Our First Annual Easter Egg Hunt!

We hosted the first Annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Equestrian Center yesterday. It all started 3 or 4 years ago when Barn Manager Kellie Garrabrant did a small event for the barn staff and students that stayed to help with horse care over the Easter Break. Equestrian Program Director Peggy McElveen took the event to the next level, inviting all members of the St. Andrews community to participate in the fun. Eggs were hidden all around the courtyard outside of the TH building, in the covered and indoor, in the back schooling field and the dressage arena. Two classes were offered 11 and under and over 11. Kids, college students and adults raced to retrieve their eggs. Eventual winners in both divisions collected over 60 eggs a piece!

Counting the loot!

Winner of the 11 and under division

Lauren Gunther winner of the 11 and over division

Hurry get more eggs Kelsey!

Western IHSA Team Qualifies for National Championships!

Congratulations to the IHSA Western team qualifying for the National Championships by winning at Semi-Finals. The following report was written by Peggy McElveen, Equestrian Program Director

The 27 teams from across the country who won their regional championships were split among three National Semi-Finals sites to compete this weekend. The top six teams are seeded according to their finish in IHSA Nationals the prior year. Our team was seeded second in our bracket in Kentucky behind Berry College. Only nine teams advance from the Semi-Finals - top three from each Semi-Finals site - to the National Championship.

The final team placings from the Kentucky National Semi-Finals were:

1st St. Andrews University with 27 points
Team riders are Ella Brave, Michelle Hustad, Brittany Powell, Sami Cram, Logan Teeter, and Vickie Wiese
2nd Middle Tennessee State University with 22 points
3rd University of Kentucky with 18 points
4th North Dakota State University with 16 points
5th Berry College with 15 points
6th West Virginia University with 10 points
7th College of the Sequoias with 9 points
8th Utah State University with 8 points
9th Delaware Valley with 7 points

Individual St. Andrews students advancing to Nationals were:
Michelle Hustad in Open Horsemanship
Ella Brave in Reining
Kali Cram in Advanced Horsemanship
Brittany Powell in Novice Horsemanship
Katie Mosca in Intermediate Horsemanship
Dugan McDermott in Beginner Horsemanship

Congratulations to all these students and Coach Carla Wennberg for bringing this Championship to St. Andrews.

The 2013 Semi-Finals Championship Team!

Congratulations to the Zone 4, Region 3 IHSA Zone Qualifiers

Our regional IHSA hunter seat show ran smoothly today with representatives from nearly all of the 12 membership colleges present. Regionals is similar to a playoff game in a ball sport with the purpose of recognizing qualified riders and to determine who moves onto the Zones which is the final stepping stone before the National Championships. Team qualification is determined from cumulative points at the regular season shows with St. Andrews as Regional Champions for 2013 and already preparing for Zones in a couple of weeks. Today is all about individual qualifiers and St. Andrews students came through showing off their equitation skills and advancing to the next round. Congratulations to everyone who qualified for regionals!

Sami Cram - Intermediate Flat & Novice Fences

Kim Graves - Open Over Fences & Open Flat
Katie Hansen – Open Over Fences
Alexandra Fullerton - Novice Flat & Novice Fences
Shiloh Kozlowski – Walk Trot
Cami Glaff – Walk, Trot, Canter

Cacchione Cup

1^st Kim Graves
2^nd Katie Hansen

 

Showing today but not advancing to Zones
Catherine McDowell – Honorable Mention in Novice Flat
Park Hoey – 3^rd in Novice Flat
Kali Cram – 3^rd Intermediate Fences and 3^rd Novice Flat
Tori Burkey – Honorable Mention Walk, Trot, Canter

During the awards lunch Equestrian Program Director Peggy McElveen recognized her staff for their help with the 14 intercollegiate shows hosted at the equestrian center in 2012-2013. The Zone Chair awards selected by the Zone Chair (Peggy) went to Jenny Rollins from Duke for all her help and support during the year, and the Coach of the Year was Laura Underhill Norment from ECU, who previously coached and taught at St. Andrews.

 Awards voted on by the coaches in the region.

Horse of the Year

Reagan belonging to St. Andrews who participates in hunter seat, western and dressage intercollegiate shows.

Student Leadership

Senior Kathryn Hall of ECU who has above and beyond as a student leader.

Team Placings 2012 – 2013

1.      St. Andrews
2.      UNC – Chapel Hill
3.      East Carolina
4.      North Carolina State
5.      UNC – Charlotte
6.      UNC – Wilmington
7.      Duke
8.      Virginia Commonwealth
9.      Coastal Carolina University
10.   Campbell University

The Seniors on the IHSA Hunter Seat Team accepting the Regional Trophy!

 

Spring Break is Over!

Spring break is over and we are ready to take on the remainder of the semester. This Friday we have IHSA Hunter Seat Regionals at home. Thursday Carla and the IHSA Western team leave for Semi-Finals in Kentucky this weekend and Scot Evans will be doing a clinic Saturday and Sunday.


Over break I connected with Kate McAlinn from Sun Chaser Farm in Raleigh and she now has Marcus and Nikitta at her barn for her lesson program. These horses have worked hard for us and will now be great teachers for the kids that ride with Kate. We are still looking to place some of our horses who have served us so well, but are now ready for an easier life. If you are interested in any of these drop me an email.

Please contact Jackie Dwelle dwellejm@sapc.edu 910-277-5217 for more information and pictures.

Smudge - 1987 FB Grey TB Gelding 16.2h. Used in the St. Andrews and the CCCC lesson programs.

Robbie - Dk Bay gelding 15.3 h. Used in St. Andrews dressage program and therapeutic riding program and summer camp in Brevard, NC. Great at camp, loves small children and TH, not sure how old this one is.

Ben - 1989 Bay WB/xx Gelding 16.3h. Can be mean in stall but fine on crossties. Must be ridden in a hackamore or halter because he has TMJ. Would make a good trail/weekend horse.

Happy - 1988 Bay Swedish WB Mare 16.2h. Worked in the St. Andrews hunter seat program and been to camp several summers. This special lady deserves an excellent retirement home.

***Several others that cannot be ridden are also available as companions or pasture ornaments!***

New Baby for Jeremy and Jennifer!

Congratulations to Jennifer and Jeremy Sansbury on the birth of their son Greer who arrived on Friday.

Freshman Wins USEF Equestrians in Action Award!

Congratulations to Alexis Conover for winning the USEF Equestrians in Action Award with more than 1,800 volunteer hours. This award tracks youth volunteer hours in areas that improve horse welfare or positively promote equestrian sports. Some of Alexis' volunteer time was spent in our own Ride-Like-A-Knight Therapeutic Horsemanship Program.

For the full report click here.

Path International Region 3 Conference

Pebbles, Liz and ten students from St. Andrews attended the Region 3 conference in Hilton Head, SC this weekend. They were joined by 10 alumni who work in different areas of the therapeutic horsemanship industry. Sessions included information on managing not for profit businesses and creative lesson plans as well as lots of opportunities for networking. “I learned a lot,” said Megan White, “can’t wait to try some of this out with my lessons. It was also a lot of fun!”



Current students and Alumni at Region 3 conference

ANRC Warm Up Competition & Logo Wear For Sale!

The ANRC team travelled to Cottonwood Farm in Vanceboro to compete in the 3^rd annual Horsemanship Competition sanctioned by the USHJA and ANRC. Click here for a full report.

We are very excited to report that after many requests we have an online store where you can purchase St. Andrews Equestrian logo wear. There is a large selection of polo shirts, T-shirts, button downs, fleeces, and hats etc. Currently the only logo available at the online store is with a jumping horse, but we hope to open new stores with logos for western, dressage and Ride-Like-A-Knight in the future. The neat part of this program is that with every purchase a portion comes back to the Equestrian program. A win-win for everyone that has been asking about where to buy logo wear and for the program! Happy Shopping click here.