The Dartmouth Big Green finished in fourth place out of 11 teams on Sunday at the University of New Hampshire Intercollegiate Horse Show.
It was the last show of the fall for the Big Green. The team resumes riding in the spring, in preparation for the Ivy League Championship.
As an Intercollegiate Horse Show Association away show, the Dartmouth riders had to ride UNH horses, and the lack of familiarity clearly affected their performance. In one of the tougher shows of the season, no Dartmouth rider finished first individually -- the first time that has happened this season.
The horses that the Big Green riders drew may not have been the best, but bad draws inevitably happen at some shows each year, according to head coach Sally Batton.
"The pool of horses from UNH is usually really good," Batton said. "There were a few difficult draws, and they all happened to our team. Before the show I choose a rider from each of the eight class levels to be our point rider, and on Sunday we had some difficult draws that hurt us."
Five Dartmouth riders finished second in their events: Kelley Crisp '12 in Open Jumping, Elizabeth Wilkerson '11 in Novice Jumping, Samantha Parsons '10 in Open Flats, Cristina Herren '12 in Intermediate Flat and Sarah Spangenberg '11 in Novice Flat. Batton was pleased with the way the Big Green rode, especially given the difficult horses.
"I was very proud of the way the team rode those horses," she said. "They never gave up and we were rewarded with some great places in the flats."
Even though this was by far Dartmouth's poorest show of the season, the team still finished quite respectably in fourth. The Big Green, however, had won two straight shows heading into Sunday and expectations were high. The team finished second and third in its other shows. Despite this weekend, Batton still sees the fall season as a success.
"I'm really happy with the season," Batton said. "I think we really pulled together as a team."
One of the three freshmen on the team, Natalie Colaneri '12, who participates in the Walk Canter event, saw the weekend as an experience that the team could build upon.
"It was definitely hard because we had different horses that we weren't used to," Colaneri said. "But it was really good experience. We're a good, young team, and we support each other, even if we don't do well."
"Hopefully we'll continue our success in the spring. I've learned a lot from the older riders, and it's been a lot of fun."
The Big Green has no more shows this fall but will resume riding in the spring when the team will look to defend its Ivy League title.
