This weeks featured organization is the University of Tampa Equestrian Team and Club!
For those of you who don’t know what “equestrian” means, it is the sport of horseback riding. The UT Equestrian Team consists of 25 guys and girls who competitively ride horses all around Florida and Georgia. Each fall semester, the team holds tryouts for new members. Captain of the Equestrian Team, Allie Heinrichs, explains who can try out for the team, saying, “The University of Tampa Equestrian Team is made up of riders beginner to advanced. We encourage anyone with the basic skill set of riding in any discipline to tryout.”
The tryouts are designed to mimic what you could expect at a typical IHSA (Intercollegiate Horse Show Association) competition. What does a typical horse show consist of, you ask? The shows consist of jumping, walk, trot, and canter classes. Each rider is assigned to a random horse whose name is drawn out of a hat. The rider has never ridden this horse and only gets to see a one sentence description of the horse before they ride it, meaning no one has an advantage of being familiar with the horse they drew. One might say this is unfair because some horses are better than others, but this tests the ability of the riders if they can ride a horse well or not.
The UT Equestrian Team competes three to four times a semester at larger schools, such as Florida State University, University of Florida, University of Miami, etc. They train and practice with coach Sherri O’Connor at Far Reach Farm in Lutz, Florida, about thirty minutes away from campus. This allows for a nice break from campus life and allows the riders to rid themselves of stress and focus on their riding.
Heinrichs expresses, “Our barn is like home. We have riders from every part of the world who immediately feel at home the moment they step foot into the barn aisles. Canopies of green trees and horses everywhere you look… Rain or shine, there will always be riders at the barn that you can call family.” We have a strong, dedicated team who enjoys working together to make all of this happen. Being a part of the UT Equestrian Team is a privilege that I can proudly say I am a part of.
If competitive riding isn’t for you, then you might be interested in joining the Equestrian Club. The club meets once a week and they do fun activities like baking horse treats, going on outings to the barn, helping the team with fundraisers and open houses, and going to horse shows to cheer on the team! If you are in the club, you can still go to the barn and take riding lessons for fun, but you don’t have to compete. This is a great way to still be around horses and meet people with the same interests as you.
For more information on the Equestrian Team, please contact Allie Heinrichs at allie.heinrichs@spartans.ut.edu.
If you would like to join the Equestrian Club, please contact Gabby Diakon at gabrielle.diakon@spartans.ut.edu.