Equestrian Program Reviews - Western Team

Alyssa Lemme reported on the great success of the IHSA Western team for the 2012 - 2013 academic year. Regional and Zone Champions and Reserve Champions at the IHSA National Championships!
Click here to read Alyssa's report.

Equestrian Program Reviews - Ride-Like-A-Knight Therapeutic Horsemanship Program

Brooke Ellington and Hallie Myers reported on the Ride-Like-A-Knight Therapeutic Horsemanship program from 2012 - 2013. Their report included Special Olympics, horse updates, instructor mentoring and the benefits of volunteering in the RLAK program. Click here to read the report.

Tentative Fall 2014 Schedule

Subject to additions and changes, this what we have so far.

Fall 2014

Tentative Schedule of Events

August

20           Rider Placement for new students

24           Barn Orientation for new students

25-29     Team practices for returning team members

29           Equine Fair – All students

September

1              Lesson begin

8              RALK lessons begin

12           Team tryouts

18-21     Special Olympics in Raleigh

26-28     Triangle Farm Show for boarders

26-27     Tournament of Champions

October

4              IHSA Hunter Seat at St. Andrews

8-12       CHA Instructor Certification Clinic at SAU

9-12       Fall Break

17-18     Riding Open House for High School Seniors

19           IHSA Hunter Seat UNC-Wilmington

25           IHSA Hunter Seat UNC-CH/Duke

25-26     IHSA Western at St. Andrews

26           Showing Under the Stars

29-Nov. 2 Path Conference

November

1-2          Triangle Farms Medal Finals Show

1-2          Hunter Seat Clinic with Bernie Traurig

4-9          Duke Classic AA Show

7-9          Equestrian Talent Search

8              Chamber of Commerce Oyster Roast

8-9          IHSA Western Martin Community College

15           IHSA Hunter Seat at St. Andrews

15           Open House

21           RLAK lessons end

22           IDA at St. Andrews

22           IHSA Hunter Seat at ECU

23           Showing Under the Stars – Holiday Edition

26-30     Thanksgiving break

December

5              Classes end

5              Riders Christmas Party

8-12       Exams

Equestrian Program Reviews - Alumni in 2013

Taylor Carroll and Mary Thomson tracked down some St. Andrews Equestrian Alumni to see where their careers had taken them.

Click here to catch up with Allie McGraw 2012, Kate McAlinn 2008, Christina Kalinski 2007, Heather Jackson Merrell, and Sami Cram 2013.

Readers - I need your help!

I am preparing a presentation for the National Association of Equine Affiliated Academics (NAEAA - "neigh") titled The Role of Social Media in Higher Education Equestrian Programs.  We started our social media presence in Jan. 2009 with this blog and it has grown from there.

My presentation starts with the blog and I would love to talk about the audience. I know a few parents follow the Equestrian Program through the blog but who else is out there? Can you drop me a quick email saying who you are? i.e. parent, current/future/past student, friend of the program etc. School email is dwellejm@sapc.edu

Thanks for your help!
Jackie

Equestrian Program Review - Non Traditional Students

Kacie Carter who is herself a non traditional student tackled the topic in her History & Theory of Modern Riding class review of the 2012 - 2013 school year.

Read Kacie's report here.

Equestrian Program Reviews

Each year the History and Theory of Modern Riding class puts together reviews of our program to document the  highlights of the previous year. Summer is a great time to share these student projects.

Katie Ballard interviewed the barn managers last fall to see what it is like to work at the St. Andrews barn. Click here to find out what she discovered.

Since this was written Andrew has accepted a job with a fox hunting family in Louisiana. He recently moved south and is enjoying living in a rustic cabin and galloping through the woods.

South African Wildlife Veterinary Experience

Dr. Kellam is leading a trip of six students on the Shimongwe Limpopo Veterinary Experience. They are working with the local wildlife veterinarians to assist sick and injured wildlife, learn about game capture and immobilization in the field, assist with translocation of various species, conduct blood sampling to ensure disease free buffalo breeding populations, and to learn the safety procedures related to the use of drugs used to sedate large game animals such as elephants and rhinos. There is lots more information on the organizations website or follow them on the African Wildlife Vets facebook page. 

Keli van den Heuvel giving a buffalo cow her reversal after a pregnancy exam 

Waking up the impressive Eland bull after his transport to a new enclosure 

Mia DiPillo administering a reversal injection to a young and excited sable bull after his examination 

Life after St. Andrews?

We have been doing some advanced planning with the slightly quieter time in May (especially now that the horses are starting to leave for their summer homes and the numbers at the Equestrian Center are going down). One of the projects I have been involved in concerns helping our students with possible careers early on in college life so they can take the appropriate classes and maximize their St. Andrews education. Discussions for this project led us in several directions one of them being what our graduates are doing now. Renee Jones, Director of Career Services, complies data on what graduates are doing six months after graduation. She has done an incredible job with this the last few years.

2013 – 100% of grads are either working full or part time, furthering their education, doing an internship or serving our country in the military or in organizations such as Peace Corps. Data for previous years are equally impressive 2012 – 96% and 2011 – 94%.

Renee does something that most schools fail to do, she gets in touch with every graduate at the six month mark to find out what they are doing. Most schools poll 20 – 30% and draw conclusions from that and so their results are not quite as accurate as the SAU figures. Renee was kind enough to share the 2013 breakdown with me and it was pretty remarkable. Remember this is 100% of the graduating class reporting not a small sample!

Continuing Education – 14.5%

Internships – 1.3%

Full-Time Employment – 63.2%

Part-Time Employment – 21.1%

St. Andrews maybe small but these figures speak loud and clear for the value of the education provided.

Thanks for sharing Renee!

IHSA Nationals 2014 - Day 5

We had an early start to our last day at the Farm Show Complex. The first draw was scheduled for 7:15. We left the hotel at 6:30 but were still behind Carla, Lindsey and Kara who had horses to school even earlier.

With the hunter seat competition complete the focus was on western. Our day started with the NRHA High Point Reining with the 26 riders being split into two sections. Kara’s lovely horse Vinnie ran the pattern a total of 3 times, the last time with Michelle Hustad which helped Michelle earn her overall 3rd place in that competition. Up next were Mark Mowbray for the team Advanced, Erin Hudson in Individual Intermediate, Dugan McDermott in Team Intermediate and Vicki Weise in Individual Beginner. All of the riders followed the team’s motto of, “practice like you've never won and ride like you've won everything,” putting in solid rides to earn good placings (see below).

The horses that travelled with us represented St. Andrews very well. Zoey was voted Western Horsemanship horse of the show (Carla was interviewed by the AQHA Journal for an article on Zoey), Reggie helped several riders earn good placings and Ziggy was so fabulous the western horse selection committee elevated him to the status of St. Ziggy. Michelle drew Benji for the last class of her collegiate career for the Team Open Flat earning the yellow ribbon and valuable points for the team. Austin was also interviewed for an article on his success in the Team Walk/Trot. The story of how Carla converted lacrosse players to riders starting with Dugan two years ago is likely to go public!

At the end of a very exciting couple of days the western team earned 3rd place with 24 points behind Ohio State (29) and Findlay University (25).

As the last class of the show was going on (we had no horses or riders) we scrambled to get the barn packed up, the horses ready for shipping, the 2 rental cars returned and everyone’s stuff stowed into the bus. Parents and students helped to get the horses loaded and on the road for the long ride back to NC. Following the western team awards the bus was ready to leave at 7:00 p.m. arriving in Laurinburg at 3:30 a.m. The horses took a little longer as the driver was dropping one in VA on the way.


Hunter Seat – 7th
Jessica Story 1st Team Walk, Trot, Canter
Jake Hobson 6th Team Walk, Trot Equitation
Kelsey Kocher 9th Team Open Equitation on the Flat

Western – 3rd
Michelle Hustad  - 3rd Team Reining and 4th Individual Open Horsemanship,  3rd Team Open Flat Horsemanship, 3rd NRHA High Point Rider,
Logan Teeter - 3rd Team Novice Horsemanship
Austin Trockenbrot – Champion Team Walk/Trot
Mark Mowbray – 3rd Team Advanced Horsemanship
Dugan McDermott – 5th Team Intermediate Horsemanship

Erin Hudson – 4th Individual Intermediate Horsemanship
Vicki Weise – 6th Individual Beginner Horsemanship

IHSA Nationals 2014 - Day 4

Our day started with Team Open Over Fences, Kelsey Kocher earned 9th place. After the Cacchione Cup ride off IHSA recognized Eddie Federwisch with the IHSA Lifetime Achievement award for his contribution to IHSA and the collegiate equestrian world. A break in the ring followed for schooling before we rolled into the rest of our day.

Kelsey Kocher started off our day in the Team Open Equitation for the team. She won 9th place. Not bad for a college freshmen competing at her first IHSA Nationals! The hunter seat team ended the competition with a total of 8 points putting them in a tie with Mt. Holyoke for 7th place.

The awards ceremony is an opportunity to recognize the many people that have worked to make IHSA and the National Championships possible. Some awards are voted on my committee others by the membership. One award is the volunteer award for someone that has gone above and beyond. This year the Bob Cacchione was caught by surprise when he was awarded the volunteer award. After tearing up he rose to the occasion saluting the crowd to a standing ovation. With hunter seat over the focus turned to western.

Michelle Hustad rode in the NRHA High Point Rider Horsemanship Flat phase. Tomorrow she will compete in the Reining phase of this competition. Coach Carla Wennberg was very pleased with her rider’s performance. Last up for St. Andrews for today was Austin Trokenbrot riding in Team Walk/Trot. Austin who came to St. Andrews to play Lacrosse marched into the ring like he had done this many times before and walked off with the Champion Trophy and ribbon. “A year ago he had been on a horse but knew absolutely nothing. It has been fun to see him turn into a show rider,” said Carla.

St. Andrews leads the competition with 15 points followed closely by Findlay and Ohio State with 14 and 13 points. “My strategy will be the same that it has been at every competition. I want my riders continue to ride their personal best, make as few mistakes as possible, and be very confident. If they stay consistent that way, more times than not we stay in the hunt. Always proud of how well they work together, taking care of the horses and looking after each other,” said Carla.

After the show ended we had our graduation ceremony for the 4 Seniors who are competing on the western team. This has become a St. Andrews tradition at IHSA Nationals which almost always falls on graduation weekend. Peggy has developed the ceremony over the years to include bagpipe music over the PA system. The graduates process in with an escort that they have chosen. Peggy introduced the ceremony and read a beautiful post from last year’s graduate Kali Cram. Carla had asked Katie Mosca to write her speech which was perfect moving all of us to tears. We made the ceremony official with their diplomas and Peggy pronounced them college graduates. This was followed by lots of hugs, congratulations and photos.

Tomorrow is our last day in PA, wishing good luck to the Western Team. We will be packing up our stuff and loading the 5 wonderful western horses to make the long drive back to NC.

IHSA Nationals 2014 - Day 3

As predicted the afternoon was super busy. Before we knew what had happened it was 7:15 p.m. and the last class of the day had just finished. After a few phone calls Liz found an Applebees willing to take our party of about 35 people which included many parents.

Kelsey Kocher made the cut for the Cacchione Cup and came back to ride in the flat section of that class. Team wise we had a great afternoon of showing. Michelle Hustad kicked it off with a 3rd place in Team Reining and followed that up with a 4th place in the Individual Open Horsemanship. Up next was Jake Hobson who turned in a very respectable 6th place in the Team Walk, Trot Equitation. Jessica Story rocked the St. Andrew’s bench with a beautiful ride to earn the Champion ribbon in Team Walk, Trot, Canter Equitation. To end the day Logan Teeter rode beautifully in the Novice Horsemanship to 4 more points for the Western Team.

Both teams end the day with 8 points. Tomorrow the first bus load heads to the Farm Show Complex at 6:45 a.m. The first class of the day is the Team Open Equitation Over Fences, Kelsey Kocher riding for St. Andrews.

Jessica Story Team Walk/Trot/Canter Champion!

Logan Teeter waiting for her pattern in Team Novice Horsemanship

Michelle Hustad waiting for her Open Horsemanship pattern

IHSA Nationals 2014 - Day 2.5

Peggy, Liz, myself and our helper April from Delaware Valley  felt very accomplished as we plinkoled 38 riders for the Cacchione Cup this morning in a relatively short time! Kelsey Kocher was the St. Andrews representative drawing a mare named Lucy and scoring a 74.5 on her jumping round. Currently waiting to see if she makes the cut for the top 24 to go forwards to the flat phase of that competition. Cami Glaff competed in Intermediate Team Over Fences having a beautiful round apart from one short distance.

This afternoon we have 9 classes starting with Team Reining and then alternating between hunter seat flat classes and western horsemanship. The horses are currently schooling for these classes and we hope to get back to competition fairly soon. 

The parade of teams at lunchtime today

IHSA Nationals 2014 - Day Two

Today started with jumping classes. My day started and continued with plinko. My job is to attend to stray pucks and help them if they get stuck, Liz types everything into Google Docs so all the officials know who has drawn which horse. Peggy instructs the students on the rules of plinko and organizes every draw. There are of course the usual difficulties with technology that so far have been overcome by some very smart people.

Kelsey Kocher was our first rider of the day having a great ride in Individual Open Equitation over Fences She missed one flying change putting her in the lower end of the class. Caitlyn Woychik was our next rider with the last ride in Novice Equitation Over Fences. Caitlyn was thrilled with her ride earning 7th place. Emilee Wilson and Madison Edwards represented St. Andrews in the Team Novice Hunter Seat and Individual Walk, Trot, Canter Equitation classes and Cami Glaff ended the day for hunter seat with a 7th place in the Intermediate Equitation. The hunter seat team members headed to dinner in small groups with the many parents that had arrived while Liz and I had command of the charter bus to take us to dinner.

As the hunter seat classes ended for the day the western horses started their schooling and horse selection. Carla met with the horse selection committee while Lindsey and the western team schooled the horses and took care of them for the night. Around 9:00 the bus took us back to the horse show to pick up the western team who where by this time very hungry. Tomorrow will be another early start for the teams and volunteers.

The plinko demonstration prior to every draw

Cami Glaff

IHSA National Championships 2014 - Day One

The five western horse arrived this morning having traveled all night from NC. They were happy to settle into their stalls and rest after the long ride. While the western team was caring for the horses the hunter seat team watched the schooling of the hunter seat horses and made notes on each ride. Liz and I helped Peggy and Carla with whatever they needed and learned that we would be playing plinko all weekend at the draw table. A Dad of one of the St. Lawrence students has built a giant plinko board that 4 riders at a time will drop discs down to determine which horse they ride. We are looking forward to this new twist on the draw table!

Late afternoon the western horses were happy to school a little in the warm up arena and when the hunter seat schooling had finished were happy to experience the atmosphere in the arena. They took everything in their stride and marched around like the pros they are. Carla, Lindsey and Kara stayed to school Vinnie with some of the other reiners while the rest of us went to dinner.

Tomorrow the first class starts at 8:30 so will be an early start for everyone. Go Knights! 

Western Reserve Champions in 2013

Peggy, Liz and I enjoyed picking up a few home comforts for the barn. Carla was ready for a comfy chair!

Logan and Benji and Erin and Zoey checking out the competition arena

IHSA National Championships 2014

A total of 21 students and staff left from campus at 11:00 a.m. for the IHSA National Championships in Harrisburg, PA. The hunter seat and western IHSA teams and coaches, individual riders, warm up riders, draw table crew and of course Peggy. We arrived at the Hampton Inn in rain and cooler weather about the same time the commercial shipper was picking up the 5 western horses in the Burg. They should be here early tomorrow morning. Carla and the western team will be at the barn early to prepare the horse’s stalls and get them settled in. Schooling and horse selection starts tomorrow.

The Semester is Almost Over

The last week of classes flew by! Friday evening we had a pizza party for everyone that worked so hard at Western Semi-Finals. That event certainly required a lot of extra effort from everyone and the weather was not at all cooperative – Many thanks to all how made that huge weekend possible. Exams started Saturday and last night was the annual Rider’s Roast sponsored by Riding Council. This is a fun event that which gives everyone a break from studying. Exams continue all this week with the baccalaureate service on Friday at 4:00 and graduation on Saturday.

Kelsi and the ANRC team spent the weekend at Sweet Briar at the American National Riding Commission National Championships. This competition is very competitive and requires excellence in all areas. Neither the National or Novice team placed this year but both teams had good placings in the written phase which is part of this multi phase competition. Sophomore Kirsten Farley had this to say about the competition. "ANRC was definitely an intensely competitive show. There were 36 riders in Novice and 30 riders for the National teams. All of them brought their A game and it was a fun and new experience to go through. We rode our hearts out and had fun in the process."

Regi Barasch 8th in the National Team Medal Individually
Katy Hutchings 10th in the Written Phase Individually
Novice Team 4th in the Written Phase
National Team 6th in the Written Phase

Looking Forward to This Week
Tuesday the Hunter Seat and Western teams travel to Harrisburg, VA to compete in the IHSA National Championships. Liz Dulski and I are traveling with the teams to work the draw table so will be reporting on these events at the end of this week and over the week end.

Good luck to all our students with exams and to all competitors at IHSA.

Novice Team - Amy Wrozek, Katy Hutchings and Kirsten Farley

Written Phase Ribbons

Regi Barasch and Kemosabi

IDA National Championships 2014

I had the pleasure of travelling to Chatham, VA this weekend with five horses that we loaned to Averett University for IDA Nationals, which was hosted at the Olde Dominion Agricultural Center. We narrowly missed qualifying two of our riders and were beaten out of the wild card slot by higher scoring regions so were supporting Averett and IDA with our horses and students. 

Astaire, Alibaba, Jake, JB and Scot loaded up early Thursday morning with Abi, Claire, Megan, and Bridget to make the three hour drive. Lindsey and Elizabethe left a little later to do a circular tour to pick up one horse in Southern Pines and one in Raleigh. Thursday afternoon was dedicated to schooling and Friday was the horse selection. Our settled right into the horse show routine. Lindsey took charge of the barn routine and braiding while I took care of my duties as IDA Secretary/Treasurer. The five students worked together very well, sharing all the duties and assisting one another with stalls, hand grazing and grooming. 

By Saturday morning Astaire and Scot had been excused from the show. With almost 40 horses there were many that traveled and did not compete. This strategy paid off very well on Sunday for the team competition with so many to choose from to make the horse groups as fair as possible. 

Saturday the remaining three were braided and groomed beautifully for individual day. The horses were paraded by level prior to their division. The SAU team had JB and Alibaba  gleaming for upper training and Jake looked fabulous for the lower training division. On Sunday JB dropped down to lower training to help even out the horse groups. 

Averett put on a wonderful National competition with a rodeo theme, including cowboy boot center pieces at the Friday dinner and boot shaped name tags for the horses. Congratulations to Virginia Intermont on claiming the team championship for 2014. 

I was very happy with our horses and students all weekend. Everyone worked hard to support one another in what can be a tiring and thankless task – the life of a groom is not an easy one. The horses received excellent care and our team looked great all weekend in their SAU blue shirts. 

For me it was a wonderful opportunity to see my friends from the IDA Board and coaches from all over the country including California, New England, Louisiana and the Midwest as well as those that are closer. The competition is what brings us together each year, but it is the connection I have with like-minded people that makes this annual competition so enjoyable. Having the show in our region this year and taking horses was a wonderful experience for everyone involved. Next year Otterbein University takes on the challenge of hosting at their brand new facility.

Bridget and Alibaba

Jake with Abi and JB with Claire

Megan and Astaire

The Hunter Seat Team Joins the Western Team Moving onto IHSA Nationals

Congratulations to both our IHSA teams for qualifying for the National Championships, May 1 – 4 in Harrisburg, PA. The hunter seat team traveled to Hollins University this past weekend to compete in their Zone Championships riding against some of the strongest schools in the country to earn their ride to the National Championships. Congratulations also to Madison Edwards and Kelsey Kocher for qualifying as Individuals in Walk-Trot-Canter and Open Fences respectively.

Coaches Wennberg and Arrigon will be working their riders hard in the next few weeks to prepare for the National Championships. Overall fitness as well as time in the saddle will be part of the preparation.