Great Weekend for IHSA Teams

Read about the St. Andrews Equestrian IHSA clean sweep click here!

Weekend of Feb 25 - 26

Pebbles, Liz and four students are traveling to Charleston later today to attend the Path International Educational day hosted by Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding. Sessions include Motor Development, Sensory Integration, Basic Training Principals of the Horse, Leading and Long Lining, Developmental Vaulting and Lunging and Interactive Vaulting. Participants have been asked to share a lesson plan or favorite game which will be copied and share. The educational day sounds like a wonderful opportunity to learn, network and harvest some new ideas for teaching.


Meanwhile, the western team travels to Montrose Farm in Chapel Hill to compete in their last show of the regular season on Saturday. They currently lead the region in points but will need strong rides to maintain that lead and advance to Semi-Finals in Delaware at the end of March. On Sunday they return to Chapel Hill for Regionals which determines which individuals will go to Semi-Finals. The top two in each class qualify.

At home on Saturday we are hosting Open House and Sunday our last regular IHSA hunter seat show. The hunter seat team has a strong lead over their closest rivals UNC - Chapel Hill; Coach Duda will be working hard to try and qualify as many of her riders for Regionals as possible. St. Andrews hosts IHSA hunter seat Regionals March 24th (the same weekend as Semi-Finals for the western team).

So once again we are super busy with preparations for all these events. Spring break is not too far away, we will be ready for a break!

IDA Competition at Averett University February 18 & 19

The dressage team spent the weekend at Averett University in Danville VA, competing in back to back Intercollegiate Dressage Association (IDA) shows. Saturday the weather was beautiful, warm and sunny. Junior Lindsey Agaliotis and sophomore Erin Hudson started out the day with second and third places in first level test 3. Lindsey was beaten by her rival in the division Emily Henderson from Averett by 0.146 of a percentage point. “We are so close,” said Agaliotis, “I had a great ride, Emily just knows the horses better and she rode really well today.” In lower training senior Lauren Parker put in a spectacular ride to win the division. The ride was so good that Averett coach Ginger Henderson was over heard describing what was going on to the horse’s regular rider. Parker earned 68.75% which was way ahead of the second place at 63.75%. St. Andrews teams placed third and fourth on Saturday.


Sunday was as cold and wet as Saturday was beautiful. Show management modified the schedule to ride tests in the short ring to speed things along and provide a warm up space if the weather became too wet. Lindsey Agaliotis drew the same horse on Sunday and improved her score to win the division with a score of 69.828%, Emily Henderson placed second this time with only 0.826 of a percentage point separating them. Senior Andrea Tito who did not place on Saturday put in a beautiful ride on the same horse to improve her score and finish in sixth. In upper training St. Andrews took 3rd, 4th and 5th with strong rides from sophomore Brianna Carter and seniors Casey Curtis and Lauren Parker who pointed out of the lower training division with Saturday’s win.

In lower training senior Paige Tillison drew the same horse she rode on Saturday and put in a beautiful test scoring 71.428% which was more than 10 percentage points ahead of Sarah Jones who was second with a score or 60.208%! At the introductory level Jenna Marten rode strongly to win the division and Hannah Firth placed 4th. These strong rides led St. Andrews teams to first and second place on a very wet and cold day.

“We had a great weekend,” said Coach Jackie Dwelle, “Saturday, the team learned valuable lessons about showing off the horses to the best of their ability whether they were the strongest or the weakest draw in the division. We put those lessons to good use on Sunday. I am very proud of all the riders, they took what they learned and applied it to their riding, a great example of analysis and critical thinking in the sporting arena.”

There is one show left in the IDA season. Under IDA rules the winning team earns 7 points the second placed team 5 points. Only the top four shows count towards qualifying for the National Championships. Averett leads the region with 24 points to St. Andrews 23. Whoever wins at St. Andrews on March 18th will qualify for the trip to Centenary College at the end of April. On the individual level juniors Lindsey Agaliotis in first level and Jenna Marten in the introductory level could qualify for Nationals – it all comes down to the last show!

Pictures of the weekend our on our facebook page taken by Pebbles Turbeville - thanks Pebbles!

Results

Saturday

First Level Test 3
2nd Lindsey Agaliotis 67.919%
3rd Erin Hudson 62.581%

Training Level Test 3
6th Brianna Carter 60%

Training Level Test One
1st Lauren Parker 68.75%
6th Paige Tillison 60.416%

Introductory Test B
3rd Hannah Firth 67.5%
6th Jenna Marten 63.75%

Team placings
SAU A 3rd
SAU B 4th

Sunday
First Level Test One
1st Lindsey Agaliotis 69.828%
6th Andrea Tito 60%

Training Level Test 2
3rd Brianna Carter 68.75%
4th Casey Curtis 66.607%
5th Lauren Parker 66.25%

Training Level Test 1
1st Paige Tillison 71.428% - High Point Rider!
2nd Sarah Jones 60.208%

Introductory Level Test B
1st Jenna Marten 68.125%
4th Hannah Firth 65.313%

Team Results
SAU A 1st
SAU B 2nd

Coaching Challenges

Great rides from many of our riders Saturday. Lindsey Agaliotis rode her best on the fancy buck skin Captain to earn a score of 67.919%. She was beaten by a little more than 0.1% by Emily Henderson from Averett riding Francie. Lindsey rode her best; Emily has the advantage of riding the Averett horses on a regular basis. The upper training riders rode well but were again bested by riders from Averett and NCSU’s team captain Andrea Massa. At lower training Lauren Parker riding as an individual had a beautiful ride on the impressive black horse George scoring 68.74% to win the division and point out of lower training. Good ride for a well-deserved score, which sadly did not help the team points. In the introductory division Hannah Firth rode a well-balanced and accurate test on Boo to place third with a score of 67.5% behind a horse which was considerably stronger in first and second.


Moving forward I have moved some riders around on the two teams and within the individual divisions. Having ridden the horses yesterday, we have some insights into what makes them tick. I’m excited to push the team to do better today and show off their horsemanship skills.

Crazy Weekend!

This coming weekend is looking a little bit crazy! Today Ashley Duda and four student boarders leave for Raleigh Indoors. Safe travels ya’ll! Saturday we are hosting an IHSA western show at the equestrian center the action starts at high noon! And if that was not enough Jackie will be travelling with the dressage team to Averett University in Danville, VA for back to back dressage shows on Saturday and Sunday. Pebbles is travelling with us to help drive the team and keep us organized! We have eleven riders riding each day. We will do our best to post results etc. on this page so check back often!

In House Interns

Classes are in full swing and several students are pursuing internships with various staff members this semester. Dr. Kellam has six students participating in a Veterinary internship . Their duties include treating horses at the equestrian center as well as learning about the duties of a Veterinary Technician. Cases this semester have included eye injuries, wounds, skin diseases as well as routine health maintenance including vaccinations. The interns have been busy administering daily meds. as well as keeping records of all treatments.

At the barn Angie Cormack and Andrea Tito are doing barn management internships with barn manager Kellie Garrabrant. They are responsible for assisting with the supervision of the work study students and making sure that all horse care is completed correctly. Their big project has been to photograph and inventory all of the tack in all areas of the barn which is a huge task.

Andrea Tito is also serving as the social media intern this spring. She has reported on horse shows, developed videos for YouTube and posted numerous photographs on our facebook page. Obviously, she cannot attend every event that our teams travel to so part of her duties include working with staff and students to get results sent in to be posted on our facebook wall. Thank goodness for texting and smart phones!

The final group of in house interns will do the bulk of their internship with Peggy McElveen, Equestrian Program Director, and the equestrian staff at IHSA Nationals in Raleigh, April 29 – May 6th. Their duties will revolve around horse show management and organization and they are in for an incredibly busy time.

Internships are an important part of the St. Andrews experience; students have been placed in many settings for their internships. In house internships are common too although we usually do not have such a large group benefitting from this experiential learning opportunity.

IHSA Hunter Seat & Western Teams Work Hard to Maintain their Regional Leads

Big weekend for the equestrian team. Saturday we hosted the first IHSA hunter seat show of the spring semester. The weather was cool (having been in the 70s for most of the week) and the horses were not as well behaved as they might have been. Several classes were stopped (one more than once) when our equine partners decided they just had to show off how good they were feeling. With safety being foremost in our minds horse substitutions were made and the classes restarted. All this took additional time and the show ran until after 5:00 making it a long day for all involved. Our students worked tirelessly, with good humor and great attitudes all day demonstrating the “can do” philosophy that is part of being involved in our equestrian team.

We were rewarded by the hunter seat team that turned in a perfect score of 49 points to win the championship ribbon. Alexandra Fullerton won high point rider with Katie Hansen as reserve. St. Andrews now leads their closest rivals UNC-Chapel Hill by 45 points. (Complete results below)

Meanwhile the IHSA western team traveled to Martin Community College to compete in back to back shows Saturday and Sunday. The temperatures were a few degrees cooler in Williamston but fortunately they were showing indoors which helped a bit. Individual riders did well on both days however the designated point riders faced a few challenges leaving St. Andrews as reserve champion each day. Shannon Leggett was high point rider Saturday and reserve high point rider Sunday. At the end of the weekend St. Andrews still leads North Carolina State by nine points with two shows to go before semi-finals.

IHSA Hunter Seat Team Standings as of 2/4/2012

St. Andrews University 249

UNC-Chapel Hill 204

North Carolina State University 192

East Carolina University 185

Duke University 168

Coastal Carolina University 116

UNC-Wilmington 110

UNC-Charlotte 108

Virginia Commonwealth University 98

Davidson College 37

Martin Community College 14

Individual Results

Open Flat A

2nd Kim Graves

Novice Flat A

5th Tara Algeri

Open Flat B

1st Katie Hansen

Walk, Trot, Canter A

3rd Madison Edwards

4th Julie Griffin

Intermediate Flat A

2nd Alie McGraw

Novice Flat B

1st Katie Mentzel

Open Fences A
2nd Regi Barasch

Open Fences B

1st Katie Hansen

2nd Kim Graves

Walk Trot Canter B

3rd Sarah Lishen

4th Brittany Powell

Novice Flat C

3rd Park Hoey

5th Catherine McDowell

Intermediate Flat B

1st Regina Barasch

Novice Flat D

5th Sarah Williams

Intermediate Fences A

1st Kali Cram

Intermediate Fences B

1st Nikki Napoleone

Walk Trot A

1st Morgan Potts

Intermediate Flat C

4th Kayla McBath

Novice Fences A

1st Alexandra Fullerton

Novice Fences C

1st Abigail Skillman

Novice Flat E

1st Michelle Eld

Walk Trot Canter C

1st Cami Glaff

Novice Flat F

1st Alexandra Fullerton

Beg. Walk Trot A

5th Lacy Burke

Walk Trot Canter D

4th Chandalyn Chranowski

Novice Flat G

3rd Dara Corbett

Walk Trot Canter E

3rd Hillary Todd

6th Paula Kramer

Walk Trot Canter F

1st Mia Dipillo

5th Bridget Newman

Busy Weekend of Competition for the Equestrian Team

This weekend is a tad busy! The western IHSA team is traveling to Martin Community College for back to back shows Saturday and Sunday. Assistant barn manager Rachel Buckler is travelling with the team to assist Carla, keep points and report back so we can keep everyone informed. Meanwhile at home we are  hosting an IHSA hunter seat show on Saturday. Home hunter seat shows require an enormous effort from all team members. Team members groom and tidy the horses, clean the tack and the barn, share horse holding duties, and keep thing running. Work study and the barn staff start early and stay late. Staff serve in various capacities including announcing, running the draw table, working the paddock, posting points and pitching in wherever they are needed. We live by the saying it takes a village… and it SO true! Our village will be spread a little thin this weekend! Go Knights!