November
21 , 2003
MHC
Dressage Team Highly Respected across the Country
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Photo: Fred LeBlanc
Nicole Mazzeo ’05 warms
up Blitz for first-level competition. |
Many of the best college dressage
riders in New England came to compete last weekend in the Intercollegiate
Dressage Association Horse Show hosted by the Mount Holyoke
Equestrian Center. University of Vermont broke Mount Holyoke’s
semester-long winning streak, edging out Mount Holyoke’s
A and B teams, which finished second and third, respectively.
Despite the upset, the competition once again highlighted the
considerable talent of the Mount Holyoke dressage team, which
has not only won the national championship two years running,
but has been undefeated regionally since 1997.
For the uninitiated, dressage is a highly disciplined form of horsemanship that
emphasizes control, flexibility, and balance in a series of exercises in the
walk, trot, and canter. Intercollegiate riders compete at four levels of experience:
introductory, lower training and upper training levels, and first level. Unlike
regular dressage competition, in which riders compete on their own horses—or
on horses they have trained with extensively--intercollegiate riders have
only ten minutes to warm up and get familiar with their mounts before they perform
their “test.” Competing on horses they have never ridden before requires
them to “be efficient, pick which battles to fight, figure out what you
can improve on, and what you have to deal with as best you can,” said first-level
rider Nicole Mazzeo ’05.
No matter what background a dressage rider has, intercollegiate competition is
excellent experience. “Being able to ride all these different horses and
do something with them in such a short time gives you so much confidence when
you go out to catch rides in the real world,” said Marija Vulfs ’07.
The Mount Holyoke dressage team has grown steadily in size
and stature since coach Rebecca Schurink took over the
program eight years ago. Schurink, a well-respected trainer
and instructor, works with the team at twice-weekly practices
and accompanies the team to shows throughout the school
year. Schurink is not only admired for her professional
expertise but for her mentoring of the students. “She’s
awesome,” Nadine Krause ’07 said. Team captain and first-level rider
Lindsay Whipple ’06 agreed: “She is really positive all the time,
even when you’re having a bad day. She always says exactly what I need
to hear when I come out of the ring. She gives you confidence; she’s steady
and calm at competitions.”
Schurink is pleased to have such a talented and hardworking group of riders.
When she first coached the team, everyone who tried out got a place on the
team. Now there is more competition; out of 32 riders who tried out, 15 made
the team. “If
I had more horses and more places at shows, I’d love to take more students,” Schurink
said. Last year, she explained, she could only send four riders to each show. “It
was hard to keep morale up. I needed to send the most experienced riders to qualify
for Nationals, but that meant that some team members never competed. This year
we can send eight riders to each show, so everyone has competed. I want it to
be an educational as well as a competitive experience.”
As the team’s success has grown, aspiring young dressage riders have chosen
to attend Mount Holyoke to take advantage of riding opportunities here. Amelia
Chappelle ’03 came to the College in large part for the dressage program.
She rode with the team all four years, experiencing firsthand the team’s
growing popularity and success. “Because the team has continued to do well,
more good dressage riders hear about it and come here,” she said.
Vulfs and Whipple definitely fit that profile. Both students said the College’s
dressage program was a major factor in their college choice. Whipple’s
mother, Judy Whipple, a professional dressage instructor and trainer in Barre,
Vermont, is thrilled that her daughter is at Mount Holyoke: “Dressage has
been such a large part of her life that it would have been hard for her to give
up,” she said. “She is so fortunate to have Becky Schurink as
her coach, a teacher of such high caliber.”
The team’s prominence has also encouraged horse owners to donate experienced
dressage horses to the program. This has meant that students have the opportunity
to ride “school masters,” horses that are trained at high levels
and can teach the students how to ride the different dressage movements. Horses
such as Troubador and Mesquite (known as “Moose”) are “worth
their weight in gold,” said Mazzeo. As the team’s horsemaster,
Mazzeo is responsible for assigning horses for practice and making sure that
horses and their equipment are ready for practice and competitions. Mazzeo
is also treasurer, keeping track of travel and other expenses.
Team members agree that their closeness as a team contributes the most to
their success. “Coming in first year was the most wonderful experience,” Whipple
said. “The team atmosphere was so welcoming, and to be with so many people
with one common interest made the transition to college so much easier. “The
team not only works hard, but takes its play seriously, too.”
Katy d’Ambly ’05, team social captain, organizes movie nights and
other nonhorse activities and also books hotels and organizes transportation
to shows. “We’re all pretty close,” d’Ambly said. “We
become like one big family.” The team’s close bonds are most critical
at competitions. “Whether things go right or wrong, there’s still
that wonderful feeling of the group,” Schurink said.
Team manager Inge Schmidt ’05 feels fortunate to be part of such a highly
respected team. “We are treated like athletes and we’re serious
about what we do. And on top of that we have a good time.”
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