NEWLY-FOUNDED EQUESTRIAN TEAM SET TO COMPETE —
It’s practice time for Wofford’s newest athletic team. Instead of walking onto a court or field, however, the members stride into the ring with their respective partners – their horses. While these horses do not necessarily belong to the riders, horse and student work together on a deep level of connectedness and communication in order to achieve new heights.
With the first official practices under their belts, this team of 10 humans and the horses they’ve been matched with is a just few days away from their first competition, beginning what co-founders Abby Umberger and Bennett Comp-Crowder hope to be a successful first show season.
In past years, “the equestrian culture has been severely lacking on campus,” says Umberger. “Any riders that wished to continue competing on a collegiate level were forced to do so privately – or give up horses entirely.”
Sophomore Virginia McCully explains that she originally looked for colleges with equestrian teams.
“I looked at schools such as Converse and College of Charleston, but I chose Wofford,” she says. “Now, I can have the best of both worlds. Almost all of the surrounding schools have an equestrian team, [and] Wofford has been the last to jump on that trend.”
Comp-Crowder, a nationally ranked equestrian, competed with her two horses all of last year on a private scale. Other Wofford students like McCully simply gave up the sport their freshmen year, unable or unwilling to afford the cost of competing on an individual level. All that has changed as of this year, now that the college has recognized this group, currently comprised of all women, as a team within the non-competitive Equestrian Club.
Megan Kneece, a first-year student, moved her personal horse to the boarding facility in Landrum, SC for the team to use.
“I didn’t want to have to stop training and showing because of college,” says Kneece. “All the women on the team are awesome, and it’s going to be a lot of fun training and showing together. It’s our first year, but we have really good riders and we’ll be able to be competitive against teams that have been doing this a lot longer than us. It’ll be exciting to watch us grow as a team as we get more training and show mileage this year.”
The team has been taken in by Jeanne Smith of Clear View Farm, who will provide horses and weekly coaching services. Smith, a well-respected equestrian professional, has been coaching riders for many years and has also been a judge for the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association – the organization within which the Wofford team will compete.
“I am so excited about learning with Coach Jeanne. She is really great,” says McCully.
Practices are in the form of group or private lessons, all of which are used to prepare for the intercollegiate competitions, which will begin in October and run through late February.
The team’s first competition is this weekend, Oct. 11-12, and will be hosted by Lander University in Greenwood, SC. Umberger and her teammates are confident that the team is ready for the upcoming season, especially since there are so many levels of riders represented on the team. While it takes a great deal of dedication to participate as a team member, this “pilot team” has shown extraordinary commitment to the cause, says Umberger.
“They have been so flexible and understanding with all the craziness that accompanies starting something this big.”
Getting to this point, however, has not been a smooth ride. Comp-Crowder and Umberger say that they have worked relentlessly over the past year to make the dream of a Wofford Equestrian Team a reality. They met with college administrators, secured a facility and coach and worked out the many logistics involved. Currently, the team and all of its activities are privately funded for the most part, though the team plans on fundraising to support this endeavor so that riders may participate who would otherwise never be able to compete.
“Equestrian sports are super underrepresented, so hopefully the team will gain support and interest from the rest of the school,” says Kneece.
— Sarah Madden