IDA National Championships!

We had a lovely weekend in MA with good weather, wonderful people and time to renew our acquaintance with old friends that we only see once a year. The IDA is made up of volunteers who work for colleges or work for themselves in the horse industry, who all come together to provide a competitive forum for student athletes interested in the sport of dressage. I have friends from New England, Virginia, Florida, the mid-west and California who all met up at Mt. Holyoke this weekend for our annual meetings and National Championships. This year was all the more special as my Dad who came to visit us in NC to see the spring flowers traveled with me to support the riders and see a part of my life that he has never experienced before. To sum up the competitive side of the weekend I sent this email to the faculty and staff. For complete results of the National Championships click here.

Please congratulate Lindsey Agaliotis and Kristen Parker on a very successful weekend at the Intercollegiate Dressage Association National Championships held this weekend at Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley MA. Lindsey placed third in the First Level division which was a great end to her intercollegiate riding career as she will be graduating this weekend and Kristen placed seventh in the Introductory division. As we waited for our flight last night I asked Lindsey to give me a few words about her experience with the equestrian program. I would like to share her response with you. 

 “Riding for and representing St. Andrews these past four years has been such a privilege. To be part of such a great team with great instructors has really shaped me as a rider and prepared me for my future in the equine industry. I could not think of a better way to end such a wonderful four years as a St. Andrews equestrian.” 

Both Lindsey and Kristen were wonderful representatives for St. Andrews and I am very proud of both of them for working hard to qualify for the National Championships this year. Thank you to all the faculty who were willing to work with these girls to make this opportunity possible, I very much appreciate your flexibility!

RLAK Show, Alumni Weekend, and Open House

The RLAK horse show was a hit for all concerned this Saturday. Four members of the dressage team started off the show with a drill team ride to the theme from Indiana Jones. The horses were great and the riders put on a good display for the audience. The RLAK show followed with all riders winning a blue ribbon for completing the obstacle course set in the covered arena. Kate Sorgenfrei serving as judge and announcer awarded blue ribbons “for sitting in the middle”, “keeping heels down”, “2-point position” and a myriad of other accomplishments demonstrated by the riders. The RLAK community was well represented covering the ages of around 5 to 55.


Alumni weekend was in full swing on campus and many folks came back to celebrate their 10 year anniversary. Pebbles, Peggy and I enjoyed visiting with the class of 2003 (plus a few from 2002). At lunch time ten of them set off on a guided trail ride of the Equestrian Center followed by 3 more on Peggy’s golf cart. With a couple of exceptions many of these folks have not been on a horse in many years so it was really fun to see them warming up in the covered arena before heading out with Carla and Andrew as their escorts.

Once the trail ride had departed the participants of Open House arrived to talk about the program, meet the staff and tour the facility. Lots of great questions were asked and we enjoyed meeting these future students and their families.

In other news our colleague Heather Wile Lee had her baby this weekend. Baby Jase is doing well but Heather suffered complications following delivery and is now in ICU at Moore Regional Hospital. Her husband Philip and both their families are with her at the hospital staying at the Clara McQueen house in Pinehurst. We are keeping Heather, Philip, Jase and the families in our prayers and hoping for a complete recovery.

The ANRC competed for the National Championship this weekend finishing in 6th place. I'll have more information on that in a later post.

Volunteers and Instructors at the RLAK Show

The Drill Team; Bridget on Corky, Kristen on Jake, Elizabethe on Chico and Claire on Windsong

Special and his rider with Morgan, and Spenser



Big John with is rider and Hallie, Megan and Stephanie



Before the Alumni trail rider

Enjoying the facility!

Alumni, ANRC, and RLAK Show

Meg Donahue, Frank Bria, Jennifer James & Howard Morrison were the National Championship team winning riders in 2002. Debbie White and Peggy McElveen coached. The gray horse on the left is Peter and the liver chestnut 3rd from left is JC both of who are retired at the Equestrian Center.

This weekend is Alumni weekend. We are excited to welcome the class of 2003 back to campus. The photo is of the 2002 ANRC National Championship team, many of who will be here this weekend. Click here for the schedule of Alumni events. These events include the annual Ride-Like-A-Knight horse show which starts at 10:30 on Saturday with demonstrations by the equestrain team followed by classes for participants in the program.  

Josh Dazey, Red Ted and Philip Radford at the 2012 RLAK show.

Meanwhile this year's ANRC team is competing in Baltimore at the 2013 National Championships in both the Open and Novice divisions. Good luck to all our riders, coaches and horses.

Don’t forget to support the 2013 Nationals teams by eating at Jersey Mikes in Lbg. tomorrow between 4 & 9 p.m. or shopping at our online store .

Spring Stuff!

With the end of the semester looming we are busy wrapping up classes, practicing our teams for Nationals and enjoying the traditional end of semester activities. Yesterday the RLAK club held their spring picnic. Everyone enjoyed great food, fun games and an opportunity to let loose before the start of a busy academic week.


Riders on all of the intercollegiate teams are busy with practices. The ANRC team leaves on Wednesday for the drive to Baltimore for their National Championships. Coach Kelsi Peterson will be traveling with five riders. Kim Graves, Katie Hansen, Abigail Skillman, Alexandra Fullerton and Keli van den Heuvel will be representing St. Andrews at this four phase equitation competition. They will be competing in the written test, program ride, cross country course and medal course all phases are judged on equitation apart from the written test of course which is judged on knowledge of horse care including basic veterinary care. Good luck to these riders, their horses and Coach Peterson.

We are still busy with fund raising. Our Queensboro store sends a commission on every item of clothing sold and this Friday from 4 – 9 p.m. Jersey Mikes in Laurinburg will be contributing 15% of all proceeds to the Equestrian Team. Please support these stores if you can.

TH Seniors & Ice-Cream!

Saturday the St. Andrews Hunter Seat Team won the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Zone 4 Championship for the first time in school history!

by Equestrian Program Director Peggy McElveen

Having clinched the Regional Championship in March, St. Andrews moved forward in post-season competition to the IHSA Zone Finals which were hosted today at the SAU Equestrian Center. The top riders from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina as well as the Regional Champion Teams from each of the four regions in Zone 4 competed today for the right to move forward to the National Championship in May.


The St. Andrews team competed against Goucher College from Region 1, the University of Virginia from Region 2, and Drexel University from Region 4 (St. Andrews was the representative of the Region 3 conference). These four teams were the teams that won each of their Regional Championships. Our team riders - Katie Hansen, Sami Cram, Kali Cram, Cami Glaff, Madison Edwards, and Jake Hobson won a total of 46 points to best second place Goucher College (42 points); third place University of Virginia (40 points) and fourth place Drexel University (21 points). The top three teams battled throughout the day with the lead changing several times. It all came down to the final class of the day which had veteran team rider Kali Cram representing St. Andrews. When Kali was announced as the winner, the rafters of the arena shook with the excitement. St. Andrews had won their first Zone Championship!

Senior Kim Graves who already had secured her place at IHSA Nationals by winning the Regional Cacchione Cup punched her ticket today for two more classes. Kim will be competing in Open Flat and Open Fences as well as in the multi-phase Cacchione Cup.

Junior Shiloh Kozlowski and Senior Sami Cram will be repeat competitors at Nationals for the third year in a row. Shiloh qualified in the Walk, Trot class and Sami in Novice Fences.

IHSA Hunter Seat Zones on Saturday!

Look who is coming to our house this weekend to compete for slots for the IHSA National Championships!

Goucher College
University of Richmond
Hollins University
St. Andrews University
University of Pennsylvania
Drexel University
Christopher Newport University
Bridgewater College
Lynchburg College
University of North Carolina
University of Pennsylvania
University of Delaware
North Carolina State University
Washington College
Temple University
George Washington University
Sweet Briar College
Duke University
Salisbury University
Randolph College
University of Virginia
East Carolina University
Towson University
University of Mary Washington

Sarah Lawrence College - Alumni
Longwood University - Alumni
Burlington County College - Alumni
Virginia Tech - Alumni