Post Three of Three: Final Notes

For my last post I wanted to just wrap up the semester a little bit. From a horse show standpoint, we ended the semester as regional champions. Next semester we will have two horse show weekends which is a total of four shows that we will be trying to maintain that lead so that we can take a team to Zones in Wisconsin in April. 

This semester we also elected our new executive board for 2014 and I was elected for the chronicler position! My job is to keep track of everyone's points for the team and to make sure that my records line up with the regional point keeper's records. The other officers are as follows:

President: Molly Schlagel

Vice President: Alyssa Zielinski

Secretary: Jessica Nelson

Treasurer: Alexa Clarisse

Assistant Treasurer: Cassie Kramer

Public Relations: Laura Hudec

Alumni Representative: Darby Dyar

Chronicler: Kira Cazenave

Ag Council Representative: Claire Larson

Horse Care Manager: Kelsey Braaten 

So far we all work very well together and will be able to lead the team to a continued successful season and successful future seasons. 

This weekend we had our annual holiday party that was hosted by Kristin Zabrecky. We always host our parties at someone's house or apartment and this was my favorite PET party in all the time that I have been on the team. We played minute to win it games, decorated Christmas ornaments, did a white elephant gift exchange which I got a fleece blanket from, and just had a chance to socialize and relax before finals week starts. I decorated three ornaments. I made one that was a horse head which I painted to look like my sweet Star (who I'll be seeing tomorrow!!!) and I made a couple other ornaments for my two best tuba friends that I'll give to them next time I see them. 

This has been a great semester with the team I love and I'm looking forward to what next semester has in store for me.

Left to right: Alyssa Zielinski (Vice President), Molly Schlagel (President), Alexa Clarisse (Treasurer)

Jessica Nelson (Secretary)

Cassie Kramer (Assistant Treasurer)

Laura Hudec (Public Relations)

Darby Dyar (Alumnni Rep.), Kira Cazenave (Chronicler)

Claire Larson (Ag Council Rep.)

Kelsey Braaten (Horse Care Manager)

Some Christmas Party Pictures:

Post Two of Three: Final Horse Show of the Semester Day Two

Overview
In the second day of the horse show, we were the reserve champion as a team. Over fences we took third and fourth for open, first in intermediate, and first, third, and sixth in novice. For flat we got first and third in open, first in intermediate, second, two thirds, fourth, fifth, and sixth in novice, first, second, third, fourth, and sixth in advanced walk trot canter, second and fourth in beginning walk trot canter, and fourth in walk trot. Typically for horse shows, those of us who stay both days stay in a hotel but this time I couldn't. I had to be back at Purdue to play in a band concert Saturday night so this weekend I did a total of eight hours of driving. Needless to say by Sunday I was exhausted but I was definitely excited for my ride at the end of the day.

My Ride
For this show I drew a white pony named Donnie. He was a pretty good ride. I had my best ride of my intercollegiate career on him. I placed fourth which is the highest I have ever placed in an intercollegiate show. Jerry was happy with my ride as well and so were the other riders on my team. Donnie was probably approximately 14 hands or so, possibly a little less. He was a cutie. He was a little stiff though because it was bitter cold that day and he had a few classes off so he was just standing in the cold which made his muscles stiffen up a little. He did ease up as the ride went on though and was well behaved. Typically I prefer drawing the horses as opposed to the ponies because ponies are known for having kind of a spunky attitude which isn't always good for showing on a pony you don't know but fortunately Donnie was a good boy.

Show MVP
The show MVP for Sunday is junior Darby Dyar. She is the point rider for open fences and flat and is the top rider overall on our team. For this show, she placed third in both fences and flat. This is her second year on the team just like me. We met at trial rides and have been pretty much joint at the hip ever since. She has been showing horses since she was young but showing in IHSA is completely different from what she has done the last few years. She competes primarily in jumpers which is basically "quick and dirty." You get around the course as fast as you can and don't necessarily worry about having perfect form. What we do in intercollegiate riding, on the other hand, is called equitation. Proper form is a major part of what you're judged on so she had to completely adjust her mindset to be able to ride successfully for the Purdue team. She had shown equitation before but not since she was younger. She has adapted well over the last year and a half to how the intercollegiate shows work and she has potential this year to be the all around regional high point rider which is a huge accomplishment.

Next Post
The next post will be my final one and it will be a post to tie in some of the loose ends that I haven't discussed yet which are just things that are important but didn't fit into the topics of any of the other posts.


Last team picture of the semester


My ride




Show MVP, Darby Dyar

Post One of Three: Final Horse Show of the Semester Day One

Overview
This show was the final show for the semester and we were riding at SMWC which is the same location that we were at for the first horse show weekend. As a team for Saturday, we were the high point team. We are now leading the region overall once again. Over fences we got third and fifth in open, first in intermediate, and first and second in novice. For the flat we got fourth and fifth in open, first in intermediate, first, second, and fourth in novice, two firsts, second, fourth and fifth in advanced walk trot canter, second, third, fourth, and fifth in beginning walk trot canter, and fourth in walk trot.

Show MVP
The show MVP for Saturday is junior, Molly Schlagel. This is her third year on the team and she rides in the intermediate fences and flat classes. She was out point rider Saturday for both classes and got first place in both fences and flat. She also serves on the exec board for the team as our president and will most likely get the position of assistant coach for next year after our current assistant coach graduates in May. Molly is a consistently outstanding rider for the team. She wins her classes frequently and brings a lot of points to the team. Very few people can ride in intercollegiate riding as consistently as she can. Since we are riding horses we don't know, it's always a gambol whether we will have a good ride or not but she has been able to make herself a team with every horse she draws.

Next Post
The next post will be the recap of day two of the horse show.

Team picture at the end of day one




Show MVP, Molly Schlagel

Post Two of Two: TABS Horse Show Day Two

Overview
On Sunday we were once again reserve champions to Illinois and now they are tied with us for the lead overall in the region. For placings in the fences classes, we took third and fifth in open, third in intermediate, and third in novice. For the flat classes, we took second in open, first and fifth in intermediate, three thirds and a fourth in novice, third, fifth and sixth in advanced walk trot canter, fifth and sixth in beginning walk trot canter, and sixth in walk trot.

My Ride
I was the walk trot point rider for the team on Sunday. The horse I rode was named Bart. He was a good ride, approximately sixteen hands (or 64 inches to the base of his neck). He was a little sluggish so I had to carry a crop and keep some leg on him to keep him going but overall we had a good ride. Jerry was also happy with my ride when I went to see him after I finished. He thought I would have placed higher than sixth but it's a subjective sport so it's all about what the judge is looking at, what they see and when they see it. Getting that praise from Jerry really made the color of the ribbon not matter so much to me. I was just happy that he was happy with the progress I have made this season. I will still be working to constantly improve my skills for the next show which is at SMWC on November 23rd/24th.

Show MVP
The show MVP for Sunday is Callie Van Ingen who rides in beginning walk trot canter. She is a senior and fourth year on the team. Although she has been on the team for all four years, she has only shown once or twice in that time because of a combination of nerves and frequent illness. This was her first show since she was an under classman and she was nervous but we, as a team, were able to talk her down and prepare her to go out and ride with confidence. It was really meaningful for her to place in the top six in this show because she proved to herself that she could do it and it boosted her confidence immensely. Last semester, she was so sick that she only took one lesson and didn't show the entire semester but she has made a fantastic comeback this year. The people who are in lessons with her say that she has been riding really well in lessons and that was what we used to talk her down before her ride. Coming out of the arena after her show and being announced for sixth place, Callie looked like a whole different person than the nervous person who entered the arena. Amazing what winning a ribbon can do for a rider's morale!

Next Post
The next post will come out either later today or tomorrow and will be one of a two part post just like this one. It will cover day one of the third and final horse show of the semester at SMWC.


Team picture after day two at TABS


My ride



Show MVP, Callie Van Ingen

Post One of Two: TABS Horse Show Day One

I'm sorry it took me so long to get this post up for the second horse show weekend of the semester. The second horse show was TABS which is the Taylor University and Ball State University horse show. It was held at their home barn which is Blackdog Farm in Marion, Indiana.

Overview
On Saturday we were reserve champions, coming in second to Illinois. However, we did keep our overall lead in the region. In open fences, we got third and sixth place and in novice fences we got one first place. For the flat, our open riders took first and second. For intermediate, we got first. For novice, we got two firsts and a second. For advanced walk trot canter, we got two thirds, a fifth, and a sixth. For beginning walk trot canter, we got first, second, third, and fifth. And finally, for walk trot we got first.

Show MVP
The show MVP for the Saturday show was our walk trot rider, Ericka Lewin. She won her class which was the last class of the day winning seven points to add to our team total. This was her very first time winning a class but even more than that, what really makes her the show MVP is that when she joined the team she had never ridden a horse before. The Purdue Equestrian Team makes itself available and doable for people of any riding level from very advanced to never sitting on a horse in their life. She has come such a long way since she first started on the team in September 2012 and is becoming a great rider. She has worked hard and come to love the sport and she brings a lot to our team. She had an awesome ride at the show.

Next Post
The next post will be the recap of the second day of the TABS horse show and I hope to have it up by the end of this week.


Team picture at the end of day one

Show MVP, Ericka Lewin

Our team, reserve champion, ribbon and cookie cake

Post Three of Three: SMWC Horse Show Day Two

I apologize for the delay in getting this third post up. This will be the last post of the series of three from last week, the recap of the second day of the SMWC horse show.

Overview
For the Sunday show, we were the high point team and took the lead as the regional champion for the season so far. In open fences, we took fifth and third place. In intermediate, we took first place and in novice fences we took second and fourth places. On the flat, our open riders took first and fourth and our intermediate rider took second. For novice we placed first, third and fourth. Novice had four subclasses this time but unfortunately all of our riders drew the same class. It's better to be spread out so we can have a strong defensive team in each class but it's all about luck of the draw. For advanced walk trot canter, we placed second, third and sixth. On Sunday we didn't have a rider for beginning walk trot canter. For walk trot which was my ride we placed first and sixth. I placed sixth and Kelsey won the class.

My Ride
The name of the horse I drew was Rennie. He was probably about sixteen hh (hh = hands high which is the measurement for horses from the ground to the base of their neck. One hand is four inches so a sixteen hand horse is sixty-four inches or 5'4". Overall, we had a pretty tense ride. After I was mounted and we were walking along the rail of the arena waiting for the other riders to enter the ring, a big truck drove by. We were riding in the outdoor arena. He spooked at the truck and almost threw me off in the process. I stayed in the tack, handled the situation well, and tried to calm him down before the show started. I managed to relax him somewhat but I couldn't get him all the way back. Also, as we were riding I determined that my stirrups were about one notch too long for me. I had an okay ride but I definitely looked better in lessons and I did learn from that experience. It's better to have my stirrups a bit short than too long. If they are too long you don't have a lot of control and your form isn't as good.

Due to the extra circumstances with the truck, it's difficult for me to decide whether Rennie was a good draw or not. For my specific ride, he wasn't because he was the only horse who spooked at the truck but without the spook I think he could be a good draw.

Show MVP
The show MVP for Sunday was Kelsey Braaten. She is a junior, this is her third year on the team and she is my big for the team bigs/littles. She was the other Purdue rider in my class. She won the class and pointed up into beginning walk trot canter. Riders in walk trot only have two years of eligibility before they get bumped up into beginning walk trot canter. Kelsey had schedule conflicts her freshman year so her first year as a riding member was last year, same as my first year since I didn't join until my junior year. Since she pointed up she qualified for the regional horse show that will be held in March. Walk trot is a difficult class to point up in because there is a wide range of skill levels from people who haven't ridden horses before to people who have ridden but have never ridden competitively, to people who are in their second year and have been riding in intercollegiate shows long enough that they are getting ready to point up. That's why Kelsey is the MVP this week. Qualifying for Regionals is a huge accomplishment.

Next Post
The next post will come out ASAP. We had another show this past weekend which was the TABS horse show so the next post will be a recap of day one.


Team picture with our first place ribbon and our individual ribbons



A couple pictures from my ride


This is one of my favorite pictures of the weekend. Kelsey and me riding together. She's the one on the rail and I'm to her left.



Show MVP, Kelsey Braaten

Pretty awesome walk trot team!

Post Two of Three: SMWC Horse Show Weekend Day One

Overview
Each show day in a weekend is a different show. Most of the teams in our region are smaller than Purdue's team so they generally have the same riders both days but for our team we usually have a different team for each day with the exception of a few people who ride both days. The decision for who gets to go to each show is up to our coach, Jerry, and our assistant coach, Kristin. Last weekend I rode on the Sunday team but I went Saturday morning and stayed the whole weekend to support the team.

The Saturday show was also designated as the Halloween show so in between the fences and flat classes we had the coach/horse Halloween costume. SMWC won the costume contest with their coach, Krista, dressed as Miley Cyrus at the VMA awards and the horse dressed as Robin Thicke. We got third place with our 50s poodle costume.

We had six riders in fences on Saturday; two in open, one in intermediate, and three in novice. Our open riders took first and fourth, our intermediate rider took third and our novice riders didn't place. For the flat we had two in open, one in intermediate, six in novice, two in advanced walk trot canter, three in beginning walk trot canter, and two in walk trot. Our walk trotters didn't place but everyone else did. For open we took fifth and third. For intermediate we took third. For novice we took three firsts, one second, one third, and one fifth. The reason we were able to get three of the same place is because for novice since there are so many riders there are multiple sub-classes. Usually there are four or five, at this show there were four, A through D. We had riders in three of the four classes. For advanced walk trot canter we got second and fourth, and for beginning walk trot canter we got first, second, and third.

Show MVP
For every show I will have a rider who I think deserves special recognition. This rider will be the show MVP. The show MVP for Saturday's show was Erim Demirel. He is one of our new riders this year who won first place in novice flat class A. Previously, he competed in jumpers shows in Turkey which is where he is from. PET is his first experience with equitation. Assuming jumpers works the same in Turkey that it does in the United States, the goal is to get around the course as fast as possible without knocking any jumps down. Equitation, on the other hand is all about technique. It's not timed but riders must look as flawless as possible when going around the arena in a flat class or jumping a course in a fences class. For those riders, it's a completely new mindset that they must adopt in order to be successful in intercollegiate hunt seat riding. The reason I picked Erim for this show's MVP is not only because he had a fantastic ride and won his class but because of his reaction after. He was filled with emotion when he left the arena after being announced for first place and his reaction both when leaving the arena and when he got back to the team in the stands were priceless.

Next Post
For the next post, which will be up sometime later today, I will do the recap for Sunday's show. The next post will be the last one regarding last weekend.


Team picture at the end of the Saturday show with our reserve champion ribbon


Halloween coach/horse costume contest. Purdue 50s poodle on the left and SMWC Miley and Robin Thicke on the right


Our costume was the cutest if you ask me!


A few pictures of the show MVP, Erim Demirel.