I knew that with the combination of returners and freshmen, we would have a strong team.” With this being said, Coach Duda was right. In fall 2011 the St. Andrews Hunter Seat Team won three out of five shows finishing the fall season with a total of 200 points! The next two shows to take on were the Tournament of Champions. To show how dedicated our riders, coaches, and staff members are to the team and program, we went from thirteenth place out of twenty five in the beginning of December to the second show at the end of January with sixth place. That is a huge difference in a month’s period. Rob Jacobs became an instructor in the spring and I asked him what his thoughts were on the team. “I thought we had a very strong team who understood the importance of hard work and dedication it takes to be successful.”

Spring 2012

The spring semester was just as much of a success as the fall. There were two shows held in February, both hosted at St. Andrews. In an interview with Kali and Sami Cram (class of 2013) I asked them what was a high for the year for them. “High of the year was definitely our perfect scores at our last few shows last year. Ashley was amazing! She knew we could do it, believed in us and was an amazing coach!!!!” At both shows in February, we won. This left us with 298 points and first in the team standings. To give an insight on how Coach Duda would train the riders for the shows, she not only had us doing a ton of lunge work, jumping exercises, and no-stirrup work, but also made sure we understood all the feelings of the horse and working with the horse instead of making the horse work for you. Another strategy she taught the riders is to think of the ride as a job, and to break it down step by step. “Thinking, "I must walk in, pick up a canter, go past my rhythm, then settle in the rhythm, count 1-2, and make sure my horse is straight to each fence" is easier than worrying about how you are going to find all 8 jumps” states Coach Duda. At the end of the interview, Sami Cram added a statement, “She [Coach Duda] always told me "Go in there and do your job" She was always so good at getting into our heads and knowing our weaknesses and strengths and knowing that if someone told me it was my JOB I would go in there with no emotions and just ride.” Obviously, Coach Duda’s mental preparation approach worked.

At Regionals, the St. Andrews Hunt Seat Team won and moved on to Zones. We also had four individual riders, Katie Hansen, Kim Graves, Kayla McBath, and Allie McGraw, make it and continued on to Zones. Since we hosted the last show, we held the Regionals Award dinner at our facility. At this dinner many awards were given out. Four St. Andrews University members won awards that day. Heather Wile was awarded the Event Manager Award. She was the back bone of all the events that went on at our barn. She worked day in and day out to make sure everyone was informed and everything went as smooth as possible. The next award went to horse of the year. This award is chosen by all the coaches in the region for who they thought was the best and most consistent horse of the year. The Horse of the Year Award went to our very own, Pepi la Pew, also known as, Skunk. Coach of the Year Award also went to our very own, Ashley Duda. And finally, a Horse Care Award was given out. This was decided on who dedicated the most time to the horses and it was Sami Cram (class of 2013).

The next show to tackle, was Zones. When I asked Coach Duda if she thought we would make it to Nationals as a team she replied, “I knew we had the talent to make it… However, Zones is the toughest test throughout the season… we would have to work non-stop to be mentally and physically prepared…” Zones were held at Goucher College this year. For Coach Duda, one high of the year, “Zones! Winning reserve champion at zones (we were second to the host school, Goucher College) and qualifying for nationals was one of the best moments of my life.” St. Andrews University placed second. Allie McGraw placed first in Novice Over Fences. And Kayla McBath placed second in Intermediate Flat. Kim Graves placed fourth in Open Over Fences along with Katie Hansen with sixth in Open Over Fences. Up next, Nationals!

 This year, nationals were going to be a little special, St. Andrews University was going to be hosting it in Raleigh, NC in May. Since we were hosting, we had to bring a lot of horses. Everyone, whether on the team or not, worked hard and helped St. Andrews Hunt Seat Team make it to Nationals. Those that were not on the team helped in more ways than most of them even know. Students are placed in lessons with other students that are close together in skill level. So every lesson, the other members of the group, provided competition for each other to be better. The entire equestrian student body also helped because they rode the horses. They helped keep the horses clean and in shape throughout the year. This was a big deal since we had to provide a lot of the horses at Nationals.

 I asked Coach Duda what her concerns were at Nationals, “I was not concerned about our physical preparedness because we worked non-stop the entire year. However, I always was concerned that we would be mentally relaxed when it came time to walk into the ring. And, as always, the draw is always a concern! I would make many wishes that the draw would be in our favor!”

St. Andrews University Hunt Seat Team placed eight in the Nation.

 

Team
Shiloh Kozlowski -- Walk- Trot Equitation—4th
Miranda Wright – Walk-Trot- Canter Equitation – 6th
Kali Cram – Novice Equitation on the Flat – Honorable Mention
Sami Cram – Novice Equitation Over Fences – 9th
Sami Cram – Intermediate Equitation on the Flat – Honorable Mention
Kali Cram—Intermediate Equitation Over Fences – 4th
Katie Hansen – Open Equitation on the Flat – Honorable Mention
Katie Hansen – Open Equitation Over Fences – Honorable Mention

Individual
Allie McGraw – Novice Equitation Over Fences – Honorable Mention
Kayla McBath – Intermediate Equitation on the Flat – Honorable Mention
Katie Hansen – Open Equitation on the Flat – 7th

Tori (in pink) with the IHSA Team winning at home on the way to Zones & Nationals

Coach Ashley Duda with the Regional Championship Awards

The team with the Regional Championship Awards

The Team at Nationals

Finals Week is Over!

Yesterday was the last day of finals. I have been so impressed with the students in my classes. Stable Mgt. class did great on their final written exam which really tests their knowledge base. Basic Riding Instruction students showed lots of improvement in their teaching skills. Students in Basic Riding Instruction Lab. developed and refined the skills learned in the class with a full semester of teaching. The reviews I received from the students they taught were very positive with comments such as, “I’d love to continue riding with __________ as my instructor.”


The last two exams for my classes were Stable Mgt. Lab and Introduction to the Management of Equine Operations. The Lab is required to present one of the horses they have been caring for all semester in hand; groomed including braids or banding and super clean. This final was on Wednesday which happened to be a cold and miserable day. The poor weather did not stop the students from turning out their horses immaculately. Students who have never braided before did beautiful hunter braids, the bridles were clean and shiny and the horses looked amazing. Some of the retirees that were presented (Peter, Nick and Romo) had a new spring in their step as they were jogged up as part of the evaluation.

My final exam was back in the classroom where the Introduction to the Management of Equine Operations were doing oral presentations to two horse people who are clueless about business. Liz Dulski and I role played and were impressed by the depth of knowledge that the Therapeutic Horsemanship majors showed having only taken this one business class. They were very thorough covering everything from how to set up a business and manage liability to marketing and creative promotional ideas. The students obviously spent a lot of time preparing for their final and their hard work certainly paid off!

Peter clearly enjoying having his hair done by Tabby Russell

Count looking amazing with Amber Nocilo

Will and Kristen Randall banded and ready to go!

Suggestions Needed As We Document Our History

The History and Theory of Modern Riding class has documented the equestrian activities for Fall 2011 - Spring 2012. We plan to produce several PDF files to be printed and for online distribution. Topics covered are Hunter Seat, Western, Dressage, TH, Staff Changes, Internships, ANRC, Alumni News, and IHSA Nationals. This will become a regular annual series. We need a name for these documents! They will join last year's book "The History of the St. Andrews Equestrian Program 1969 - 2011" as part of our written record. Any & all suggestions welcome! Here are a couple of snippets from this year's work. Send ideas to Jackie at dwellejm@sapc.edu.

Hannah Firth researched recent Alums here is a paragraph from her paper.

The graduates from St. Andrews who actively participated in the equestrian program have found themselves highly successful in continuing their equestrian careers beyond graduation. Several students who majored in Therapeutic Horsemanship have moved from Laurinburg to pursue careers as therapeutic riding instructors such as Corey Krutsch, a graduate from 2009, who continues her job as a therapeutic riding instructor at Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. Kate Sorgenfri, class of 2011, is currently located in Pittsboro, North Carolina and serves as therapeutic riding instructor and general lessons instructor at Heads Up! Therapeutic Riding Center. Another graduate of 2011, Fi Delfino finds herself as Pony Pals and Instructor Coordinator for HOPE-HOrses Helping PEople, Inc Therapeutic riding program in Archer, Florida. Delfino has also found success as the owner of High Hopes Equestrian Center, a training business.

Rachel McGarvey covered the Ride-Like-A-Knight Therapeutic Horsemanship Program this is the opening paragraph of her report.

The Mechanical Lift

In January 2012, Ride Like A Knight had a lift installed. The lift was purchased and installed through The Elizabeth Fund, a fund that was created to aid in supplying educational benefits to students and riders. The lift was purchased for two reasons. The first being that it allows the instructors in training a chance to be exposed to a lift, be educated on the use of the lift and learn how to train a horse to accept the lift before the students graduate from St. Andrews. The second reason Ride Like A Knight purchased the lift was to open up our program to more riders. Physically lifting people onto a horse can be a lot of strain on the instructors body, where using the lift to place them onto the horse provides a safe and easy way of doing this. The lift has added to the Ride Like A Knight program in education and in expanding the program.

IDA Show - Saturday Dec. 1st 2012

The weather on Saturday Dec, 1st was more than perfect. Carolina blue skies, and temperatures in the 70s. We could not have asked for a better day for our late semester IDA home show. Having struggled for most of the week with putting the horse groups together as fairly as possible, I was very pleased that the groupings we finally selected created as level a playing field as possible (given the fact that horses, are living breathing individuals with opinions of their own.)

The show ran like clockwork thanks to the many hours spent by Dressage Show Chair Claire Pollard and Team Captain and Coach Lindsey Agaliotis in organizing volunteers, tack, horses, practicing the team and troubleshooting problems as they arose. Carla helped with coaching during the day even though she had no voice due to the bug that seems to be making the rounds this fall.

The day started with eight rides at first level. Lindsey drew Corky for her ride and laid down a solid test to finish in second place. Abigail Skillman drew Jake who is easily rattled and had had a rather rough first ride. Abi did a great job of calming the worried horse and helping to restore his confidence.

In the upper training division Brianna Carter and Hannah Firth drew Danny and Beckett respectively who we borrowed from hunter seat. Danny requires tact and confidence while Beckett draws out the rider’s determination and resolve to maintain a forward gait. Brianna placed 3rd and Hannah 5th.

After lunch during which the ring was changed to the small arena, Freshman Megan Pustarfi had a super ride on Chico to finish in second place and Sarah Jones rode another hunter seat horse “Scot” to finish in 4th place.

The final division saw freshman Kristen Parker earn her second win of the year riding Socke, while sophomore Claire Pollard took second place on Gordon followed closely Logan Teeter also riding Gordon. Logan and two other riders were tied with 66.25% and the tie was broken by the judge giving Logan 4th place.

St. Andrews team A came out as the winners for the day with 15 points followed by Averett’s two teams with 12 points each.

This semester has been a true example of team work for the dressage team. I have to thank Carla, Rob and Lindsey for stepping in when I was out at the beginning of the semester. They have taught lessons, run team practice and coached at shows. I was really pleased with the way the team has pulled together to support one another in their riding as well as being on top of organizing the show. Just shows you what can be done when good people come together with a common mission in mind.

First Level Test 1
2nd Lindsey Agaliotis 67.93%

Training Level Test 2
3rd Brianna Carter 65%
5th Hannah Firth 62.85%

Introductory Level Test C
2nd Megan Pustarfi 69.5%
4th Sarah Jones 67.5%

Introductory Level Test B
1st Kristen Parker 68.125%
2nd Claire Pollard 66.875%
4th Logan Teeter 66. 25%

Team Results
1. St. Andrews Team A
2. Averett Team A
3. Averett Team B
4. Elon Team A
5. NCSU Team Red
6. St. Andrews Team B

Points to Date.
Averett 12
SAU 11
NCSU 8
Elon 7

Most of the team, a couple of them were taking care of horses. Thanks to Mrs. Teeter for the photo.