Western Team Qualifies for IHSA National Championships!

by Guest Blogger Coach Carla Wennberg

Florida State University was Host college
17 other Universities represented; Top Four placing out of 16 riders per class move forward to nationals.

Results for St Andrews University;
Jarret Vaughn, from Gastonia, NC was 3rd in Intermediate  Horsemanship
Logan Teeter, from Henderson, NC was first in Novice Horsemanship
Both students advance to Nationals as Individuals in those divisions

Top three Teams winning points advance forward to Nationals IN Springfield, Mass. First weekend of May!
1. University of Findlay 32 points
2. St Andrews University 31 points
3. Black Hawk College 22 points

4. Middle Tennessee State University
5. Alfred State University
6. University of Fla.
7. Cal Poly Pomona
8. University of Delaware

Great Competition, Lovely location!
We fought all the way through the weekend to stay consistent and not make mistakes!!!
It paid off. I am soooo Proud of my Team and their Sp
All the hard work and determination!
It takes a Village to make this all work!!
Thank you to Lindsey Agaliotis and Peggy McElveen!!!
Jennifer Sansbury for care and driving our horses to competition
Kara Copeland and Cailey Culp for great warm up riding!
Very Proud Coach!!!
Carla

Colleges and Universities represented;
Kutztown, Lenoir-Ryne, University of AZ, Rutgers, Iowa State, Florida State University, Murray State University, Centenary College, Knoxville, United States Military Academy, Western Ky University, Illinois State University, Va Tech, University of Central Fla, NE Oklahoma A&M, Missouri State University, NC State University.

Full Teams competing;
1. Alfred University, New York
2. Black Hawk College, Ill
3. Cal Poly Pomona, Calif
4. Middle Tennessee State Univ, Tn
5. St Andrews University, NC
6. University of Delaware, De
7. University of Findlay, Ohio
8. University of Fla, Fla

A Member of the Western Team

Written by Sarah Murvin for Equine Business Management class. 

Last weekend the St. Andrews Western team competed at Campbell University. The team finished the weekend with Reserve High Point team on Saturday and High Point team on Sunday. The scores allowed St. Andrews to maintain a region lead of 12 points heading into the final show of the competitive season that will be hosted by Liberty University on February 28. 

This team has thrived in the IHSA region for many years. They have been the Regional Champion team from 2005-2014; and have qualified 7 of those years for the National Championship show as a team.

As a Western team member, you experience the benefits of being a part of a team and you are constantly building friendships. Each member makes an important effort to improve their equestrian skills. Their experience begins before entering the show ring and extends long after the end of the show. Coach Carla Wennberg always has something inspiring to say about her team: “You know I am always in awe of my teams each year. It seems my great leaders of the upperclassmen really teach the freshmen early on how to be great citizens, help each other, share, and do what is right. The lessons we learn are because of the horse and responsibility and competition.” Coach Carla is an immense asset to this team, as well as Assistant Coach Lindsey Agaliotis. They both offer great insight and they help this team come together as a family. 

Due to personal reasons I wasn’t able to be a member of the team this semester; but as a member for 2 years I created many relationships with this team. I have built many friendships and still feel connected to the team. Carla is a very understanding coach and she is willing to work with you to help you feel more confident as a rider. When I first came to this school I had never ridden a Quarter horse, or even competed on a riding team. Carla knew exactly how to shape me into a western rider. Riding with Carla for three years has benefited me in ways I couldn’t imagine. Being a part of this western team is more than an experience it’s a privilege; and it’s worth being involved in. 

Horse Show Updates

Last weekend the Western Team traveled to West Virginia to compete in the Mountaineer Invitational finishing in second place overall. “We were the only southern team to compete,” said Coach Carla Wennberg. “I am very proud to have the opportunity to compete my team against teams we don’t have the chance to compete with until spring at the Semi-Finals Competition. This tournament gave us the opportunity to see where we are midseason and what we need to improve on.” Click here for results and more information on this competition.

At home this Saturday we hosted IHSA Hunter Seat. The show was well organized by the Equestrian Program students and staff with St. Andrews earning 2nd place and maintaining the Regional lead by 18 points. ECU coached by Alumna Alie McGraw took the Championship Ribbon and UNC - Wilmington coached by Alimnus Rob Jacobs was third. A good weekend for St. Andrews overall! Click here for more news on this show.

This weekend the IHSA Hunter Seat team travels to ECU and the Intercollegiate Dressage Association team hosts is first home show of the 2014/2015 season. The dressage show begins at 10:00 a.m. with First Level Test 2 and concludes around 4:00 after four divisions of tests and 6 classes of dressage seat equitation which is new for our IDA region this year.

What have we been doing?

Once again, time has flown by without a blog post. We have had horse show, riding open house, fall break and are gearing up for the next round of shows.  The Hunter Seat team placed third at our home show Oct 3^rd behind NC State and Duke but rallied back at UNC Wilmington to win. The dressage team had its first outing at NCSU Oct. 18^th finishing with a 3^rd place overall. Senior Claire Pollard earned the high point rider ribbon with a score of 76.429% in Training Level Test 2.

While I was traveling with the dressage team, the rest of the equestrian staff worked hard to put on a wonderful riding open house for prospective high school seniors. Friday night we hosted an information session and dinner on campus. Heather led a crew to decorate the patio by the lake which looked amazing. Administrators and members of the Faculty joined us to talk about the program, answer questions and visit with families. Lots of contacts were made with future students and we all came away thinking that the future of St. Andrews looks great. On Saturday, Seniors rode for the Equestrian staff and Juniors joined the staff at the Equestrian Center for tours and information. The feedback we have received from our guests has been fabulous. Several people commented on how our current students genuinely care for the horses.

Looking forward to this weekend, teams will be doing the fall clean up of Hasty Road on Saturday, the IHSA hunter seat team heads out on Sunday for a show hosted by UNC Chapel Hill and Duke and the entire dressage team travels with Liz and I for 2 shows at Averett University, leaving at o’dark thirty tomorrow. Next week, Pebbles and Liz and two students fly to California for the Path Int. conference. At home we are excited to be hosting a clinic with Bernie Traurig next weekend. 

Claire with her High Point Ribbon

IHSA Results

The IHSA teams started off the season with a bang! The Western Team was Champion both Saturday and Sunday at our first home shows. They lead the region with 68 pts; Reserve Champion on both days was NCSU who have 62 pts. The Hunter Seat team earned 4^th place at the Tournament of Champions at Goucher College in MD – a very respectable placing in a competitive tourney.

Josh and Red Ted had an excellent showing at Special Olympics in Raleigh – more on that in a future post.

Go Knights!

Results from Western Shows

Saturday

Champion St. Andrews 34 pts.

Reserve Champion NCSU 30 pts.

Open Horsemanship A

2^nd Becca Alden

3^rd Kara Copeland

Intermediate Horsemanship II A

1^st Jarret Vaughn

Open Horsemanship B

2^nd Katie Mosca

Intermediate Horsemanship II B

2^nd Sarah Murvin

Advanced Horsemanship A

2^nd Phillip Alden

Intermediate Horsemanship II C

1^st Cailey Culp

5^th Samantha Bollinger

Advanced Horsemanship B

4^th Mark Mowbray

Intermediate Horsemanship II D

1^st Connor Smith

Reining A

2^nd Katie Mosca

Novice Horsemanship

1^st Logan Teeter – Section A

3^rd Erica LeSeur – Section A

2^nd Michelle Eld – Section B

1^st Natasha Worker – Section C

Beginning Horsemanship B

1^st Austin Trockenbrot

Sunday

Champion Team - St. Andrews - 34 points
Reserve Ch Team - NCSU - 32 points

Open Horsemanship
Becca Alden - 3rd - Section A
Kara Copeland - 3rd - Section B
Katie Mosca - 1st -Section B

Advanced Horsemanship
Phillip Alden - 3rd - Section A
Mark Mowbray- 2nd - Section B

Novice Horsemanship
Natasha Worker - 1st -Section A
Michelle Eld - 1st - Section B
Erica LeSeur - 5th -Section B
Logan Teeter Carter - 2nd - Section C

Intermediate Horsemanship
Dillon Vaughn - 1st - Section A
Alysse Lemme - 3rd - Section B
Cailey Culp - 2nd - Section C
Jarret Vaughn - 1st - Section D
Austin Trockenbrot - 1st - Intermediate I

Beginner Horsemanship
Danielle Eads - 1st - Section A
Tiffany Burch - 1st - Section C

Reining
Katie Mosca - 2nd and Reserve High Point Rider for the day

Tournament of Champions – Goucher College, MD

1st - Goucher College - 41 points
2nd - Savannah College of Art & Design - 36 points
3rd - Mt. Holyoke College - 34 points
4th - St. Andrews University - 30 points
5th - Randolph College - 28 points
6th - Bridgewater College - 27 points

Also competing - Virginia Tech, Lafayette College, West Virginia University, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, University of Mary Washington, University of Wisconsin, University of Delaware, Rutgers University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Villanova, and Otterbein. Thanks to Goucher College for hosting such a great show!
All of our riders contributed points to the team total. Sabrina Vlacich won Intermediate Fences and Jessica Story won Walk, Trot, Canter. Cami Glaff was second in Intermediate Flat and Briley Branden was second in Novice Flat. Kelsey Kocher was fifth in Open Flat and Katie Thomas was fifth in Novice Fences. Paola Sierra-Danielsen was sixth in Walk, Trot and Kelsey Kocher was sixth in Open Fences. Congratulations riders and coaches Matt Arrigon and Tara Algieri!

Our Upcoming Weekend

Ride-Like-A-Knight is heading to Special Olympics today! Josh Dazey and Red Ted will be competing in several classes with Brooke Ellington as their coach. Liz Dulski and 5 students are travelling to help organize and staff the horse show. At home we are preparing for back to back western shows Saturday and Sunday to kick off the horse show season. The western team has some new riders, the region is growing so will some exciting competition at the barn this weekend!

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. 

Tentative Schedule of Events - Fall 2014

St. Andrews Equestrian Center

            AUGUST

            20                     Rider Placement for New Students

            24                     Barn Orientation for New Students

            25-29                Team Practices for returning Team Members

            29                     Equestrian Fair

            SEPTEMBER

1                                             Lessons Begin!

5-7                    IEA Prep Clinic and Tournament

8                      RLAK Lessons Begin!

12-13                Team Tryouts

18-21                Special Olympics, Raleigh, NC

19-20                Tournament of Champions, Goucher College, Towson MD

20-21                IHSA Western Horse Show

26-28                Triangle Farms ‘C’ Show , Raleigh, NC  (Boarders Only)

27                     Kris Hamilton clinic for Eventing & Dressage teams

OCTOBER

4                      IHSA Hunter Seat Horse Show

8-12                  CHA Instructor Certification Clinic

9-12                  Fall Break

17-18                Riding Admissions Open House for High School Seniors

18                     IDA Dressage Show NCSU

19                     IHSA Hunter Seat Horse Show, UNC Wilmington, Rocky Point, NC

25 – 26             IDA Dressage Show Averett University

26                     IHSA Hunter Seat Horse Show, UNC Chapel Hill / Duke, Hillsborough, NC

26                     St. Andrews Equestrian Field Frolic 5k & 1 Mile Fun Run

26                     Showing Under The Stars - Halloween Edition

29 – 2               PATH Conference, San Diego, CA

NOVEMBER

29 – 2               PATH Conference, San Diego, CA

1-2                    Triangle Farms ‘C’ Medal Finals, Raleigh, NC

1-2                    Hunter Seat Clinic with Bernie Traurig

4-9                    Duke Classic ‘AA’, Raleigh, NC

7-9                    Equestrian Talent Search

8                      Chamber of Commerce Oyster Roast

8-9                    IHSA Western Horse Shows, Martin Community College, Williamston, NC

15                     IHSA Hunter Seat Horse Show

15                     Admissions Open House

21                     RLAK Lessons End

22                     IDA Dressage Show

22                     IHSA Hunter Seat Horse Show, East Carolina University, Vanceboro, NC

23                     Showing Under The Stars – Holiday Edition

26-30                Thanksgiving Break

DECEMBER

5                      Classes end

5                      Riding Council Christmas Party

8-12                  Exam Week

***Events listed in italics are events that are not hosted at the Equestrian Center**