Although little known and rarely talked about, Conn has an equestrian team – and a pretty good one at that. The Connecticut College Equestrian Team (CCET) competes in Region I/Zone I of the Intercollegiate Horseshow Association (IHSA). The team recently hosted a very large open show at the Mystic Valley Hunt Club in Gales Ferry, Conn., where they tied with Brown University for the team high point.
As I knew little about equestrian and the Conn team, I talked to head coach Richard Luckhardt who gave me the inside scoop on how the team works. This year, in particular, started off very well when the incoming freshmen doubled the size of the team from fifteen to thirty members. According to Luckhardt, the freshmen were largely attracted by the team’s success in the past.
Most of the team members practice around two to three times per week at the Mystic Valley Hunt Club. The team has both a fall season, comprised of six shows and a spring season with four shows. After the completion of the season, the team will compete in Regional Championships, followed by the Zone Championships and if they are successful, the team will finish up at the National Championship show.
The CCET competes against various other schools in New England including fellow NESCAC members Wesleyan and Trinity.
Competition in Region 1 also includes Central Connecticut State University, UConn, Rhode Island, Post University, Brown University, Johnson & Wales, Rhode Island College and Roger Williams University.
Each school roughly hosts one show a year and most teams attend the shows each weekend if offered.
Equestrian competition works similarly to the way belts work in martial arts. All freshmen start at the first level and accumulate points at shows by competing against other Level 1 riders. Once a Level 1 rider reaches thirty points, they move onto the next level and the cycle starts over again until they get enough points to move on to the third level.
According to Luckhardt, it typically takes about a year and a half to advance to the second level, but with so many talented freshmen this year, the achievement could come much sooner.
During competitions, the riders take part in both flat riding and jumping competitions. Riders do not use their own horses at shows, but are provided with an unfamiliar horse, as judging, like that of gymnastics or diving, is based on style and form, called equitation.
Each rider starts with a perfect score but loses points for each fault and or deduction they receive. There are roughly 6-10 competitors in each class (level) with roughly one to two of those being members of CCET. The top six spots score at the competitions.
The captains for the team this year are Jessica Klebanoff ’10, Sarah Day ’10 and Maggie Rogers ’11. The team is doing quite well this year with first place finishes by Katie McCarthy ’11, Melissa Groher ’12, Katie Karlson ’13, Katie Lynch ’13, Kim Klepacki ’13, Alice Cooper ’13, and Amanda Jones ’13.
The Camels hope to continue their success in upcoming weekend with a show at Wesleyan on November 21 before taking a break after Thanksgiving until the start of the spring season in February.
Photo by DEVON MCLAUGHLIN.
