2008-09 Riding Blog - Week 2

by Teresa Campbell - October 29 2008
(photos courtesy of Leelawan Kaewsawang)

To start off the year, the Mount Holyoke riding team hosted the Pre-Season Tournament of Champions Horse Show in late September. The competing schools included Cazenovia College, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Hartwick College, Mount Holyoke, Tufts Universty, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Virginia Intermont College. The Equestrian Center looked absolutely beautiful, with our best jumps set up in the outdoor arena. They were decorated with an autumn theme. We were also blessed with a gorgeous sunny day that made everything look even better.

Mount Holyoke entered two teams in the tournament - Team Spray Tan and Team Muffy. We had outstanding rides from many of our riders. Highlights include Cassie Herman’s first place in Open Fences, Amanda Pettingill’s first in Open Flat, and Tracy Mack’s second place in Open Flat. In Walk-Trot-Canter, Kim Nichols placed second, and Caitlin Dickinson took third. In Walk-Trot, I came in third, and we were all excited to see newcomer Leelawan Kaewsawang (a.k.a. Lee) come in fifth in her first show ever after only 24 weeks of riding! Jim Morris, riding instructor at Mount Holyoke and a big supporter of our team, represented Findlay University in the medal class and came in third. At the end of the day, Team Muffy and Team Spray Tan came in third and fourth, respectively. They were close behind UMass Red Team (second) and Virginia Intermont (first). It was very tough competition, and we believed that our strong rides showed promise for the coming season.

Everyone was happy with the way the show went. Mount Holyoke team members put in 100% effort to make sure that the show ran smoothly and professionally. It was a pleasant atmosphere in the barn and in the ring, which shows how well we worked together. It is a LOT of work to put on a horse show, and when you hear people complimenting you at the end of the day, it is very rewarding.

The horses also behaved beautifully, and it was an impressive sight to see all of our new schoolies out in the ring together. Mount Holyoke brought in many new horses this year, and it looks like we found some really nice ones.

For the most part we were happy with the show results and were even more motivated to work hard going into the regular season, which began at UMass on October 4.