We're on the road to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for the 2013 Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championships! We have two IHSA members on the ground to bring you lots of behind-the-scenes coverage. Here is a little info about our correspondents:

Madison Harris is a senior at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, studying Business Management. As team member of the Berry Hunt Seat team, Madison has held the captain's position of Historian for 3 years as well. On top of team, riding her Appendix Quarter Horse mare, Sassie, and participating in the IHSA Media Internship, she also started and manages her own photography business called MHarris Photography. Photography and horses are two of her passions and she is incredibly excited to be helping out with the Practical Horseman coverage this year in Harrisburg.

Nicole Mandracchia has been riding for over 10 years and is a working student at James and Robin Fairclough’s Top Brass Farm in Newton, New Jersey. She helps tend to the farm's 25 driving and jumping horses. She grooms and shows at major horse shows on the East Coast, such as HITS Saugerties and Ocala, Garden State, the Sussex County Farm and Horse Show, the Pennsylvania National and Lake Placid. She attends Centenary College and is the senior captain of the IHSA team where she has been competing in the Open level for four years. Nicole is planning to graduate in May 2013 with an Equine Studies degree with a concentration in Communications.

For the latest results and information about the 2013 IHSA Nationals, click HERE. Watch live streaming of all the action HERE.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Nicole Mandracchia's Blog: Final Hunt Seat Day at IHSA Nationals: I heard one of my favorite songs, “Titanium” by Sia, come over the loudspeaker this morning while all our horses were out schooling. I sang along with it for a few bars and then turned to one of my teammates with a smile. “It’s going to be a good day—this is a good song.” He looked at me like I was crazy, but I was getting good vibes.

As the saying goes, it ain’t over until it’s over. It seemed as though Centenary’s luck finally turned around today. Senior Cori Reich won the coveted USEF/Cacchione Cup title, something she has been working very hard for. This is the third time in five years that a Centenary rider has claimed this title; graduate Lindsay Clark won it in 2009 and graduate Marissa Cohen won in 2011.

It was so stressful listening to the announcer list the riders’ names in reverse order of placing during the awards presentation. Our entire team was there to cheer for her when her name was called in first place—we were all in tears. After all the ribbon pictures were taken, we stormed into the arena and enveloped her in a group hug. There are so many of us that I’m sure it looked like a stampede! Cori is amazing and we are so proud of her.

Our Open Flat rider, junior Kathryn Haley, scored a win for us in Team Open Flat. The judges did not call the riders back for further testing like they did last year. Instead, they asked the riders to drop their stirrups to the right and perform flatwork without them, including a lengthening of stride at the canter. Katie rode beautifully and with the same grace and poise that she always has. I wish I could flat as well as she can!

That win brought us to a tie with Goucher College for 5^th overall in the team placings, which was the same placing we received last year. Being one of the top five teams in the country is pretty good and we’ll definitely take it! Skidmore and St. Lawrence deserved the win—their riders were exceptional all week. Stanford University jumped to the Reserve Championship, which was great for them! The Savannah College of Art and Design was third and Mount Holyoke was fourth.

The show always does three sportsmanship awards to recognize three individuals who have worked hard all week to make Nationals possible. Rebecca Folk of Lafayette College won the Rider Award, Erin Githens of Lafayette College won the Coach Award and Centenary’s very own Amy Gregonis won the Volunteer Award. Congratulations to them—all were very deserving!

There’s also a Horse of the Show award given to the horse that has been the most consistent all week and has been a favorite among riders and coaches. Centenary’s King won this award, and he proudly posed in the winner’s circle. He will receive free SmartPaks for a year and won a beautiful bridle, which we want him to wear in his lessons every day. Centenary has had King for 7 years, and he has been such a great addition to our program. He has taught countless riders how to ride and always comes to Nationals with us. He also does ANRC Nationals, IDA shows at Centenary, IHSA shows at Centenary and Hunter/Jumper team shows. He a professional and knows his job well.

After the award presentations, we packed up our equipment and horses to go home. This was the last IHSA show of my college career—I graduate from Centenary in two weeks. It’s so surreal and I do not know where the past four years have gone. IHSA has been a part of my college career from day 1; I have always been committed to our team. I have learned so many essential riding skills competing in IHSA shows in Zone 3, Region 3. As a captain, I’ve learned the value of teamwork and how to run horse shows successfully and efficiently. I have learned how to get the best out of my team and encourage them to work hard and never give up. I’ve made so many life-long friends that I will never forget and will always keep in touch with. And most importantly, I’ve learned horsemanship skills that will last a lifetime.

Ultimately, we had a great year and that’s all that really matters. We were undefeated, winning every show all semester and we claimed the Zone 3 Finals Championship. None of Centenary’s success would have been possible without the help of all 60 people on our team, and I thank each and every one of them for one of the best years our team has ever had. I can’t thank our coaches Michael Dowling and Heather Clark enough for all their support and dedication to the team. All those no-stirrup lessons and practices ultimately made us stronger riders. It has been an honor to work with each member of this team, and I hope that they will learn as much from IHSA as I did.

2013 IHSA Nationals ended in a tie this year between Skidmore and St. Lawrence. Both coaches had wonderful things to say about the other team. Mary Drueding (St. Lawrence): "I'd rather share than lose the title. I'm incredibly proud of Zone 2 in itself. We have strong riders, strong coaches, and we all fight until the 8th class on the last day." Belinda (Asst. Coach of Skidmore): "This was a really special camaraderie and we're both thrilled to share the title within Zone 2."

© Madison Harris

I have to share this photo of my own team, Berry College, who claimed 6th place today. On a personal note, we have fought the past three years of my college career to reach Nationals and haven't made it as a team past Zones. This year, after an undefeated season, my team made it to Nationals. I have never been a part of such a hard-working and supportive group of people before and I was proud to watch them accomplish this goal. This was probably the greatest present I could've received at the end of my senior year. Go Vikings!

© Madison Harris

King, the Dutch Warmblood from Centenary College, won Champion Hunt Seat Horse of 2013 Nationals. What a beautiful guy!

© Madison Harris

I had the chance for a quick word with Peter Leone after the Cacchione Cup final. He stated: "The Cacchione final testing was Maclay caliber of skill. All the coaches and teams should be incredibly proud of their riders. I was impressed."

© Madison Harris

We have some fantastic video footage provided from a number of sources this week!

© Madison Harris

Running the in-gate at a horse show, especially Nationals, takes a large amount of skill and multitasking. I caught our manager, Chris Mitchell, in the middle of a vary precarious situation involving the balance of coffee and calling riders.

© Madison Harris

Everyone has a tendency to stop and check out the coveted Hunt Seat National Champion trophy, I know I have a couple of times.

© Madison Harris

Meet Lucy! Lucy is a 12 year old, Dutch Warmblood, who is owned by the United States Military Academy. After speaking to her owners, Lucy was found by a friend of the family and shared with them her remarkable talent as a jumper. Lucy has been a show-favorite this week due to her floppy ears as she listens to her riders. As her owner said: "She's known for it, and sometimes you can't really help how big your head is!"

© Madison Harris

While we're here with our teammates cheering us on, we have a tendency to forget how proud our parents are of us. As our number one fans since we start our careers, countless hours are spent watching ringside. They stick with us through the highs and lows, the falls, the smiles, and most of all, the moments that matter most. I had the pleasure of capturing Flavia D'urso's father watching from the gate as Flavia received her Champion ribbon in Collegiate Open Equitation Over Fences for Skidmore College. Not a single person could help but smile as he pointed her out in excitement and pride.

© Madison Harris

The final 10 riders from the Cacchione Cup line up for the awards ceremony.

© Madison Harris

Peter Leone is present today at Nationals. Winning riders have been awarded his "Show Jumping Clinic" book as a prize here. All 10 of the Cacchione riders received a book as a token of competition. Peter is a Member of the United States Equestrian Team and has represented the United States on numerous occasions including in 1982 when he helped the U.S. finish fourth in the World Championships in Dublin, Ireland, and in 1996 when he and Crown Royal Legato were part of the USET's Silver Medal team at the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta.

© Madison Harris

Cori Reich, of Centenary College, becomes emotional as she is left standing in the lineup as the winner of the 2013 Cacchione Cup. After finishing 15th last year in the Cacchione Cup, Reich was ecstatic with this accomplishment. Speaking to her after the awards, she "thanked Heather and Michael for pushing her incredibly hard and expecting a lot out of her and her teammates. That's how accomplishments are made."

© Madison Harris

The Cacchione Cup is a wrap! Final standings were: Cori Reich, from Centenary (Champion), Flavia D'Urso, from Skidmore (Reserve Champion) and Blake Roberts from Virginia Intermont (Third).

© Madison Harris

Here's the mounting arena where the riders meet their horses. Afterward they make the walk through the tunnel to the competition arena.

© Madison Harris

Riding your horse through various patterns off the rail will improve your use of your ­outside aids—and protect your knees from being run into fence posts and other hazards.

© Amy K. Dragoo

A: Hugging the rail is an easy habit for both horses and riders to develop, especially if you ride in a small, crowded arena. Initially, you may both ­seek out the rail for the safety it provides from oncoming traffic. Without realizing it, you can let it become a crutch, controlling where you go and when you turn. This unfortunately encourages you to neglect your outside aids, which allows your horse to travel crooked and out of balance.

Fortunately, you can turn this problem into a learning opportunity. By focusing on the solutions I recommend, you can teach yourself to ride more effectively with your outside aids while increasing your awareness of your horse and the horses around you. In turn, your horse’s balance and straightness will improve—which will make him a safer and more enjoyable partner.

Start by practicing staying off the rail as much as possible. Be creative! Ride down the centerline, the quarterlines and across the diagonals. Make circles, figure eights and serpentines, both on the correct bend and in counter bend. If you know Western reiners, ask them to teach you their patterns. The goal is to rely on the rail as little as possible so that you take full ­responsibility for steering your horse around the arena—and your horse learns to tune into your aids rather than simply follow the rail.

This may sound simple, but it requires a certain level of focus and homework to be truly effective. Before initiating a figure or pattern, visualize exactly where you’ll do it. Carefully plan every turn and straightaway, choosing focal points other than the rail whenever you can—cones, jump standards, mounting blocks, etc. For example, if you ride a serpentine, rather than touching the rail on every loop, plan a creative, winding path around the ­obstacles in the arena, making loops of varying widths and lengths.

“Ride” your chosen figure or pattern in your mind a few times before executing it. Then try to follow the exact track you envisioned. Keep your eyes up, and give other riders plenty of warning whenever you travel in a direction they may not expect. For example, when you ride on the quarterline in a counterclockwise direction (which prevents you from passing other riders in the conventional left-shoulder-to-left-shoulder manner), call out “quarterline” or “inside” to oncoming riders. If traffic is extremely heavy in your arena, work on something simple, such as a figure eight, at one end of the ring.

The figures and patterns you practice will improve your communication with your horse while weaning you both off the habit of hugging the rail. Without even thinking about it, you’ll use both hands and legs to bend and counter bend your horse around the exercises. This will strengthen and balance him by making him use both sides of his body. And it will give you the control you’ll need to keep him straighter when you return to the rail.

On every straight line—centerline, quarterline, diagonal—be sure to use your outside aids as well as your inside aids. Maintain contact with your outside rein, and close your outside leg on your horse’s side to help guide his body in the direction you want to go. In the corners, think of making square turns, rather than round ones. Imagine using your outside hand and leg to press your horse around your inside bending aids, as if you were making a turn on the haunches.

When you do have to ride on the rail, be careful not to slip into the common habit of overbending your horse, constantly holding his nose slightly to the inside. This keeps him off balance—and makes him more likely to drift toward the rail. Check the alignment in his neck and shoulders frequently and straighten them as necessary by closing your outside leg and applying a little more pressure on the outside rein—not so much that you turn his nose to the outside, but enough to tell him, “This is not an open door.”

If your horse leans on the outside rein, ask him to counter bend slightly by applying aids similar to those you’d use for a leg-yield: direct outside leg to soft, bending outside rein, pressing him diagonally toward your inside hand while still keeping him moving forward on a straight track. (You must be off the rail to do this!)

Remember, the solution for every riding problem requires improvement in both the horse and the rider. The more homework you do to advance your own skills—practicing riding off the rail and ­focusing on your track and outside aids—the more control you’ll gain over your horse and the safer your knees will be!

A native of the Bahamas, Ashley Kelly combines her artistic and equestrian talents to coach the successful intercollegiate hunt-seat team at Savannah College of Art and Design. A SCAD graduate herself with a degree in metals and jewelry as well as experience competing at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association and American National Riding Commission championships, Ashley uses ­imagery and artistic references to explain riding concepts to her students. “Everybody thinks differently,” she says.

For example, when Ashley teaches a rider with very stiff arms to become softer and create a sense of feel with the reins, she asks her student to imagine how she would hold a paintbrush or pencil to lightly shade something in and try to create the same sensitivity when holding the reins. This approach has paid off with two IHSA Zone 5 Cacchione Cup reserve championships, multiple ANRC national championship team and individual wins and SCAD’s first-ever qualification to compete in the IHSA National Championship as a team in 2011. The “Bees” placed fourth.

This article first appeared in the June 2012 issue of Practical Horseman magazine.

Nicole Bourgeois hadn’t expected her duties as a University of South Carolina Equestrian Team member to include hanging outside the football stadium or basketball arena on big game days. But she found herself there, manning a booth and allowing her college peers to ask questions and interact with two horses to promote the NCAA equestrian team to the student body. In addition to helping the horses stay calm in unfamiliar settings, Nicole had to stretch her somewhat shy nature to be outgoing.

Putting herself in unfamiliar circumstances was one of the many beneficial college-riding experiences for Nicole. Alumni from various schools say they also have gained skills to help master life’s great juggling act while riding for their equestrian teams. These lessons, including leadership and time-management skills, the ability to contribute to a team and excel as part of it, and lifelong networking connections, have served them well in careers within and outside the equine industry. Team riding also deepened and diversified the horsemanship knowledge of many and even gave some a leg up in the job hunt.

Teamwork and Leadership
Learning to be a team player was one of Jordan Siegel’s favorite lessons from her days as a star on the Savannah College of Art and Design Equestrian Team in Georgia. ­Although she knew in high school that she wanted to work with her mother as a training partner at Summer Hill Farms in Flower Mound, Texas, Jordan considered college a must. She earned a degree in media and performing arts and served as captain of the three-time American National Riding Commission champion SCAD team for three of her four years there.

“My favorite part of college riding was learning how to be part of a team and really enjoying it,” says the 2006 graduate in whose name a $500 academic scholarship is awarded each year. “The team aspect is much different than what you experience as part of riding with a training barn. Everybody on the team is accountable for his or her own actions, and each individual’s actions affect the team. If one person makes a mistake, the whole team suffers.” That’s true in a competitive context and beyond. If somebody is late for the team bus or doesn’t pull his or her weight with barn chores it impacts everybody negatively, Jordan says. “Emotionally, the fact that you are always there for each other produces a different relationship than you have with your average friends.”

Learning to build relationships was one of the biggest dividends of college riding, agrees Daniel Geitner. At 36, Daniel is now a well-established professional, but the real-world benefits of collegiate team riding are as vivid to him today as they were when he was a star of the St. ­Andrews Presbyterian College Intercollegiate Horse Show Association squad in Laurinburg, North Carolina. The Cacchione Cup winner as a freshman in 1994, Daniel now runs the 55-horse hunter/jumper Daniel E. Geitner Stables in Aiken, South Carolina. “Most of the shows we went to we were stuck in a van for six or seven hours together,” he recalls. “You learned to meet new people and mesh with them pretty quickly!”

Dressage rider Robin Guter brought two horses to the University of Findlay in Ohio, so she didn’t compete often in the school’s Intercollegiate Dressage Association competitions. She found many other ways to be a valuable team player, however. She often rode during the “parade,” when the host school’s horses are shown at the walk, trot and canter so opponents can size up which of their riders will be the best match.

Jordan, a three-time IHSA national individual champion, adds that as team captain from her sophomore year forward, the diplomacy she developed in that role has direct applications in her work as a trainer. “It’s a skill that you have to work on every day, but the team was a good place to learn to be a leader, not a dictator, and also a friend. I learned to be the kind of leader whose teammates could let me know if I was being unreasonable, ­because that’s what friends are for.” The captain’s role, she adds, came with the supervision of coaches who helped her learn its boundaries.

Time Management
Robin credits the time-management skills she learned riding for Findlay with helping her earn a promotion just eight months after taking her first job as a pharmacist. Graduating in 2010 with a double major in equine science and pharmacy, she says learning to be super productive was a “huge benefit” and “one of those things you learn without realizing that you are learning it.”

Beginning her collegiate days by getting to the school’s barn at 4 or 5 a.m. to help care for the horses or get in a ride helped Robin become “really good at scheduling my day and getting a lot of things done.”

Alisa Berry, a 2003 graduate of Sweet Briar College in Virginia, agrees. “The escalated level of responsibility taught me that if I wanted to do something badly, time management is huge,” she says. “I learned that a life with horses is what I wanted, but that it requires time and sacrifices. I learned it was worth it to me to make those.

“If you are going to ride in college, you need to wake up in the morning with a plan,” Alisa stresses. “You are not watching soap operas! You have to know what you need to get done each day.”
Those lessons served Alisa extraordinarily well. She works full time as a sales rep for feed company Augusta Co-op, and has a 2-year-old daughter with her husband, trainer Jason Berry, whom she assists with office tasks. She also continues to ride every day and compete on the hunter/jumper circuit as an amateur.

With a laugh, Alisa recalls thinking that life after college would be less hectic. “I thought how nice it would be in the ‘real world’ not having homework, and I had the perception that a parent’s day is done at 9 p.m. But at college, you have somebody cooking dinner for you. Even if it’s a bad dinner, it’s there for you in the dining hall.

“I think the stress level of meeting deadlines and juggling so much is the same in and after college,” she continues.

Cacchione Cup champion Lindsay Sceats (center), holding the new Cacchione Cup trophy.

Photo by LA Pomeroy

As the team Collegiate Cup qualifiers began, Centenary delivered an opening stroke, thanks to Julie Connors winning the IHSA Perpetual Trophy in Novice Equitation Over Fences.

But while everyone was watching the front-runner, another team shrewdly navigated its way through the classes and, by the end of team competition on Saturday afternoon, had usurped the presumed favorite.

When the final points were tallied for the 2010 IHSA High Point Hunter Seat Team Collegiate Cup, Skidmore College of New York was eight points ahead (28 points overall), leaving Centenary College and University of Findlay (Ohio), tied for reserve at 20 points each. Skidmore College is no stranger to the Cup, having won in 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996 and 1999.

For Mount Holyoke College of western Massachusetts, there's rarely been a championship "dry spell." The Lyons have won two Collegiate Cups (2000, 2006) and produced one USEF/Cacchione Cup winner, Laena Romond (2002). This year, they added the name of their hunter seat team captain, Lindsay Sceats, to the Cacchione Cup's list of champions. Sceats earned a final total score of 175 points. Second-place (172) went to Savannah College of Art and Design in South Carolina with Kelse Bonham.

Sceats steps into her new role as Cacchione Cup champion at a unique juncture in the history of the trophy. First presented in 1972 (to Duncan Peters, University of Connecticut) and named in loving memory of Marty Cacchione, father of IHSA co-founder and executive director Bob Cacchione, the annual presentation of the Cacchione Cup to the high point individual hunter seat rider has been one of the most prestigious events on the Nationals program.

IHSA retired its original Cacchione Cup in a special Friday evening celebration at the International Museum of the Horse at the Kentucky Horse Park and unveiled a new trophy, created by figurative metal sculptor Kathryn Capley and produced by Hodges Badge Company. Among those in attendance to welcome the new trophy were past Cacchione Cup champions, including inaugural recipient, Peters ('72, UConn), Suzie Horrigan Campbell ('76, Colby Sawyer), two-time champion, Heidi Bossow Casciaro ('85, '87, Hollins), James Fairclough II, ('08, Drew), and 2009 winner, Lindsay Clark (Centenary).

Jason Romney

Photo by Richard Ormanowski

Utah State University marketing major Jason Romney smoked his competition in the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Open Reining Class. Romney and the 14.3-hand chestnut, Wenloch Haidabilly (poster horse for the University of Findlay Western Equitation Program), scored 144 points on NRHA Pattern 9 to decisively clinch the class and its 2010 NRHA Morrison Bronze Reining Trophy, NHRA Pewter Reining Trophy and Tex Tan Saddle sponsored by AQHA. The duo finished seven-a-half points ahead of reserve titlist Alexandra Jones (136.5 points) riding for Berry College of Georgia.

Rounding out the top three positions after Romney in the class were Jones, Kelsey Moody (135 points) for St. Andrews Presbyterian College in North Carolina, and Jillian Staurowsky (134 points) for the University of Delaware.

The next day Romney turned in a 139-point performance on Pattern 5 in the final phase of the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) High Point Western Rider standings to bolster his overall score to 211 points. He clinched a second Tex Tan saddle and the 2010 IHSA/AQHA High Point Western Rider trophy. Reserve went to Sabrina Wilson of Stanford University.

The University of Findlay of Ohio again steered course in Lexington for the AQHA High Point Team Western trophy and successfully defended their 2009 title. Findlay scored 31 points overall, defeating Ohio University by 10 points, thanks to winning rides by students like Andrew Wolf, winner of the AQHA Open Reining Pattern class.

In more team competition, Heather Kiesewetter won the Intermediate Western Horsemanship, and Spencer Zimmerman captured first place in the Novice Western Horsemanship.

SCAD's Kels Bonham was the overall individual champion out of the thirty-six riders entered and received the Jon Conyers Memorial Trophy for her achievement. This year's championship was dedicated to the memory of Jon Conyers, former ANRC Intercollegiate Chair, teacher, coach, judge, and show manager, who influenced many equestrians and their horses during his 26 year career. Lindsay Mohr from Centenary was the overall individual reserve champion.

Sunny, cool weather and good footing provided ideal conditions as colleges showcased their most talented riders. The competition was judged and scored on four phases: (1) a Written Test (2) a Dressage Sportif (a program ride with USEF hunter equitation tests), (3) a Hunter Trials Equitation Phase over an outside course at 3' and (4) a Hunter Seat Medal Phase at 3'.

The written test phase was judged by Marion Lee from Leesburg , Va . The test included questions on Forward Riding Theory and this year's chosen topic: Conformation, Movement, and Soundness. Goucher College won the team competition for this phase and Caroline Taylor from St. Andrew's had the top score of 98.1.

The Dressage Sportif was held throughout the day on Saturday and while this phase moved at a slower pace, each rider anticipated their moment to perform the six-minute test they had carefully practiced and memorized. The judges scored each movement on the rider's ability to execute their flatwork with soft, precise control. The ride included a variety of transitions, a serpentine, counter canter, turn on the haunch, a trot fence, a canter fence, halt and back. Centenary rider Lindsay Mohr received the top score slightly ahead of SCAD's Kelse Bonham. Centenary College took the team honors in this phase, followed by SCAD and St. Andrews .

The Hunter Trials Phase was held in a large field allowing riders to show their horses' flowing stride between fences. The natural obstacles included a bank, stone wall, aiken, and a choice of two panels in an option fence. SCAD made a clean sweep of the individual top honors: Kels Bonham won with a score of 93.5, followed by Meredith Gallagher with 93 points and Chelsea McCarthy with a 92.5. SCAD was the top team in this phase, with Centenary College second and Sweet Briar College third.

For the final phase, R. Scot Evans of Annapolis, Md. designed a challenging course in St. Andrew's sizeable covered ring. Competitors aimed for an even and accurate ride over angled jumps, oxers, combinations, and one narrow fence. Kelse Bonham scored a 93 to win this phase and Centenary's Lindsay Mohr received a 92 to secure her a second place win overall. Kelly MacDonald of Sweet Briar College scored 90 to place third. SCAD won the team competition in the Hunt Seat Medal phase just ahead of Sweet Briar College .

All competitors received an "Excellence in Equitation" pin from the United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) and the top ten scorers received a USHJA cap. Jennifer Elrod of Centenary College was selected for the 2009 USHJA Collegiate Amateur Rider Award by best representing the spirit of intercollegiate competition, outstanding horsemanship, and sportsmanship throughout. Peggy McElveen, Director of the St. Andrew's College Equestrian Program, was presented with an engraved plate as the recipient of the 2009 USHJA Affiliate Professional Service Award. This award is given annually by ANRC to the individual who has contributed significantly to the ANRC organization and has personified the Forward Riding System in their professional area. The ANRC Sportsmanship award went to Liz Harris of St. Andrews who cheerfully and competently manned the starting gate for all phases of the competition.

For more information, contact Patte Zumbrun, Goucher College , at pzumbrun@goucher.edu or (410) 337-6247.

A senior psychology major from Colorado Springs, Colo., Kelsi Peterson led St. Andrews riders by finishing eighth in the individual competition.

The Savannah College of Art and Design won the 2009 team competition while its leading rider, Kelse Bonham, won the overall individual title.

In the awards ceremony following the competition, St. Andrews Equestrian Center Director Peggy McElveen received the prestigious Professional Service Award from the ANRC while Liz Harris, the St. Andrews assistant director of therapeutic horsemanship, received the ANRC Sportsmanship Award.

Kira Gainey and Lindsey Crowther, the coaches for the St. Andrews ANRC team, lauded their team's efforts despite having only two seniors and four sophomores on the seven-person team.

"This event was the culmination of all of their hard work," said Crowther. "They were not just showing horses, but they also helped in every possible way in setting up this show. They painted and decorated every jump for the competition."

Gainey added, "I was very pleased with how hard they all worked. They all supported each other and helped each other as a team."

Three of the St. Andrews riders--Taylor, Peterson and Morgan Worthington--finished in the top eight for the written phase.

"We spent months of preparation and study for the written test," said Taylor, a junior business equine major from Vanceboro. "We really need to know the information on this test to know how the horse world works, preparing us for our years after college."

Peterson led St. Andrews riders with an eight-place finish in the dressage phase. She also finished seventh in the hunter trials and sixth in the hunter seat.

"I'm really proud of my team," she said. "Everyone really rode well and rode their hearts out."

Others competing for the St. Andrews team were Lindsey Gates, a sophomore from Santa Paula, Calif., Audrey Hayden, a sophomore English major from Dumfries, Va., Rob Jacobs, a sophomore politics major from Temple Hills, Md., and Alexis Stevenson, a senior psychology and business equine major from Jacksonville, N.C.

Paddy Downing Nygard and Dacia Johnson judged the national championship. In addition to being a judge, Johnson is an accomplished rider including a world champion at amateur/owner hunter rider in 1996. This was her fourth stint as a national judge for the ANRC, having judged the competitions in 1995, 2000, and 2004.

Nygard has judged at prestigious shows such as Devon, the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, the West Coast Equitation and Pony Finals, Pebble Beach, HITS, and the Middleburg Classic. She is past chair of the USEF Pony Hunter Committee and the Central Florida Hunter Jumper Committee. She has also served as president of the Florida Hunter and Jumper Association and the Pinellas County Hunter Jumper Association.

Savannah College won the team title for the second consecutive year. Overall, the college has won the Betty Belser Memorial Trophy five times. St. Andrews has won the title six times. The University of Virginia has won the title more than any other college or university with 10 to its credit. Sweet Briar College has won the title nine times.

The event was dedicated to the memory of St. Andrews graduate Jon Conyers who passed away on Nov. 5, 2008. During his 26-year equestrian career, he served ANRC as a rated rider, judge, coach, intercollegiate chair, member of the Board of Directors, and national championship manager. He coached at St. Andrews, The Barracks - University of Virginia, Wesleyan College, Savannah College of Art and Design, and Sweet Briar College

Overall Team Championship
1. Savannah College of Art and Design
2. Centenary College
3. Sweet Briar College
4. St. Andrews Presbyterian College
5. Goucher College
6. University of the South
7. Otterbein College
8. Duke University

Overall Individual Champion
1. Kelse Bonham, Savannah College
2. Lindsey Mohr, Centenary College
3. Meredith Gallagher, Sweet Briar
4. Marissa Cohen, Centenary College
5. Chelsea McCarthy, Savannah College
6. Alison Sims, Sweet Briar College
7. Kelly MacDonald, Sweet Briar College
8. Kelsi Peterson, St. Andrews

Written Phase
1. Caroline Taylor, St. Andrews
2. Sarah Fishback, Sweet Briar
3. Amory Brandt, Goucher College
4. Julie Fink, Goucher College
5. Kelsi Peterson, St. Andrews
6. Morgan Worthington, St. Andrews
7. Rachel Field, Sweet Briar
8. Alison Sims, Sweet Briar

Dressage Phase
1. Lindsay Mohr, Centenary
2. Kelse Bonham, Savannah College
3. Jennifer Elrod, Centenary College
4. Meredith Gallagher, Savannah College
5. Sarah Fishback, Sweet Briar
6. Paul Frederick, Savannah College
7. Kelsi Peterson, St. Andrews
8. Kelly MacDonald, Sweet Briar

Hunter Trials Phase
1. Kelse Bonham, Savannah College
2. Meredith Gallagher, Savannah College
3. Chelsea McCarthy, Savannah College
4. Lindsey Mohr, Centenary
5. Marissa Cohen, Centenary
6. Alison Sims, Sweet Briar
7. Kelsi Peterson, St. Andrews
8. Jennifer Elrod, Centenary

Lindsey Crowther (left) and Kira Gainey help with preparations for the national equestrian championship. Crowther and Gainey will coach the St. Andrews team.

Savannah College has captured the Betty Belser Memorial Trophy four times including three of the past four years. In 2007, the team from St. Andrews won the national title.

Riders will compete in hunter seat equitation for the team and individual titles.

"We are thrilled the ANRC has chosen to return to St. Andrews for their national championship," said Peggy McElveen, the director of the St. Andrews Equestrian Center. "St. Andrews has hosted this national championship previously and has a wonderful facility for this multi-faceted competition."

Most recently this championship was held at The University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., and at Centenary College in New Jersey.

Other colleges and universities fielding teams are Centenary College from Hacketstown, N.J., the College of William and Mary from Williamsburg, Va., Duke University from Durham, Goucher College from Townsend, Pa., Massachusetts Institute of Technology from Cambridge, Mass., Otterbein College from Westerville, Ohio, Sweet Briar College from Sweet Briar, Va., and the University of the South from Sewanee, Tenn.

Two or three riders from each college will compete as a team. The championship consists of three riding phases judged on equitation and a written phase covering riding theory and stable management. The riders perform a memorized flat test that includes many of the United States Equestrian Federation hunter seat tests on Saturday. On Sunday, they compete on an outdoor hunter trials course with three-foot heights and then move to a three-foot hunter seat equitation medal course in the ring.

The ANRC National Championship is a USEF Local Recognized Competition and is an Affiliate Member of the United States Hunter Jumper Association. Special sportsmanship and equitation awards sponsored by the USHJA are presented at the ANRC Championship. The 2009 National Championship is dedicated to the memory of Jon Conyers, an alumnus of St. Andrews Presbyterian College, an ANRC Board member, and a highly regarded equine professional and educator.

The purpose of the ANRC is to promote the highest quality of educated riding and related services within schools, colleges, and universities; and in public and private concerns. For more information on ANRC and on the National Championship, please visit the organization's website www.anrc.org

SCAD's Jordan Siegel was a repeat overall individual champion, having won the competition last year. Christina Kalinski of St. Andrews earned second overall and Meredith Gallagher of SCAD finished third.

"We were thrilled to host the competition and are pleased with the result," said Laura Norment, meet director. "We appreciate the work of everyone who contributed to the event to make it a success."

St. Andrews earned first place in the team dressage sportif competition ahead of SCAD and Virginia Intermont College.

SCAD won the team hunter seat equitation competition and the team hunter trials equitation competition. With a score of 50.70, the University of Virginia and St. Andrews tied for second in the team hunter seat equitation competition. Goucher College earned second place in the team hunter trials equitation competition with St. Andrews third.

Hattie Saltonstall of SCAD won the hunter seat equitation competition and hunter trials equitation competition, while Ericka Jewell of Virginia Intermont College won the dressage sportif competition.

Special awards were presented to three individuals. The Sportsmanship Award was presented to Lydia Davies of Goucher College. Paul Cronin was awarded the ANRC Professional Service Award for outstanding service and contribution to the ANRC. Whitney Roper of the University of Virginia received the ANRC Collegiate Amateur Rider Award for the best representation of intercollegiate competition.

The event also includes a written competition, which St. Andrews won with a team score of 175.10. Goucher College and Delaware Valley were second and third with respective team totals of 172 and 171. In the individual written competition, Jessica Yankus of Delaware Valley College placed first with Siobhan Fitzgerald of Virginia Intermont College and Elizabeth Gold of Sweet Briar College finishing second and third, respectively.

The 2007 ANRC National Intercollegiate Riding Championship will take place at Centenary College in Hackettstown, N.J. For more information on the ANRC, visit www.anrc.org.

April 20, 2005 -- Two points separated Sweet Briar College (SBC) from the top spot in the 28th annual Affiliated National Riding Commission (ANRC) National Intercollegiate Riding Championship, April 16-17, at the college's Rogers Riding Center.

Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) snared the championship title with 173.92 points. SBC finished second with 171.89 points, followed by the University of Virginia (UVA) with 171.83 points. SCAD's Jordan Siegel won the overall individual competition, followed by UVA's Whitney Roper in second and SBC's Erin Gibbs in third.

Eleven teams traveled to SBC for the event, coming from as far away as California's Cal Poly Pomona and Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.

"I'm ecstatic. My kids couldn't have ridden any better," SBC riding director and ANRC coach Shelby French said. "Part of it is horseflesh. Sometimes you get beat by better-quality horses." Unlike other collegiate riding competitions, the ANRC judges the horse as well as the rider.

The ANRC National Intercollegiate Riding Championship is a U.S. Equestrian Federation-sanctioned event. Two judges independently score each phase of competition--dressage sportif, an outdoor hunter trials course and USEF Medal-type hunter seat equitation course. Teams lose points for riders who score below 70 percent on a written competition.

Kip Rosenthal of Brewster, N.Y., and Rita Timpanaro of Smithtown, N.Y., judged the event.

For more information on ANRC, visit www.anrc.org.

Andrew Lustig judged the Las Colinas Horse Show in Dallas, TX. After he saw me ride and met with me, he offered me a place on the SCAD Equestrian Team. I was floored; I never would have expected horses to light a pathway to college.

In order to stay on the equestrian team I have to keep my cumulative average above a 3.0. Because SCAD is a school for art and design we not only take typical academic courses but drawing and design fundamentals as well. These projects are hard to take on the road because most are 18 x 24 in. and very difficult to pack for travel. So keeping up with my studies is sometimes a challenge.

At the USAE shows we leave Savannah by plane on a Thursday and return late Sunday night. This year I competed in the Winter Equestrian Festival in Palm Beach, Fla. I had many responsibilities at the show. We competed on the college's donated horses, and we spent a great deal of time both preparing and caring for our mounts. Andrew Lustig also arranged for us to have lessons with other top-flight professionals, like Susie Humes. When not showing, we watched some of the world's leading riders in hunter, jumper and dressage. Observation is a fantastic way to learn and attending this event was an incredible experience.

The intercollegiate shows are one-day events and do not take up quite as much time as the USAE competitions. During our regular season we travel closer to home, which enables us to take a school bus. On these road trips the team has a chance to get to know each other better. Being on a team is a unique aspect of the sport that you usually cannot find in equestrian disciplines. Since you can only enter two classes at Intercollegiate Horse Show Association shows, and the host college is completely responsible for the care of their horses, this allows me more time to complete my projects and homework.

I attribute my intercollegiate success to my mother Laura Hightower. She owns a farm and is a trainer in Flower Mound, Texas. Being the daughter of a professional gave me the chance to ride many different horses. Since at most college competitions I have ridden horses I am unfamiliar with, I believe my childhood riding experience has helped me succeed.

Balancing schoolwork, intercollegiate horse shows and USAE shows is a lot of work, yet I cannot imagine a better reward for my scholastic work than riding. Being at the Savannah College of Art and Design has been a priceless experience. I cannot wait to see what else is in store for me.

Jordan Siegel is in the class of 2006 at the Savannah College of Art and Design. For more information on the Savannah College of Art and Design, visit www.scad.edu.