Dartmouth's equestrian team rounded out its Fall season with a final show at Endicott College, a school new to Dartmouth's region. Dartmouth competes in Zone 1, Region 2 of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association. The Big Green placed fifth out of 12 teams at the show.
Sunday's show was the first time that Dartmouth competed at Endicott, which can have an impact on success, according to the Big Green captains.
"At every show you are randomly assigned to a horse in your class," co-captain Helena Witte '13 said. "A lot of it is luck of the draw."
Riders often take notes about specific horses for future shows so they know what to expect, Witte said.
In shows, riders are judged on their form on the horse, so being familiar with the horse you are riding can make a difference, according to co-captain Cristina Herren '12.
"The other riders at the competition had ridden [at Endicott] before," Herren said. "It was a lot of proactive learning."
Despite competing at a new location, the team did find success individually. At the show, Faye Keegan '12 earned first place while Trevy Wing '13, Sarah Spangenberg '11, and Herren each earned second place in their respective events and classes.
"It wasn't our best show of the season, but people definitely had respectable rides," Spangenberg said.
As the show marked the end of the fall season, Dartmouth is now in the off-season and will begin preparing for the spring season midway through the Winter term. There are two shows in the Winter term before Regionals the most prestigious show on the team's calendar.
"Off-season technically starts now, and we will ride half as much as we do when in season," Witte said. "We start practices three to four weeks before the first show in the Winter."
To qualify for Regionals, the riders must "class-up" to the next level of competition. There are five classes and each rider must earn 35 points to compete at the next level, per IHSA rules.
"The point of the IHSA is to be an intelligent rider," Herren said.
Herren, who was already in the highest class for fences, needs to score 28 points to advance to the regional competition. After this season, Herren is now in the highest class for both the flat and the fences.
"We had some inconsistent shows because each school has their own coach and they each have their own style," Herren said. "Each judge is subjective and has finesse points that are individual."
Five riders have already qualified for Regionals this season, and others are hoping to use the final two shows prior to Regionals to be able to advance. Baljir Baatartogtokh '12 has qualified in the walk/trot, Anne Peale '11 and Abby Franklin '13 have qualified in walk/trot/canter, Spangenberg has qualified in the novice flat and novice fences, and Herren has qualified in the intermediate flat.
"I feel [that] the Spring season will add more Regional qualifiers since we have quite a few right on the edge, as far as total points go," head coach Sally Batton said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth.
While adjusting to different or difficult horses is a problem on the road, the team has found success at its home stable. Last year, the Big Green hosted, and won, the Ivy League Championships. Dartmouth will again play host to the Championships this spring.
"It is definitely interesting to see the trends of seeing schools doing better because different judges like different styles," Witte said.
Batton said she thinks the competition at the Ivy Championships could be tough.
"Cornell and Brown are always our rivals because the Championship seem to rotate between us," Batton said.
For now, the riders will take a brief break after having a successful f\all season.
