Unfortunately, the “horse girl” accusations for almost 90 people at FSU have seemed to have stuck from secondary school. However, the Equestrian Club here at FSU provides a supportive and uplifting community for horse lovers alike.
The Equestrian Club provides a diverse range of riding disciplines, including hunt seat, dressage, and western. Horseback riding at the college level has a few different forms.
The first is at the Division I (DI) level, otherwise known as the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA), which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The other option is the International Horse Show Association (IHSA). The main difference between the two divisions is that NCEA can recruit people, while in IHSA, you must try out for the team.
The Florida State Equestrian Club is IHSA, which means all members who want to compete must try out, but don’t let this scare you. There’s still a non-competitive team that provides people the opportunity to ride for a team in college while becoming acquainted with the team, style of riding, or building their confidence and skills to try out for the team again.
The style of competing in IHSA and NCEA is similar. In both, you draw a random horse for your class, but in NCEA, you’re allowed four minutes to become acquainted with your horse. While in IHSA, you aren’t given this opportunity. In IHSA, riders are placed in divisions that are deemed to be two levels below what you would ride at a normal horse show or at home.
I’m personally a member of the competitive Hunt Seat team. This has given me an incredible opportunity to develop my riding and horse show skills at a much more affordable cost than normal horse showing.
While I originally rode for the University of Rhode Island for two years, being a part of the FSU team for the last few months has developed my riding exponentially. It’s also allowed me to be in a community with motivated, intelligent, kind, strong, and athletic women who I know will impact me for life.
The coach of the Hunt Seat team, Rob Billings, is undoubtedly excellent. While Rob remains the steadfast structure of the team, the passion and drive of the competitive teams’ captains, Madison Moore and Amelia Redd, are the heart and soul of how successful and wonderful the Hunt Seat team truly is.
Additionally, the credit must go to Sara Trachtenbroit (Equestrian Club photographer), Tessa Cannizzaro (Secretary), Kailyn Spitzer (President), Isabella Borg (Merch Chair), and Taylor Illovsky (Incoming Team Captain) for helping to keep this team and club functioning like a well-oiled machine.
Another reason this team succeeds is how well-kept and well-taken care of the horses are. The team truly prioritizes equine health and education. One of the requirements for this team is weekly care tasks. At the beginning of the year, each competitive member is assigned a horse to perform a care task for roughly once a week. This includes grooming sessions, baths, and anything in between. This provided me an opportunity to become more educated in equine health as well as simply spend time with horses, which is great for destressing.
If I haven’t managed to convince you to join the team at this point, I still have a few tricks left up my sleeve. In addition to becoming a better person as well as an equestrian, horses can be very therapeutic.
Not only is it an opportunity to be outside in a beautiful place with great people, but it’s also an opportunity to connect with a living being in a different way other than spamming each other with TikTok’s or Snapchats. We also get merch from brand partners such as Lululemon, fun trips to different states or towns in Florida, and the opportunity to uphold school rivalries against the University of Florida.
The team accepts people of all different levels and backgrounds. If you don’t want to live out your dreams of jumping like a large dog over sticks, there is the opportunity to fulfill your Yellowstone dreams like Kevin Costner. Whether you are looking for a therapeutic escape from your daily tasks or trying to be a “horse girl,” the FSU Equestrian Club is the place for you.
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