Show season is officially in the air—the very cold, and windy fall air to be exact. This past Sunday, the Dickinson Equestrian team competed at its first show of the season at Penn State University where the team placed second overall! This is a big deal. If I’m remembering correctly, I believe the last time this happened was in 2011, so kudos to Dickinson on this great achievement!
Team Members posing with our fabulous reserve ribbon and saddle pad. Photo courtesy of Katherine Acocella (junior).
Let me start off by saying it was a miserably cold day—one that definitely went down in the books as the worst first-show weather ever. I mean, come on, it was only October 6th. The entire team was huddled in blankets and frantically running around looking for any extra layer they could find. It was that bad.
On a positive note, aside from our stellar performance as a team, we also had some great individual achievements. For the freshmen, this was their first show and they absolutely rocked it. Before I get into the specifics of names and places, let me explain how these shows work.
There are five divisions that riders are placed into with the help of their coach and a placement form depending on their past riding experience. In increasing order of experience these are: Walk-Trot, Walk-Trot-Canter, Novice, Intermediate and Open. Walk-Trot and Walk Trot Canter are simply flat classes; “flat” meaning that there is no jumping involved, so riders show at the corresponding gaits (walk, trot or canter). Novice, Intermediate and Open have two classes within their division. One is “flat” like the classes mentioned before and the other is “over fences,” meaning that riders jump a course. As you move up from Novice to Intermediate to Open, the jumps get higher, making it more difficult.
Sorry for that boring, yet educational bit of information, but now I can brag a little about the freshmen. Zoe Crawford placed 3rd in the open over fences division and Kiki Barry placed 3rd in open flat. Now you know that Open is the highest division, so go freshmen! Zoe also placed 2nd in her Intermediate flat class. Anne Maffey placed 1st in her Intermediate over fences class and third in her open flat class. Last, but definitely not least, Ariel Goos placed 2nd in her Novice over fences class. Check out Ariel’s awesome course here! Basically, go freshmen. Congrats on killing it at your first show!
Pictured Left to Right: Anne Maffey (freshman) in Intermediate Over Fences and Kiki Barry (freshman) in Open Flat. Photos Courtesy of Katherine Acocella (junior).
Returning members also had a superb day. I’ll break it out by class for you.
Walk-Trot: Sarah Kaye (sophomore): 3rd place
Walk-Trot-Canter: Alexis Haynie (sophomore): 1st place (woo woo!), Lucy McInerney (senior): 3rd place, Elaine Yoch (senior): 3rd place, Anika Yetsko (sophomore): 3rd place
Novice Flat: Myself (Callan Donovan and a junior): 1st place, Katherine Acocella (junior): 2nd place, Renee Hirt (sophomore): 4th place
Novice Over Fences: Michelle Clinger (junior): 3rd place, Renee Hirt (junior): 3rd place
Intermediate Flat: Rebecca Smith (junior): 5th place, Haley Weiss (senior): 5th place
Intermediate Over Fences: Haley Weiss (senior): 3rd place
Pictured form Top Left to Bottom Right: Elaine Yoch (senior), Lucy McInerney (senior), Callan Donovan (junior), Katherine Acocella (junior), Rebecca Smith (junior), Ariel Goos (freshman), Renne Hirt (sophomore), Sarah Kaye (sophomore). Pictures courtesy of various members.
So, as you can see, I’m beyond proud of my fabulous team—as I should be. Although it was a cold day, we turned out some pretty hot performances (hope you caught my joke there). We have been working hard, and it has definitely paid off in a tremendous way. Stay tuned for updates on the next show on October 26. Can’t wait to see where we land.
