While the Equestrian Team has had some strong individual performances, this season's performances have paled in comparison to Tufts' success last year, when the team won the Regional Championship for Region I (New England) in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). This region is further divided into four zones, and Tufts finds itself in the competitive Zone IV with nine other teams, most notably Stonehill College and Boston University.
Under the leadership of junior co-captains Hally Phillips and Sarah Summers and coach Charlotte McEnroe, Tufts finds itself out of contention for the postseason.
"Teamwise, we aren't doing as well as last year," Phillips said. "This has been a year of rebuilding."
"We're not having our best season," Resnick added. "We graduated a lot of our top seniors last year. We're looking forward to a big freshman class next year."
But the team has had strong individual performances. Eight of the approximately 35 members of the group have qualified for the Regionals in several of the different classes of riding. In order to qualify a rider must gain 35 points, which are cumulative from season to season and are attained based on finishing positions at shows. First place gains seven points; second place gains five points, third gains four, and so on. Upon qualifying, the rider also advances to the next class until reaching the "open" competition, at which point she continues to compete at this level.
In the walk/trot class (the most basic) the rider is judged on her ability to control the horse and on how the rider and horse look together. Junior Melissa Faubert and senior Jamie Granatino will compete in Regionals at this level. Tobi Pinsky will represent Tufts in the walk/trot/canter, which is the class above the walk/trot.
After the walk/trot/canter is novice, in which the riders are still judged on her appearance, but do a jumping routine consisting of usually eight jumps as well. The two routines are independent of each other and there are separate point totals as well. This means that a rider can qualify for the jumping routine (signified as qualifying for novice "over fences") and/or the show routine (qualifying for novice "flat"). This system holds for the next two levels, intermediate and open, as well.
But even during the jumping routine, the rider is still judged greatly on appearance. "Clearing them isn't generally an issue; it's more making sure that your horse jumps smoothly," Resnick said.
Senior Kim Wojick qualified for Regionals in novice flat, sophomore Heather Foster in novice flat and over fences, while seniors Alison Patti and Carrie Quinn, and junior co-captain Sarah Summers will all compete in intermediate over fences.
Phillips, last year's winner of the Cacchione Cup, an honor received by the number one collegiate rider in the nation, has so far qualified for open flat.
"Hopefully I'll qualify for [open over] fences this weekend," Phillips said.
The team has high hopes for these riders. From Regionals, the top two riders in each class advance to the Zone Championships, from which another two riders are selected for Nationals.
"Pretty much everyone who has qualified has a strong chance of making it to Nationals," Phillips said. "It's pretty much luck of the draw on what horse you get and what judges think of you. They're all strong riders. I hope we get as many as possible to Zones, because going through Zones and getting to Nationals is so much fun."
The host school provides the horses, which are assigned to particular classes, and show officials randomly pair up riders with horses.
When they are not competing in shows, the team practices for about eight weeks per semester at the Appleknoll Farm in Millis, Mass. Since Tufts lacks equestrian facilities, team members are limited to having eight lessons per semester, which take place before and during the show season.
This weekend, the squad heads to a show on Saturday at the Holly Hill Farm in Hanover, Mass, hosted by BU. Tufts returns on Sunday for the Regional Championships.
