Fall 2014 Begins!

So as always the beginning of the semester has been a whirlwind at the Equestrian Center! Lessons started on September 1^st (yes we have school on Labor day, but get the Wed. before Thanksgiving off) and from all accounts have been going well. The hunter seat coaches adopted the motto, “Stirrup free September” so all riders that are able have been riding without stirrups. Those that are not quite ready for that have been in 2 point for extended periods to get their legs deep and secure. Dressage has done some no stirrup work on and off the lunge finding muscles that these riders had forgotten about. Western riders have had equally demanding lessons with Carla and Lindsey.

Last weekend Matt did a teaching marathon for the IEA boot camp. Hunter seat riders volunteered to get the horses ready and on Sunday we held an IHSA style show with a beach themed draw table. Ride-Like-A-Knight started up on Sept 8. The program has a couple of new horses that are being eased into the program, Nora a Norwegian Fjord and Cooper an adorable paint pony. Riding Council has had its first general meeting with info on work study, what to wear, TH volunteering, plans for our 5k in Oct, team tryouts, the eventing club, up-coming western shows and a reminder from Peggy to do well in all things academic.

So this weekend is tryouts for IHSA, IDA and the hunter seat show team. Next weekend RLAK heads to Special Olympics in Raleigh, we have our first western shows of the year and a few students are going to Pinehurst to work the dressage shows at the Harness Track. 

Conclusion - Part 9

Leah Davison summed up the feelings of so many people when she reflected, “It was such an experience of a lifetime, even though I wasn't competing. I would do anything to help out the equestrian program and I knew that hosting Nationals was going to be a huge undertaking and that I needed to go out there and help out. In the end, St Andrews hosted such an amazing Nationals and brought the southern comfort that is always brought by St. Andrews wherever we go. I am always in awe of the amount of things that Peggy is capable of. She is such a fearless leader and so hands on, she always wants to be involved with everything that goes on and that's what made that Nationals such a success, along with all the help and love that was there supporting us on that endeavor. So many SAU equestrians, alumni, and coaches took time out of their lives to come and help out to make Nationals 2012 one to remember. It was a lot of work, but I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.”


McElveen was recognized for the many hours she devoted to the National Championships and her dedication to serving young people with the IHSA Pioneer Award during the 2012 National Championships. Jackie Dwelle wrote the recognition piece for the IHSA program, here is a short excerpt, “The Pioneer Award is not awarded every year, it is only awarded when a deserving recipient rises above the hundreds of volunteers who make up the IHSA. This year the pioneer award winner has worked tirelessly for IHSA, locally, regionally and nationally… Peggy is the organizer of these 2012 IHSA National Championships, an event that requires incredible event management, social and organizational skills. The planning started two years ago and has been an on-going process centered around IHSA ideals and Southern culture. Peggy has been the driving force behind this week’s events working tirelessly to lead the many volunteers to excel at their assigned duties.”

With hundreds of colleges and universities represented at the 2012 IHSA Nationals, St. Andrews was one of the smallest schools, but was definitely the school in the spotlight. The opportunity for St. Andrews to host this prestigious event was one which not everyone would have taken on. Peggy McElveen led her staff, students. alumni, program friends and St. Andrews forward to accept the challenge and make it one of the most organized IHSA National competitions in recent times. “Our fearless leader,” as McElveen is affectionately referred to by her staff certainly fits the leadership demonstrated in the planning and organization of this National Championship. This was truly a once in a lifetime experience for so many people. We often hear the phrase “ It takes a village” uttered around the barn by staff and students, perhaps it is time to edit this to read, “It takes a southern style village!”

References

1. McElveen, Peggy. Personal Interview. April 2013.


2. “Intercollegiate Horse Show Association – History.” Intercollegiate Horse Show Association. 2013. Web. May 2013.

3. Nicholson, Corinne. Email interview. May 2013.

4. Jacobs, Rob. Email interview. April 2013

5. McElveen, Peggy. “2012 IHSA National Championship.” IHSA 2012 National Championship Program. May 2012. Print.

6. Garrabrant, Kellie. Email interview. May 2013

7. Lee, Heather Wile. Email interview. May 2013

8. Davison, Leah. Email interview. May 2013

9. Gainey, Kira Petr, Email interview. May 2013

10. McDermott, Dugan. “Equestrian Internships 2012.” Equestrian Program Review 2012: Equestrian Internships 2012. November 2012. Print.

Social Media Intern, Kimberly Graves, took on the challenge of documenting the planning and organization of the IHSA National Championships that we hosted in Raleigh, NC last May.

Part 8 presented the students that were involved with Nationals 2012. 

St. Andrews Students - Part 8

McElveen also organized an impressive labor force from the current students of St. Andrews University. Over 35 students would be in Raleigh each day to volunteer for whatever needed to be done for Nationals to run smoothly. McElveen and Professor Corrine Nicholson, Chair of the Business and Economics Department started planning for this in November 2011 during spring registration. Student interns were nominated by the equestrian staff for consideration and the final short list was approved by the Director of Academic Internships, Professor Nicholson, after careful review of previous academic performance. The planning did not stop there. Students were given the responsibility to talk to the Professors they would be studying with in the spring and ask for their permission to miss the last week of classes and very probably reschedule finals to accommodate their IHSA Internship. Students were not only working the show, but both the hunter seat and the western teams qualified to represent Zone 4 so some would be competing also. The appendix contains the names of the students that were involved as interns, volunteers and competitors.  “We are so lucky that this school is so supportive of our equestrian program. We would not have been able to do it without the support of the administration and the faculty,” said McElveen.


The selected nine students served as interns for the duration of the competition and spent a full eight days in Raleigh. Other students volunteered their time around their class schedule. The interns had specific jobs throughout the competition and assisted in the packing, transportation, setup, running, taking down and cleanup of the event. Jameson Crandall was one of the interns and recalls the packing process, “The two days before we left Laurinburg were spent packing several of the equestrian program’s large horse trailers with supplies, decorations, equipment and plenty of other items that were necessary for putting on the national championship. When packing was complete, I believe Peggy had accumulated two six-horse trailers full of items plus a smaller trailer all with things we used to host the competition.”

Crandall continued to talk about some of his responsibilities at the competition. “Over the seven days interns had the opportunity to work side by side with industry level professionals such as the professional horse show manager, professional course designer, seasoned barn managers and instructors, IHSA founder Bob Cacchione, as well as chairpersons and board members from the IHSA and coaches from across the country. Event management in any industry, but especially in our industry, consists of long days and nights and little rest. Our days began on average around 5:00 every morning and ended around 10:00 in the evening. There were tasks to be done every minute of every day throughout the eight days that we were in Raleigh.” When asked about what he learned from the experience Crandall was quick to respond. “Developing the ability to work side-by-side with literally hundreds of others; interns worked with other interns, volunteers, professionals, competitors, coaches, spectators, and vendors. At times this was challenging and “different” but it was another learning experience that I am grateful for. The best thing about the experience was getting to be involved in literally every aspect of event management for a National Championship horse show. For two days I worked with Laura Norment who served as the volunteer coordinator. For two other days I worked side-by-side with Mr. Billy the professional horse show manager. One of the days I worked with Audrey and Mrs. Hayden in the awards room and one day I worked with Jennifer Sansbury who was the professional barn manager for the week. We were constantly involved in all of those aspects of running a horse show plus others that I am sure I haven’t mentioned.”

Each intern was an integral part of the organization and was exposed to all aspects of the show, from working with the barn manager to serving as personal assistant to Bob Cacchione. “I truly feel like our equestrian program put on that event, not the staff, it was not the Hunter Seat team, it truly was this entire program” noted McElveen. “I was truly blessed to be able to call on so many people to help with this amazing event. Without any one of them it would not as have been as successful as it was,” she said.

Students Involved in the Organization of the 2012 IHSA Nationals

Algieri, Tara


Barasch, Regina

Burkey, Tori

Chrzandowski, Chandalyn

Cram, Kali

Cram, Sami

Crandall, Jameson

DiPillo, Mia

Edwards, Madison

Eld, Michelle

Fullerton, Alexandra

Glaff, Cami

Graves, Kimberly

Gritzuk, Tyler

Hackney, Sara

Hansen, Katie

Hoey, Park

Hustad, Michelle

Karolak, Caitlin

Kozlowski, Shiloh

Kramer, Paula

Leggett, Shannon

Lishen, Sarah

McBath, Kayla

McDermott, Dugan

McDowell, Catherine

McGraw, Alie

Mentzel, Katie

Mosca, Katie

Napoleone, Nikki

Nix, Jake

Powell, Brittany

Skillman, Abi

Stumberg, Catherine

Teeter, Logan

Tito, Andrea

Todd, Hillary

Van Den Heuvel, Keli

Williams, Sarah

Wright, Miranda

Students Competing in the 2012 IHSA Nationals

Thursday, May 3 – Katie Hansen, Alie McGraw, Sami Cram

Thursday, May 3 –  Kayla McBath, Kali Cram, Katie Hansen, Sami Cram

Friday, May 2 – Kali Cram, Katie Hansen

Friday, May 2 – Shannon Leggett, Katie Hansen, Brittany Powell, Miranda Wright, Shiloh Kozlowski

Saturday, May 3 –  Katie Hansen, Shannon Leggett

Saturday, May 3 – Dugan McDermott

Sunday, May 4 – Kali Cram, Shannon Leggett, Kate Mosca

Sunday, May 4 –  Michelle Hustad, Amber Powell, Shannon Leggett







Social Media Intern, Kimberly Graves, took on the challenge of documenting the planning and organization of the IHSA National Championships that we hosted in Raleigh, NC last May.


Part 7 recognized the Alumni and Friends of the St. Andrews Program. Next week Part 9 will wrap up this series with the conclusion.

Alumni and Friends of St. Andrews - Part 7

St. Andrews students form close bonds with their class mates, roommates, fellow students and with the school itself. Many people made time to attend the competition to support the school and the equestrian team for a day and in many cases for the entire week. They took vacation time from their jobs, organized child care with family members and traveled large distances to come and be a part of something greater than themselves. They were all volunteers, many were not even asked for their help and they all came back to give back to St. Andrews and IHSA. Leah Davison (living in California) was typical of the alumni that took time out of their daily lives to be in Raleigh. “I took off a week from work,” she recalls, “and got to St. Andrews a couple days before Nationals, to help get them ready to go up there. While I was in Laurinburg, I helped organize the prizes in the farm house, I made the sheet for the barns on where all the college's horses would go, getting the horses ready by riding them, getting equipment and all the prizes and other things packed, and getting the horses ready to be shipped. I then rode down to Raleigh to help out even more! While I was there, Heather and I created the duck pond and the draw table, making sure all the colleges bringing horses had everything they needed. I helped at the barn with chores and making sure that all the horses were taken care of, including being a warm up rider. Pretty much did anything that St. Andrews needed me to do, including being a seamstress for the western team! I was always running from the arena to the barn to watch one of our riders. I would also make sure that our horses were going when they were needed and were properly warmed up. I donated my first western show shirt for the silent auction that sold, along with a custom show shirt that sold!”


Kira Gainey living in Baltimore, MD with two small children and her husband Brad, also organized her life to be a part of the competition. “I had a wonderful time at Nationals and one of the highlights was feeling like I was right back at St. Andrews. Working with Pebbles, Jackie, Sarah Rhymer, Carla, Laura Norment, and especially Peggy made me feel like I was home again :) I was impressed, as always, by all the personal and "Southern-hospitality" touches (like the magnolia theme and the VIP tent for officials) that were made present throughout such a large event. I had really hoped I would have been able to attend for the full week, but I could only arrange childcare for the long weekend. I enjoyed assisting in course setting, picking up lunches with Andrew Michael, stocking the VIP tent, setting up the draw, keeping the "ducks in line" and helping with the Sunday breakdown/cleanup. I also loved seeing all the wonderful riders and the many fantastic horses, who helped make Nationals a success. I was so grateful to be included in such a momentous event for St. Andrews and am so very proud of my Alma Mater for all its accomplishments and continued growth. “

Leah’s and Kira’s contributions are just two examples of the self-less contributions that came from the greater St. Andrews community.

Social Media Intern, Kimberly Graves, took on the challenge of documenting the planning and organization of the IHSA National Championships that we hosted in Raleigh, NC last May.

Part 6 concluded horse show management. Next week Part 8 - The St. Andrews Students

Horse Show Management Continued - Part 6

Equestrian staff member and hunter seat coach Rob Jacobs helped to organize the shipping of the horses to Raleigh. He recalls, “I was the Assistant Transportation Coordinator. I had to get in touch with the horse providers and find out how many horses the colleges were bringing, what levels they wanted to use their horses at and any additional information they had on their horses. I then needed to get a schedule of when they were planning on arriving so that I could get that information to the Transportation Coordinator once the event started who was Jennifer Sansbury.” Like everyone else Rob wore many hats during the week of Nationals, he continued, “Once the event started my job was to assist the head coach, Ashley Duda, with preparing the horses and riders.”


Another key person needed for McElveen’s team was a hospitality manager to take care of the officials, judges, and stewards. St. Andrews Equine Studies Chair Pebbles Turbeville took on the challenge of picking up meals for special events, arranging transportation for the judges from the airport and their hotels and was responsible for the VIP tent. She was also in charge of the daily Starbucks runs for the horse show judges. “This job took a special person that was great with people and had great time management skills, and Pebbles was the perfect person for the job” said McElveen. “She even took care of my dog while we were in Raleigh.”

Special Events Coordinators were also needed for the multiple catered meals that are part of a National Championships. McElveen turned to equestrian Events Manager Heather Wile Lee, and an old friend Teresa MacFawn, Mom of St. Andrews’ Alumnae Angela MacFawn.

Heather shares some of her memories of the event. “As special events coordinator I was in charge of setting up the areas for all of the dinners held. If I remember correctly we had two special dinners for all of the people showing and horse show personnel. Teresa and I worked closely to make sure the tables were set up, center pieces were arranged, along with meeting the caterers and making sure they had all they needed. Teresa was a great help with the center pieces and in taking care of all of the plants we borrowed from the nursery. She had a knack for decoration and was very crafty. After they were all done we also tore everything down, put table clothes away and made sure the area was cleaned up well. One of the hardest parts of this was having to move people off of the tables and making them re-locate to the chairs for viewing. I remember at one point they were doing the IHSA testing and had taken over part of the dining area and didn't end the testing until 15 minutes before the caterer was supposed to arrive. It was great fun trying to set up 20 tables and center pieces in 15 minutes! Thank goodness for interns who helped move all the tables and get everything set up.

Along with all that I also worked with the interns and Billy to make sure all the little things in the arena were taken care of, roping off seating around the judges and through the VIP area, hanging curtains, setting the courses, arranging flowers, trees, bushes, fencing, etc. Also arranging the rocking chairs where so many people have pictures of team mates sleeping outside with all of the plants and other lawn furniture that was out there. We also helped a couple of late arriving vendors set up their tents.

In addition I was in charge of the parade of teams and horses. That in itself was a task, trying to line up every school by zone, region and then go alphabetically. In the beginning it was hard to get everyone organized but as they started to catch on to what was happening everything started to fall into place quite smoothly and everyone walked into the ring as they needed to. Before hand we had to also hand out coolers to all the teams that brought horses. A team of interns and I had to organize them all by size, 78"-81", and distribute them to the right teams. We ended up with way more 78" left over, seeing as we couldn't very well give any of those to teams that had brought three or four 17 hand warmblood hunters. Those one's went to the reiners!”

Social Media Intern, Kimberly Graves, took on the challenge of documenting the planning and organization of the IHSA National Championships that we hosted in Raleigh, NC last May.


Part 5 started the horse show management discussion.  Next week Part 7- Alumni & Friends of St. Andrews

Horse Show Management - Part 5

Every year the Board of Directors for IHSA volunteer to work the National Championships. The Board for 2012 was 56 strong. 5 That is 56 hotel rooms to organize, plus the logistics for that number of people and that was just IHSA officials! Many of these board members and coaches have been long time supporters of IHSA. Starting with founder Bob Cacchione who has served for 45 years, as of 2012 there were 60 members with 15 or more years of service and more than 30 members with 20+ years of service. IHSA is an association with strong roots that continues to grow.


“The hardest part of the entire thing was being the travel agent,” said McElveen. “Over 500 hotel rooms were reserved and with that came hotel room changes too. It was a job all by itself, making sure that everyone had a room on the day they were to arrive and that the hotel knew when they were leaving.” McElveen was tested when two weeks prior to the event she started receiving phone calls from people wanting to change their rooms or simply volunteering their time to assist with the event. With five hotels booked with IHSA staff and volunteers, McElveen scrambled to find an additional forty rooms to accommodate other volunteers travelling to the event from all over the county.

Selecting who would play the very important roles of Judges, Stewards and Managers began early in the planning process. In the January board meeting of 2011, the Western and Hunter seat committees both sat down and voted on the judges for Nationals. The Hunter Seat Stewards for Nationals must be IHSA Board members and for Western they choose Board members and outside stewards to serve. McElveen also had to select a Horse Show Manager. She let it be known to the horse show world that she was looking for a manager for IHSA Nationals in 2012. Bill Yeager a horse show manager from Warrenton, Virginia was one of several who expressed interest. He had experience in managing IHSA Nationals once before in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and seemed to be a good fit for the Raleigh event. “Billy was great!” commented McElveen. “One of the nicest things about working with Billy is I could call him on Monday and say we have to go to Raleigh this week, we need to meet, and he would say just let me know when and I will be there; and sure enough he was. He is also a good problem solver!” she said. “One of the biggest challenges we faced was getting the live video feed to work. This was something that had never been done at Nationals before. Twenty-four hours before the Opening Ceremonies we had difficulties with the live feed. Billy and I called around and found the top internet professionals in Raleigh to resolve a technical issue. With an hour until the start of the first class the live video feed was up and running.”

In the summer of 2010 McElveen started talking to hotels in the Raleigh area and spending about three days a week there meeting with them to discuss group rates and how big of an impact Nationals was going to make on the city. At the same time she met with restaurants in the area to discuss the catering needs of the event. She even persuaded hotels to offer free breakfast early in the morning for everyone even if they usually did not offer a complimentary breakfast.

McElveen needed a few key people to run the event outside of her existing staff, all of who would be heavily involved in some capacity, whether it be shipping horses, caring for the horses at home, caring for the 40+ horses in Raleigh which included St. Andrews horses and donor horses,6 working in hospitality, coaching, setting fences, decorating etc. The list of activities the equestrian staff was involved with was rather long! The first was important role to fill was a volunteer coordinator. It needed to be a very special person that could get everyone doing what he or she needed to be doing. This job title would be given to Laura Underhill Norment the Head Coach of the East Carolina University IHSA team and former St. Andrews Coach. Second an overall Barn Manager was imperative to the success of the show; someone who no matter what happened would smile and get the job done. The barn manager would be in charge of making sure everything in the barns was running smoothly, coordinating the arrival and departure of horses and arranging care for horses that were loaned but arrived with no care taker. McElveen had known Jennifer Sansbury for a few years through IHSA and asked her if she would be willing to be the Barn manager for Nationals. Jennifer accepted. Next individuals were needed for the famous draw table – the duck pond. McElveen knew she could call on current and former hunter seat instructors Heather Wile, Kira Gainey, Sarah Rhymer, and current dressage coach and faculty member Jackie Dwelle to be in charge of setting up, decorating and running the draw table.

The Awards coordinator position went to the mother daughter duo of Holly and Audrey Hayden, Audrey also being an alumnus of St. Andrews. “It had stayed in the back of my brain all those years that Holly had told me once before about how she had been in charge of the awards banquets for the Kansas Hunter Jumper Association, and I knew she would be perfect for the job” recalled McElveen. The awards coordinator would be a huge part of the event tracking all the returning trophies and organizing the awards for every class, usually through tenth or twelfth place.  An equally important job is the silent auction coordinator due to the fact that the gathering of silent auction items begins one year ahead of the competition. Megan Taylor from Sewanee: The University of the south agreed to keep the coordinator position after she had successfully held the title for several previous years.

The Nationals horse show could not go on if it weren’t for the horses. “It’s a Championship. It doesn’t matter how pretty we have it decorated, or that there is a live feed, or even how nice we are, there is nothing we can do without the horses,” said McElveen. Horse Coordinators were needed to bring in quality horses for the competition. Eddie Federwisch, the Equestrian Program director at Virginia Intermont College and long time friend of McElveen’s was an obvious choice for the hunter seat horses. Federwisch has been a long time member and coach of IHSA teams and was the perfect choice to find the best hunter seat horses for the competition with his many contacts at schools within an eight hour drive of Raleigh. Carla Wennberg, St. Andrews IHSA Western Coach and AQHA Board Member, agreed to serve as the Horse Coordinator for the horsemanship and reining horses.

Social Media Intern, Kimberly Graves, took on the challenge of documenting the planning and organization of the IHSA National Championships that we hosted in Raleigh, NC last May.

Part three explained how the Southern Hospitality Theme was chose. Next week Part Six - Horse Show Mgt. cont.

Southern Hospitality - Part 4

“The hardest part this far out in the planning was trying to decide on a theme,” commented McElveen. The first step she took was asking all of the staff members at St. Andrews in the fall of 2010 if they had any ideas.  Then taking a step back she started looking at North Carolina and everything that it stood for.  “I thought we just have to be ourselves which will include a ton of southern hospitality so why not use magnolias as our logo?” said McElveen. “We need something unique but something we can pull off,. southern hospitality just fits!” Robert Jacobs Alum of St. Andrews noted that exemplifying the southern hospitality on the show grounds was the best part of Nationals. “When I think of Southern Hospitality I think of a welcoming and open environment that's inclusive as opposed to exclusive,” said Jacobs. ⁴  McElveen made sure that this was consistent throughout the show grounds from the cover of the official show program to the white rocking chairs and magnolia blooms in the VIP tent.

Social Media Intern, Kimberly Graves, took on the challenge of documenting the planning and organization of the IHSA National Championships that we hosted in Raleigh, NC last May.

Part Three presented how supportive the St. Andrews communicty of the 2012 IHSA National compeition. Next week, part five Horse Show Management.

St. Andrews University Support - Part 3

Prior to committing to host Nationals McElveen had to garner the support of the University . She went straight to the top of the University to see if it was something that could be made possible. She first approached University President Paul Baldasare and Dean Robert Hopkins with the idea and discussed with them the benefits to St. Andrews and its students. “It’s a value for our current students. Most people will never be able to experience an opportunity like this one. What our students will learn, experience and the contacts that they will make will be invaluable to them,” McElveen remembers saying as part of her presentation to the administrators. “Putting on this event will be putting a feather in St. Andrews cap.” The Administration was supportive of the idea and gave her the go ahead to proceed with planning for the event. In addition to eliciting their support McElveen also had to ask a favor concerning the academic calendar for the spring of 2012. Traditionally, IHSA Nationals has conflicted with exam week and graduation, if St. Andrews was to host then the academic calendar would need to be adjusted to avoid this conflict. 1


Although McElveen received the go ahead from the administrators, it was up to the faculty at St. Andrews to make the final decision. St. Andrews is unique in that the faculty makes the decisions on the academic schedule. Several of McElveen’s colleagues from the administration and the faculty shared her enthusiasm and understood the experiential benefits available to the students.3 Over the course of the semester they openly discussed and educated their colleagues on the benefits of taking on such a huge endeavor. 3 As the time for a decision came closer McElveen sent an email to the faculty explaining what she would be presenting in the next faculty meeting so that the discussion could continue and the professors would have sufficient time to prepare questions and voice any concerns. The time spent in preparing the faculty to be amenable to adjusting the academic calendar paid off. At the meeting, Dean Hopkins called the vote for the date changes to finals week and graduation to accommodate the IHSA National Championships (in effect pushing the academic calendar back a week) and everyone was in favor. “It was amazing!” expressed McElveen, “It was fabulous and says a lot about our school and how supportive they really are.” McElveen was especially touched when several members of the faculty and staff were able to attend this special event including several from the administration including the President and Dean. “It really gave the administration of the college an inside view of what hosting this national championship entailed,” said McElveen. 1 With approval of St. Andrews and Cacchione it was made official in early January of 2010 that the Governor James B. Hunt Horse Complex would be the home of the 2012 IHSA National Championships.

Social Media Intern, Kimberly Graves, took on the challenge of documenting the planning and organization of the IHSA National Championships that we hosted in Raleigh, NC last May.


Part Two discussed the selection of the hosting facility. Next week Part Four - The Real Planning Begins!

IHSA Nationals 2013 - Part Two

A Hosting Facility

The facility was not the major concern for McElveen. She knew having spent the past decade in Laurinburg, North Carolina that the little town with a population of a mere 15,000 was not capable of providing adequate accommodations for the expected 3,000 people involved in the national competition.  McElveen suggested that St. Andrews host the competition but at a more suitable facility that was also travel friendly. McElveen called up Dale Barnett, a friend of hers who was the Manager of the Governor James B. Hunt Horse complex and a former IHSA rider, to schedule a meeting to see if the dates for the 2012 nationals were available.  Days before the July 4^th holiday, McElveen and Barnett met to discuss the actuality of the national competition being held at the Hunt Horse Complex. With extreme enthusiasm the two spread out their three-year planners and began discussing the timeline.  Barnett’s ability to move other horse show dates around sealed the deal in guaranteeing the facility’s availability to host Nationals. ¹

Social Media Intern, Kimberly Graves, took on the challenge of documenting the planning and organization of the IHSA National Championships that we hosted in Raleigh, NC last May.

Part One posted last week explained the vision of IHSA CEO Bob Cacchione. Next week Part Three - St. Andrews Universty Support.

2012 IHSA Nationals - Part One, The Vision of Robert "Bob" Cacchione

Social Media Intern, Kimberly Graves, took on the challenge of documenting the planning and organization of the IHSA National Championships that we hosted in Raleigh, NC last May. To say hosting an event of that size was a large undertaking would be a major understatement. Over the summer I will be sharing the story behind the event starting back as far as June 2009. Today we start at the beginning with the man behind IHSA Bob Cacchione.

The Planning and Organization of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association 2012 National Championships

Part One - The Vision of Robert ‘Bob’ Cacchione


The Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) is the largest organization in the United States (and probably the world) to provide a competitive forum for horseback riders in college. Founded in 1967 by then sophomore Robert Cacchione at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, IHSA currently boasts 376+ college members, and approximately 8,700+ student members in the United States and Canada. Competition is offered in hunter seat and western with over 300 shows a year across the country. The country is divided into 8 zones which each contain several regions. Colleges are a member of the zone and region that fits them geographically. Competitions are hosted by member colleges and lead up to regional competitions which qualify individual riders for zone championships. The zone championships decide which teams and individuals advance to the National Championships in early May. Somewhere around 200 individuals qualify to represent their schools at Nationals either as a member of the team, as an individual or both.2

The National Championship competition moves around the country, usually being hosted by a region or zone. Previous venues include the prestigious Kentucky Horse Park, Tennessee Miller Coliseum and The Los Angeles Equestrian Center Around 200 horses are needed for the event to cover the many classes that are offered and to create a competition that is as fair as possible.

The Intercollegiate Horse Show Association IHSA Board of Directors meets twice a year to discuss all matters associated with the association. At the end of the June 2009 meeting, IHSA CEO Bob Cacchione approached Peggy McElveen the St. Andrews University, Equestrian Program Director and informed her that he wanted St. Andrews to be the host of the prestigious Nationals competition. “The first thing I said was “When?” said McElveen. Cacchione had a vision that St. Andrews could host the 2012 IHSA Nationals at the Equestrian Center. The National competition would have to split if it were to be hosted at the equestrian center. With one side of the property dedicated to the hunter seat portion of nationals and the other side to western nationals, it could be done.

Coming next time the reasons behind the move to Raleigh, NC in Part Two - A Hosting Facility.

MLK Day of Service

Today is the MLK day of service. This has become such a popular event at St. Andrews that we are able to include campus facilities in the project. We are expecting 50+ volunteers at the equestrian center today to help with projects. These include removing rust spots from the covered arenas, cleaning the stall walls (with 120 stalls that is a huge project in itself), picking up trash on Hasty Road, and cleaning the white fences. Looking forward to getting lots done.

Dedication of the Suzanne Mott Dansby Arena

Sept 25, 2012 saw the dedication of the large covered arena at the lesson barn. This post is from the press release sent from the St. Andrews University Communications Office.

 

"We are dedicating the arena to express our appreciation to Stewart Dansby, an alumnus who has generously supported his alma mater for more than 35 years," said President Paul Baldasare, "and, at Stewart’s request, we are honoring his sister, Suzanne, an internationally known and highly competitive Grand Prix dressage rider and instructor."

 

Formerly competing as Suzanne Mott Dansby, the arena's namesake has been listed for the USET dressage team since 2000 and served as the 2006 USET team alternate in Germany for the World Equestrian Games. Owner of Dancing Horse Farm in Atlanta, Ga., she began riding dressage in 1984, when she returned to riding after several years away. She began a practice several years ago of donating all of her winnings to local charities while being generous in her support of the U.S. Dressage Federation Building Fund and the USEF National Grand Prix and Intermediate Championships.

 

"My mother's side of the family has always been philanthropic, involved in giving back to the community," she said. "I have served on foundation or non-profit boards all of my adult life, contributed either as a volunteer or monetarily." This generosity and commitment to service are shared by her brother.

 

"Throughout his adult life, Stewart has devoted much of his time to volunteer and charitable work," Baldasare said. "He has remained faithful to St. Andrews. He served on our board of trustees from 1982 to 1990 and then again from 2005 to 2007. He has contributed generously to everything from scholarship support to renovations to endowed funds to general operations. He always gives in honor of others and with great humility."

 

In addition to his charitable work, Dansby is the co-founder, owner and director of American Cadastre, Inc. He has also spent several years in his home town of Birmingham, Ala., promoting economic development and tourism for the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.

 







Ella Brave on LJ





Lindsey Agaliotis riding Windsong

 

Pebbles Turbeville and Manly

Matt and Rob reveal the banner!

President Baldasare, Suzanne Dansby-Bollman, Stewart Dansby and Peggy McElveen

 

The Equestrian Program at St. Andrews

The St. Andrews equestrian program began in 1969 with the creation of the Hoofers as an officially recognized campus club. In the fall of 1982, St. Andrews became a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). One year later, the team became a recognized varsity sport. That same year, St. Andrews won the IHSA National Championship Stock Seat title and was the National Reserve Champion in the Hunter Seat Division.

 

Having utilized rental facilities at Singing Wood Farm and Annex since the early 1980s, the equestrian program moved to its current location on Hasty Road in stages, beginning with the Therapeutic Horsemanship in 2001 with the opening of the Singletary Therapeutic Riding Center. The Dressage program moved next with the Hunter Seat team completing the move in 2004. A Western program was added in 2005.

End of the Semester

Its exam week and things are winding down at the Equestrian Center. Monday evening several of us joined Carla’s Form to Function class for a presentation by Rob Jacobs. Rob recently did an internship with the Washington International Horse Show. He had a busy week in Washington updating the show’s webpage, facebook and twitter pages, taking video footage of the first horse arriving in the city, assisting with the organization of hospitality for sponsors, and even appearing on ABC News Channel 8 – live!

Tuesday evening a group spent a couple of hours packing about 200 boxes to be shipped overseas to soldiers. This tradition started 4 years ago and has become a highlight of the Christmas season. Carla’s Mom sponsors the project and collects tons of boxes. SAPC equestrians purchase useful items for the boxes – things like toiletries, snacks, cards and games. This year we ran out of stuff before we ran out of boxes. Peggy came to the rescue making two trips into town to purchase more stuff. Everything was loaded into Carla’s horse trailer to be delivered to the VFW Post in Southern Pines. Thursday lunchtime Jake Nix, Shannon Leggett, Rachel Buckler & Anne Neal Thompson accompanied Carla to drop off the stuff. Thank you to Nancy Wennberg, Peggy, Carla and everyone who helped with this project. As Carla says, “This is Christmas!”

Wednesday evening Riding Council hosted their annual Christmas party at the farm house. The barn staff decorated the farm house (including inflatables on the front lawn). Rank testing certificates were handed out and Lindsay, Heather and Ashley cooked for the hordes.

Next week things will be quieter as students finish up exams and head home for Christmas break. Those of us with academic classes will be scrambling to get grades turned in and all equestrian staff members will be pitching in with horse care.

Its not all bad – finally some stability at SAPC

The Elephant in the room finally got noticed a week ago last Thursday when we learned that the judge in GA ruled in favor of the Southern Association (SACS) in the long standing lawsuit between us and the accrediting agency. Not a great start to fall break for students, staff or faculty. By the time fall break was over we learned that our programmatic accreditation with the American Academy of Liberal Education (AALE) had been upgraded to institutional preaccreditation effective for the 09-10 academic year with a site visit planned for Spring 2010 for admission to AALE for ten years. Meaning no matter what happens with the appeal process we are fully accredited and will not lose financial aid and other privileges that come with accreditation.

These announcements have created waves of tsunami size throughout the SAPC community. Rumors have been flying and although changes of this sort bring about uncertainty, rumors do not help what is already a stressful situation. Rumors that are unfounded help even less. President Baldasare is addressing the SGA and all students on Monday evening to give students a direct opportunity to ask questions and understand the real implications of the situation. If there was ever a time for the SAPC community to pull together and embrace a new era I would say that it is now!

The legal details and some thought provoking comments are available at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/12/accreditation#