Lessons In and Out of the Saddle

Lessons In and Out of the Saddle

PC Profile of Kirsten Schrader OPC ’09

Kirsten Schrader has been obsessed with horses ever since she can remember. “A lot of people call it a disease. I can say I have it,” she said. A rider since she was eight years old, by the time she was 12, Schrader found a way to pay for her lessons by working in a barn not far from her home. But once she began her sophomore year at Penn Charter, academics and athletics became too rigorous and her equestrian life had to take a backseat.

That all changed once she was accepted to Earlham College. “I knew they had this exciting riding program,” she said. “As long as you work a shift at the barn you can ride for free.” Schrader was, as they say, back in the saddle. During her freshman year at Earlham, she bought her very first horse, Trigger. “It’s probably not the best idea to immediately get to a new school and buy a horse, but it was a great experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat,” she said. Boarding and caring for Trigger at Earlham would be a fraction of the cost of keeping him outside of Philadelphia. “He was a bit of a bully, but he taught me a lot about being responsible for my actions. I had to manage how to work with him, budget to pay for his board and keep my grades up. I have always thanked PC for helping me to learn how to problem solve quickly and figure things out.”

Schrader managed all of her responsibilities with grace and diligence, dedicating herself to Earlham’s unique riding program. “It’s very special because it is student-run. It’s the only one like it in the country. We do everything on our own,” she said. Participants work either the 6-8 a.m. shift or the 4-6 p.m. shift in the barn. The co-op provides riding instruction for all levels, and Schrader also works as an instructor, which comes with its own special privilege. “If you are an instructor or a boarder, once you reach your sophomore year you get a key and you can come in anytime at all. You can come in at midnight and ride.” There is also an optional equestrian team that competes on weekends at Indiana University, Purdue and Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods.

Schrader is admired at Earlham for the leadership she has shown at the barn; Penn Charter heard about her work there when PC’s Director of College Counseling Daniel F. Evans visited last fall during a tour of several Indiana colleges and universities: Earlham, Butler, Indiana University and Purdue. “At one point during the visit to Earlham,” he said, “I had the option to learn about the college’s study abroad opportunities, research programs for students, or their unique barn cooperative and Equestrian Center. When I saw that it was Kirsten who would be giving the tour of the barn, I knew I wanted to pick that option.”

For her part, Schrader loves the sense of community she feels with the riding program. “It’s like a big, dysfunctional family,” she said. “When I was frustrated with my new experiences with Trigger, people wanted to help me with him. I would have been lost if the group hadn’t been supportive.”

Two years ago, Schrader grew out of Trigger, but it wasn’t long before she found her new horse, Romeo. “I would not have been able to have a horse like Romeo if I hadn’t had Trigger first,” she said. “Trigger taught me a lot, but it got to the point where we weren’t that compatible.”

Schrader is a senior now, studying psychology and looking toward her future. “With my horse, again, the real life comes first. The plan is to either sell Romeo or lease him out to someone who will be showing him. I can’t guarantee that I will be able to take care of myself and my horse,” she said. With or without Romeo, Schrader is trotting into her future with a level head filled with valuable lessons.

“The program has taught me a lot about being independent and being responsible,” she said. “I have enjoyed it more than anything else in my life.”