Equestrian team won’t slow down during off-season

Joshua Mabry, Campus Carrier Asst. Sports Editor

my little pony — Junior Ansley Kozar practices posting trot without stirrups over a ground pole. Photos by Andrea Hill | Campus Carrier

According to Head Coach Margaret Ellington, the equestrian team’s season is going very well so far. A lot of that success has come from the seniors and their leadership roles on the team.

The Vikings are in first place in regional points in the Western category, several points ahead of Mississippi State, while slightly behind the University of Alabama in points for the hunt seat category.

Ellington said she believes the entire team’s results have been positive so far, considering the fact that there is still one semester left in the season.

“In the spring, we’re going to have new riders join us and that will help fill the gaps,” Ellington said. “The team that we have now is awesome. I’m very confident that we can come back in the hunt seat and maintain our lead in the Western.”

Senior hunt seat rider Erin McGlone said that the hunt seat riders are going to work hard over the semester break and hopefully move into first place after their three remaining shows in the spring.

This will be doable because there are many strong riders on the hunt seat team, according to McGlone.

These riders include freshmen and sophomores McGlone thinks will easily take the seniors’ places on the team once the seniors graduate.

wait have I used that joke before — Sophomore Lexi White practices posting trot without stirrups.

The hunt seat team is using rides that they do not do as well at, learning from them and pushing themselves to grow, according to McGlone.

Senior Western rider Sarah Cooper said she is confident in how this season is going so far for the Western team.

“This year, we really have strong people in every division,” Cooper said. “We even have some new riders who showed up on Sunday for the first time. One of our freshmen, who was in her first show, won her class.”

The Western team is currently in first place, but in order to qualify for seminationals and nationals, the team has to maintain that first place spot throughout the rest of the season, according to Cooper. There are four Western shows left for the season, all of which take place in February.

Cooper said the Western team is going to work hard to prepare for these shows. Even though the team is in offseason, they are not resting.

The next hunt seat show will be on Feb. 2 at Berry’s Gunby Equine Center. There will be one show that day.

There will be two Western shows on Feb. 3 at Berry.