The Dartmouth equestrian team finished its season on a high note, winning the Ivy League Championships, held two weekends ago, and placing third out of six at the Dartmouth Classic, held this past weekend at the Dartmouth Riding Center.
In the Ivy League Championship held at the Dartmouth Riding Center, the Big Green topped Cornell University and Brown University, who placed second and third, respectively.
The team swept first place in the entire open division and had six first place winners in 13 different shows overall. The Big Green scored an impressive 45 out of 49 possible points the highest Ivy League total that Dartmouth has ever had, according to co-captain Cristina Herren '12.
Competing at home allowed the team to ride familiar horses and gave the riders a slight advantage that they capitalized on. Although the horse is not supposed to impact a rider, sometimes an unfamiliar horse can prove to be an extra challenge.
"There is a bit of home field advantage in that you can always pull a horse that you're familiar with [not one that] you've never ridden before," Herren said.
Co-captain Samantha Parsons '10 led the way for the Big Green, placing first in three events Open Fences, Open Flat and Open Fences Championship.
"It was a really high-energy day and people were pumped," Parsons said.
Shows are split into levels: Open, Intermediate, Canter and WTC which stands for Walk, Trot, Canter. Each level has a jump and flat component and there are eight total classes The top seven of the eight scores are added to the team total.
Additionally, point riders usually a team's best riders are chosen at the beginning of the day, in hopes of levelling the playing field. The point rider's points always get counted, regardless of their place or their teammates place.
Sarah Spangenberg '11 also had a very successful Championships, placing first in Novice Fences and Novice Flat. Spangenberg had been off all year and although she said it was a little difficult getting back into riding shape, she enjoyed getting back in the saddle.
"It's nice to be back and competing again," she said.
Other first place winners included Kelly Tropin '13 in Open Fences, Open Flat and Open Flat Championship, Faye Keegan '12 in Open Fences and Open Flat, Rochele Brown '13 in Advanced WTC and WTC Championship and Natalie Colaneri '12 in Beginners WTC.
Colaneri is a contributing columnist for The Dartmouth.
According to Parsons and Herren, horse shows can be formal in nature, especially Ivy League shows. To lighten the atmosphere, the team wears flair to every show and cheers for other competitors.
Additionally, each team's head coach competes in a "costume class" where the coaches dress up and spray paint the horses, making the competition as fun as possible, according to Parsons.
At the Dartmouth Classic, the team placed third out of six to conclude its season. Becker College and Mount Holyoke College finished first and second, respectively.
Leading the way for the Big Green was Tropin, who finished first in Open flat. Spangenberg took first in Novice flat, Brown took first in Advanced WTC and Colaneri was tops in Beginning WTC.
The Dartmouth equestrian team is a very young team, as six of the 15 riders are members of the Class of 2013. Parsons said the team had a relatively up and down season, but the riders seemed very strong by the end of the season, when the younger riders finally caught on to the competitions riding with confidence and experience, according to Parsons.
Herren noted that the Big Green has a strong equestrian program, and Dartmouth's region is uncharacteristically strong.
"There are four or five powerhouses that are able to staff a full team, it's very competitive," she said.
Herren added that the team hopes that their late success will help them become more competitive and have better results next season as they begin to prepare for the Fall.
