If you don't already know about the equestrian team, you should. They're good.
The 21-member competitive horse-riding squad, a club team at Tufts, is a part of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA), competing on a national level. On its path toward making the national competition, the team vies for the top spot in its region every year against 12 other teams: BU, BC, Brandeis, Bridgewater State, Curry, Endicott, MIT, Stonehill, UMass Dartmouth, UMass Lowell, Wellesley and Wheaton. Currently, the Jumbos sit in a tie for second place in the region with Endicott, with both teams hoping to eclipse Stonehill, the No. 1 team, by the end of the season.
The team travels 45 minutes to a barn at August Farm in Holliston, Mass. to practice with coach Katie Schaaf (LA '00). Schaaf was a captain of the team and earned Top Ribbons in both Zone and National finals in her time on the squad.
In terms of scoring, only the top team and top two riders from each region advance to the Zone competition, which covers a broader area of the country, and only the top team and the top two individual riders at Zones move on to Nationals. Needless to say, the road to the national competition is a difficult one, but the team remains confident that it is good enough to make it -- if not this year, then certainly in the near future.
"Although in the past, our success has come in waves, we have been getting steadily better over the past couple of years," senior tri-captain Emily Young said. "We came in second in the region last year and can do it again this year. We are very good though, especially for a club team. At a national, invitation-only show, we came in fifth out of the top 20-ish teams in the country."
"We usually finish in first or second place at every show, though the occasional bad day can set you back a lot," junior tri-captain Cecilia Pontoriero added. "This past Sunday, we finished first with a team total of 36 points, ahead of Stonehill by four points and ahead of Endicott by nine points."
The primary reason why Tufts, with such solid riding talent, has been unable to beat Stonehill in the past is the difference between the varsity and club programs.
"As a team, we typically place in the top three schools when we're on our game," senior tri-captain Rebecca Renier said. "We've improved our general placing dramatically since I was a freshman, and placing so highly is a big accomplishment, as we compete against varsity teams that have much more funding and recruit for members."
"It's hard because Stonehill has a varsity program while we're just club," Pontoriero added. "That means they get a lot more funding, which allows them to pay for more lessons, and some kids tend to go to Stonehill just to be on the team. Those kinds of differences are hard to catch up with."
Still, it is a testament to the team's ability that it can hang with Stonehill's varsity program and occasionally beat it.
"Individually, we usually have multiple people who qualify for both Regionals and Zones each year," Renier said. "Additionally, over the past two years we've sent at least one rider to Nationals each year."
The primary difficulty of being a club sport is lack of resources. For the equestrian team, which has a considerably bigger budget than any other club sport on campus, this difficulty is seen in finding and paying for a location to practice, lessons, horses, a coach, travel fees and, as always, getting more riders for the team. As for what the team needs most in order to improve, Pontoriero's response was not subtle.
"Funding, funding, funding, funding," she said. "We've attempted to become a varsity sport in the past, but [the athletics department] isn't having it. Lessons alone cost [$400] a semester. The school gives us a base amount of [$3,500] a year. As a team, we collectively pay over [$40,000] out of pocket each year."
"We are constantly trying to improve our abilities ... if possible it would be nice if all of our members could ride multiple times a week, though this is difficult given how expensive it is for members to join the team and how far away the barn is," Renier added.
Even when the team reaches its peak membership, around 30 people in previous years, the math doesn't lie: each of these dedicated riders pays over one thousand dollars of their own for the team every year.
"We are a club sport, and unfortunately it is a very expensive one, too," Young said. "We are always asking for as much additional funding as we can possibly get. Especially for postseason shows when they are farther away -- Nationals was in L.A. last year and is in Tennessee this year -- and we have to incur additional travel and coaching fees."
With shows lasting seven to nine hours per day, one might think it would be hard to get such a dedicated crew. As such, Young believes that it is this exceptional dedication that makes the team so good.
"The biggest strength in our team is the fact that we all band together and show a lot of support for everyone on the team," Young said. "This is especially evident in the fact that not everyone can ride at a given show due to limits on how many riders each team can bring. We regularly have almost two-thirds or three-fourths of the team present because people are dedicated enough to get up at 5:30 a.m. and come watch and cheer on their teammates who are riding."
With a solid core of riders that consistently outperforms the standards of an under-funded club sport, the one main concern the team has is recruiting more riders to join the team and keep it afloat in future years. The team is always looking for new riders, of any ability level, to join its ranks.
"Our weakness? We are a small team," Young said.
"There's a 'walk-trot' division at shows for beginners -- people who have never been on a horse before in their lives. We need them," Pontoriero added. "No experience necessary. They're the hardest to recruit because of our low visibility and high costs. People who have riding experience, meanwhile, know to look for the club on campus and are already willing to pay for lessons. It's harder to convince beginners to shell out $400 a semester."
While the team is always making an effort to find new riders, its current focus is on finishing off the season on the right note.
"[Our goals are] gaining a lead on Endicott this season [and] beating Stonehill, our long-time rivals, next season," Young said.
"I'd say a goal for the team is to continue being invited to the Tournament of Champions series each year, which is a Nationals-quality competition," Renier added. "This year we ended up fifth at the Holiday Tournament of Champions in Ohio. Getting a ribbon at one of these tournaments was the first in team history, so it's something we'd like to continue."
The Equestrian team's last in-season show is Sunday, Mar. 22 at Stonehill. Regionals are the following Sunday at Endicott, with Zones on Saturday, April 5 at Mount Holyoke.
