On The Road with St. Andrews Equestrian

Vol. 2. by Kirsten Farley

SAU’s IHSA Hunt Seat Team Goes to Duke/UNC

10/20/2013

Peggy McElveen (Equestrian Program Director)

Matt Arrigon (IHSA Show Team Coach)

The Team:

Tara Algieri, Regi Barasch, Kirsten Farley, Alexandra Fullerton, Samantha Garriques, Cami Glaff, Betina Gore, Julie Griffin, Jake Hobson, Kelsey Kocher, Janie Malott, Emily McBee, Nikki Napoleone, Kimi O’Keefe, Jessica Story, Emilee Wilson, Caitlyn Woychick, and Amy Wrozek

Up & at ‘Em

Zero dark thirty, formally known as 5:30 AM was the time of departure for the Sunday morning adventure to the show hosted by Duke/UNC Chapel Hill. This meant everyone was up at some time before then to meet the large charter bus on the other side of the PE building. Everyone stowed away their boots, helmet, and garment bags then clambered onto the bus with pillows, blankets, and headphones in tow. We all had about 5 minutes of excited energy keeping us awake to say hello and make jokes until we sat down and fell in a slumber for majority of the trip. The trip took about 2 hours, including a pit stop for a breakfast/bathroom break at McDonald’s, and then we finally arrived to the show grounds around 8:40 AM.

Show Time! Flat Classes  

Jake collected signatures for the liability release and the show began. Emilee Wilson, a junior transfer, was the first to ride. She was flatting for the Novice division and we all watched intently as she rode beautifully throughout the entire class. There was only one bobble that was quickly fixed before anyone could really see what happened. The riders lined up and we all were excited when we watched Emilee walk forward to receive the first blue ribbon of the day. The next two classes were for the Open flat, which, freshman Kelsey Kocher and junior Regi Barasch were in each one. Both of them were awarded 2^nd place after rather fabulous rides. The next flat class to follow was for the Intermediate division, which we had both Kimi O’Keefe, a freshman, and Keli Van Den ,Heuvel a senior, riding. Kimi drew the perfect steed, a lovely little black pony which she looked adorable on, and earned the second blue ribbon of the day. Keli earned a 5^th place ribbon on a horse that was a more challenging ride but she was pleased with how she handled  the ride. Cami Glaff was our next rider to flat for the Novice division, and she pulled out the third blue ribbon for St. Andrews with a perfect ride. Senior Tara Algieri started off earned a 4^th and freshman Amy Wrozek earned herself a 3^rd place ribbon for their Intermediate flat and Alexandra Fullerton, a senior, earned 2^nd for her Intermediate flat. Janie Malott, who was our very last rider of the very last class of the day, earned a key blue ribbon to help SAU win High-Point Champion Team of the day.

Samantha Garriques and Betina Gore were our only Beginner Walk Trot riders and earned a 4^th place and 5^th place ribbon respectively. Danielle Eads and Jake Hobson were our Advance Walk Trot riders. Danielle earned herself a 2^nd place ribbon and Jake earned another 1^st place ribbon. Julie Griffin, Jessica Story, and Kirsten Farley (myself) all rode for the Advance Walk Trot Canter classes throughout the day. Julie had a rather difficult horse that she had to work with and earned a 5^th place, Jessica, our point rider for WTC, earned a blue ribbon, and I also earned a blue ribbon.

Show Time! Over Fences

In the mix of all the flat classes were the over fences. We had Kelsey Kocher, Regi Barasch, Kimi O’Keefe, Nikki Napoleone, Alexandra Fullerton, Caitlyn Woychick, and Emily McBee jumping that day. The courses were straightforward, and each of them placed well. Some of them had more challenging rides than others, but that’s how the tides roll some days. Kelsey and Kimi both earned 3^rd place ribbons for their divisions, Regi, Caitlyn and Alexandra earned 5^th, Emily earned 6^th, and Nikki earned 2^nd.

Obey Rule #76

At the end, SAU was able to come ahead of ECU to take home the Champion ribbon. All of our riders got a feel for some very different horses than what we have at home. However, in the end we were all pleased with the outcome. We came out on top, and we did so while obeying the ever so well known rule “No excuses; play like a champion.”

After we were awarded the ribbon and thanked our hosts, we loaded back up onto the bus, this time very much awake. We stopped at Cracker Barrel, another huge thanks to Peggy for much appreciated dinner,  and then slowly made our way back to the bus. Going back to the bus was delayed by the gift shop that was in Cracker Barrel, especially when Matt found a jar of Instant Snow and then Peggy bought 3 of them. Just so all of you know 1 jar makes 2 gallons of Instant Snow…one can only imagine what those two will come up with as a prank…