The Collective Equestrian Summer 2015

The college and young professionals edition

2 champs, 1 state: Once in a lifetime:

Sweet Briar:

Collective EQUESTRIAN Berry & SCAD storm Intercollegiate Nationals

Splurge a little on a personalized gift for your equestrian grad

The battle is far from over

The

SUMMER 2015

4Under 35:

Georgia has an exciting future in horses - meet some of the state’s most promising young equestrian professionals (and some who are soon to be)

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Contents

Reaching Out

In Profile

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Message from the editor

IHSA Nationals 22

Behind the scenes

IHSA: a primer A quick rundown of the collegiate competition system

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Savannah College of Art and Design The art school with a decidedly equestrian bent rules the huntseat

Sarah Dubois Breaking out on her own in the competitive world of youth coaching

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Chad Rice

Opinion 16

Karen McGoldrick The battle for Sweet Briar is far from over

On the cover: Miguel Wilson pilots “Cayden A� through a course in Tyler, Texas.

Stepping up the professional game using competition as the vehicle

Berry College Berry solidifies its status as a Western powerhouse

Ryan Genn Grand Prix jumpers, IHSA and veterinary courses: this is the college equestrian experience

Statistically speaking, this was a historical year for the IHSA

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Miguel Wilson Beginning an Olympic journey with an eye toward altruism

Our Picks 18

The CE gift guide At a loss for what to get your special grad or young professional? Make it personal!

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From the editor ...

MY COMMITMENT TO YOU:

Welcome to the first edition of The Collective Equestrian. I’m your editor, Liz Crumbly. I won’t take up too much of your valuable time with an extensive background on myself right now, but suffice it to say, I’ve been in the business of local journalism for a long time, and I’ve been an avid equestrian nearly all my life.

I’m looking forward to bringing my knowledge of both worlds to you on a quarterly basis.

Think of the Collection as grassroots, hyperlocal journalism: you won’t be seeing this material on every blog or in every other magazine. Each edition of the Collective will revolve around a theme or trend on the Southeastern horse scene, and you can expect to find unique stories that will connect you to your fellow horsemen across the region.

Our stories about equestrians across Georgia and the South have been handpicked to intrigue, compel and inspire you, as readers and horse enthusiasts. For this, our inaugural edition, we chose to highlight Georgia’s young equestrian professionals.

We present to you four profiles of varying length on the state’s most promising experts under the age of 35 who are currently - or will soon be - working in the local horse industry.

We also provided a detailed summary of the triumphant journey two Georgia teams made to IHSA nationals in May. This is a unique group of young competitors, many of whom are about to be working as professionals. I hope you’ll enjoy our take on the nationals results for IHSA riders across the state.

I think, after reading about these motivated young people, you will agree with me that Georgia has a very exciting future in the equestrian world.

You’ll also notice we’ve been building a directory of local horsemen and equinerelated services. (See page 33). I encourage you to add a listing for your equinebased business and become visible to our growing circulation. See the directory for details on how to do this.

Please take a moment to peruse the magazine’s website at www.collectiveequestrian.com and our Facebook page at facebook.com/ collectiveequestrian. You will find a bevy of material pertinent to your local horse scene, as well as my full biography on the website.

Before I let you go, I ask that you consider doing me one favor: if you like what you see, subscribe to the Collective via ISSUU; I promise we’ll never waste your time when you do us the honor of opening up one of our editions. In fact, I feel confident in saying this publication will compel and inspire you to better yourself as a horse enthusiast.

Liz Crumbly Editor

Sincerely,

Liz

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Poised to be a professional: This is how to build a college education around horses FROM CE STAFF REPORTS Although Ryan Genn is technically a resident of Ohio, Georgia gets to claim him for most of the year, as he is a full-time student at Savannah College of Art and Design. Genn has plans to eventually make his profession in training and riding showjumpers.

This is a world that, at first blush, seems like the champagne of riding disciplines - colorful, effervescent, exciting. Genn would probably agree that piloting a gifted jumper around a grand prix course is all of these things, but he has taken great pains to make sure his bank of knowledge includes a lot of experience gleaned outside the showring.

A comprehensive education Genn, who just wrapped up his Junior year, plans to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Equestrian Studies. The program, according to its scad.edu description, brings a comprehensive approach to those looking to enter the

Ryan Genn, at a horseshow here, is an equestrian studies major at Savannah College of Art and Design. He plans to pursue a career as a professional trainer after graduating and spending some time training in Germany.

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horse world as professionals.

Upper level offerings include classes like “Equine Systems, Disorders and Lameness,” “Rules and Regulations for Competition Horses” and “Equine Business Law and Ethics.”

Genn said he has gleaned quite a bit of useful knowledge from his classes. He cited one professor, Dr. Rebecca Evans, as being particularly influential in his learning process.

Evans teaches veterinary courses; these are the classes Genn feels have really elevated his education. This is where he is learning, as he puts it, “things that every professional doesn’t get to know,” during in-depth studies of subjects like horse anatomy and equine medications.

“It’s a cool program,” he said, “especially for me - being focused on the horses.”

Genn quickly picked up on the catchriding concept, and it shows in his record for SCAD. He logged IHSA national team placings for the school during his freshman year and again this year.

He’s also been instrumental in the school’s ANRC (American National Riding Commission) success, helping secure SCAD’s second consecutive Nationals division win this year with a final individual standing of second place. (A quick overview of ANRC national competition: riders are split into Novice and Nationals divisions; with fence heights of 2’6” and 3’, respectively. Each division, according to an ANRC press release, is “judged and scored in four phases: a program ride (including USEF hunter equitation tests); a hunter seat equitation medal course; a derby style equitation course (over natural obstacles in a field); and a written test based on riding theory In the ring Another thing that’s been a positive and equine science.) experience is the catch-riding he’s had to Future plans learn in order to help lead SCAD’s IHSA Genn plans to eventually land back (Intercollegiate Horse Show Association) home in Ohio where he will help his fato the 2015 national championship. Genn ther and older brother operate the family said he feels a lot of people underestitraining business. His father, Wilhelm mate the challenges of the IHSA format Genn, has found significant success as a because the obstacles in the equitationprofessional jumper. Ryan said his dad is style courses are lower in height than the ready to form a partnership with his sons ones in typical jumper competition. The and let them begin taking the reins. jump height in Genn’s division, open First, however, Ryan plans to do equitation over fences, do not exceed somewhat of a walkabout session in Ger3’3”, according to the official IHSA rulemany where much of his family, includbook. ing a prominent veterinarian uncle, still The trick is that riders are not allives. Ryan plans to take advantage, not lowed any time to test ride the horses only of the excellent quality of riding they draw for competition. training, but also of the opportunity to “Catch riding with no warm-up; that expand his command of the German lanwas difficult for me.” Genn said. guage. He hopes to be fluent by the time He came to SCAD with the experihe returns to the states. ence of having ridden significantly bigDespite having been raised in a famiger jumps - but on horses he knew, in ly where uncommon riding talent and training that he described as “a lot more highly-trained horses are part of the evephysical.” ryday scenery, Genn seems to realize his “You really get in tune with what unusual fortune. Growing up in a riding you’re riding,” he explained. “You sit up family, he said, has had its perks. one way with your weight, and they lis“It’s good to have people you trust,” ten.” he explained. “It’s awesome to have those connections.”

You work hard at your job.

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collectivequestrian.com, for information on our competitively priced display & classified advertising packages.

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How to escape the corporate grind: Be honest: you’ve dreamed about giving your two-week notice at your ‘grown-up’ job and riding horses for a living instead.

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Sarah Dubois has done it.

By LIZ CRUMBLY Contributed photos

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reakaway Farm - the name symbolizes not just a new beginning but a bold start. That’s exactly what its owner, Sarah Dubois, was getting at when she christened her then-fledgling training business in Braselton, Ga. almost four years ago.

And a bold start it was. Dubois began a new career, a family and competition in a new discipline at virtually the same time, but her tenacity has paid off in spades. She recently returned from Wellington, Fla. having coached her first rider to IEA (Interscholastic Equestrian Associa-

tion) Nationals.

Breaking out Dubois, by her own admission, has finally found her passion teaching young minds the ins and outs of the hunter ring, but she took the long way around in becoming a coach. After college, like so many lifelong equestrians, she felt compelled to get, in her words, a “real job.”

So, she flew a desk with Progressive Insurance for five years, handling auto claims.

“It was a really well-paying job,” she recalls, trailing off in the way

horsemen do when it’s obvious their calling lies elsewhere.

She hung on to that nine-to-five security, but she had soon manufactured a double life for herself, teaching lessons in the evenings at a farm in Gainesville where she boarded her gelding, Ditto. Her typical workday ran from daylight to dark: Progressive from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the barn afterward.

“I would be working all day, and I’d be at the barn by 4:30,” she recalls.

Despite the rigorous schedule, Du-

See DUBOIS page 14

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Opposite page: Sarah Dubois, right, stands with the Breakaway Farm IEA Team.

This page, clockwise from top: Dubois and her husband, Sean; Sarah jumping at a horseshow; Angelica Davis, Sarah’s Future Beginner Equitation competitor, showing “Winston” on the flat at IEA nationals in April; Sarah with her son, Caleb, in a leadline class on her gelding, “Ditto,” whom she has owned since she was 12.

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Education through competition:

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Above: Chad Rice, CJF, (left) competes in the two-man portion of a World Championship Blacksmiths competition with the aid of a striker. Left: Rice (far left) with his 2012 WCB World Horseshoeing Classic teammates, Chip Crumbly, CJF, AWCF; Nick Starr, CJF; and Billy Lewis, CJF.

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Photos: competition photo- WCB; group photo- contributed; WCB logo- WCB

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Chad Rice has advanced his knowledge of the hoof through a rigorous contest schedule FROM CE STAFF REPORTS Chad Rice, CJF, is known among his farrier contemporaries for his quick wit and willingness to manufacture a practical joke at the drop of a hat. He’s taken ample opportunity to participate in his fair share of them while attending some of the nation’s most intense shoeing competitions, but when it’s actually time to compete, Rice is completely serious.

These competitions, most of which have taken place under the WCB (World Championship Blacksmiths Association) tent, have pushed Rice to take responsibility for elevating his education to new heights. The required travel takes a lot of logistical planning and time - especially for farriers like Rice who are supporting families and operating full-time shoeing businesses.

The WCB events take place at various far-flung locations across the country - Wyoming, Virginia, Las Vegas. Coke forges are provided for competitors; participants pack their tools and check them before boarding a plane. Just getting there can be a feat, but it’s worth it to Rice.

“It’s about dedication,” he explained.

Participants compete in one of four categories, based on level of aptitude. All competitors are assigned the same shoe to attempt to produce. At the time of judging, participants are placed within their competitive categories and also overall. Judging takes place in an open format, so all competitors can observe the process. This factor makes WCB events particularly educational, according to Rice, and it also ups the ante of the concept of shoeing competition.

“I think the coolest thing about the WCB is that your work is up against everyone that’s there,” he explained. “It’s just raising the bar.”

Some years he’s on the road more than others. He attended about 10 competitions with various associations in 2012, often traveling with several fellow farriers with whom he has developed close friendships through competition.

Rice has also participated several times in the WCB’s World Horseshoeing

About the WCB:

Classic, an international level competition held in the four-man format. In these competitions, each farrier team is assigned a horse, and each team member trims fits and and nails on one of its shoes - all within two-and-a-half hour timeframe. The prep work requires numerous weekend practice sessions with each team member typically hosting at least one session and the others driving several hours to attend.

Rice said the experience, as a whole, was immensely beneficial.

“That was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done - the team aspect of horseshoeing,” he explained.

When Rice isn’t traveling, he calls Nashville, Ga. home, shoeing horses from as far north as Tifton, Ga. down to Live Oak, Fla. on a regular basis and sometimes even doing work in Palm Beach or Ocala. His wife, Lacey, is a teacher and an avid rodeo competitor, and the couple has two children, who are also involved with horses.

For someone who works and plays as hard as Rice, farriery seems to be the perfect fit. Next year marks his 10th year shoeing on his own. Although he serves a comparatively large book of clients and keeps a packed schedule, Rice maintains that he’s never had a “real job -” a characteristic statement from someone who has found his niche.

“I’ve been pretty fortunate,” he said simply.

He likes to give credit for his hardwon education where it’s due, including to the dozen or so horseshoers for whom he has worked and from whom he has learned over the years.

Travel seems to have become somewhat of a theme for Rice. He recently worked the Capital Challenge under the show’s official farrier, Bud Adams, of Atlanta. Rice was one of several farriers Adams brought to help him at the prominent two-week hunter event, which took place indoors in Upper Marlboro, Md. He’ll be on the road competing a few more times this year, among his upcoming destinations - the WCB’s June competition in Herriman, Utah.

This competitive farriery association is the brainchild of New Mexico-based farrier Craig Tyrnka, CJF, and its primary purpose is to foster knowledge about the intricacies of the art of farriery. According to its website, www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths. com, the association was formed with an eye toward educating not only the participating farriers, but the horseowning public, as well. The association was formed in 2006, and competitions were held around the country in conjunction with other large horsecentric events that would provide audiences for the competitors.

Now approaching its 10-year anniversary, the WCB has kept its of commitment of supplying everything for participants, except for their hand tools.

When the competitions began, this was an unprecedented concept for farrier competitions in the U.S. “The idea of horseshoeing competitors being able to arrive at a destination with just their hand tools was a completely new concept,” the site states. “All of the equipment was there for them; the anvil, forge, vice and all the little pieces that competitors used to have to haul in the back of a pickup truck if they were going to go to any other horseshoeing competition.”

The WCB format, according to the site, includes three areas of competition: matchplay, a speed round, where shoers compete against each other in brackets; the two-man, in which a competitor has 60 minutes to make a pair of shoes with the help of a striker; the single man, in which a contestant produces a single pair of shoes with no striker; and the live portion, during which competitors must shoe a single foot on a horse and simultaneously produce a specimen shoe.

See worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com for more information.

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Meet (very possibly) Atlanta’s next equestrian Olympian:

Miguel Wilson This 16 year old shows us how to start scaling the Mount Everest of all riding goals with an extraordinary dose of class and generosity.

By LIZ CRUMBLY Contributed photos In a sandy arena, the June sun beating down, a young man puts a jumper through its paces during an afternoon schooling session. The rider’s performance is so eye catching that a trainer teaching a lesson nearby stops her students to watch; her assessment of his talent: “He wants it.”

That rider is Atlanta native Miguel Wilson; he remembers the comment clearly, and he concurs with it wholeheartedly. So, what exactly is it?

Wilson, at 16, can tell you precisely. He has skyscraping dreams that, should he achieve them, will leave a lasting impression on the horse world in more ways than one.

He is currently building a riding career that he hopes will propel him to the 2024 Olympics in showjumping, and he plans to be the first African American member of the United States Equestrian Team to achieve this feat.

These things alone should be distinguishing enough, but Wilson insists that this goal is not just about him. He wants to impact other young people along the way, those who might not Left: Miguel Wilson riding “Commander in Chief.”

have a chance to ride otherwise, and he plans to act as a launch pad for them to begin working toward their equestrian goals. Wilson’s Ride to the Olympics Foundation is the platform he is using to involve the public in his Olympic goal and also in his endeavors to reach underprivileged children who want to find a foothold in the equestrian world.

“I wanted to give kids who aren’t exactly born into great means the opportunity to ride and to be around horses,” Wilson explains. He has already hosted a successful “Day at the Barn” event in which he introduced a group of local kids to horses at an Alpharetta barn, and he has plans to expand and build the experience.

idea stage. Today, he’s riding fulltime (save for regular visits home to Atlanta) as a working student at Pine Hollow Farms in New Caney, Texas, under professional hunter and jumper trainer Will Roberts.

A lot of his story up to this point involves carving out his own toeholds, without a whole lot of financial capital, in an industry where a lack of funding can be the kiss of death for a burgeoning career. Two years ago, according to his father, Miguel was a standout runner on his eighth-grade track team, and he was succeeding academically. It looked like running would be an opportunity he would pursue very competitively. Miguel Sr. realized things had begun to take a different turn, however, when Miguel Chasing an education returned from a horse show in PennIn the meantime, Wilson’s in the sylvania and sat his father down for a trenches figuring out how to advance serious conversation. his own riding. For someone who has “‘Dad, I don’t want to go back to had to pretty well blaze his own trail, school next year, and I don’t want to he has laid the foundation for his run track anymore,” he remembers his higher education in riding fairly son saying. quickly. A little more than two years Miguel wanted to pursue riding ago, the next step in his horsefull time, and he had hatched a plan to showing experience was just in the do it. He presented a scenario that The Collective Equestrian Summer 2015

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would take him to Texas. He had already obtained information, his father recalls, about an online education program that seemed to be competitive as or more so than the brick-and-mortar one he was enrolled in at the time.

This is one of those scenarios that would have a lot of parents applying the brakes immediately, but Miguel Sr. realized that his son’s horse obsession was not something he could ignore or tamp down. As he puts it, when Miguel began riding, “the bug bit him hard.”

And Miguel had another thing working in his favor: his father knows what it’s like to love horses.

Miguel Sr. rode as a child at horse camp; equines were a breath of fresh air for a kid growing up in Washington D.C. “He’s the one who got that passion,” he says of his son. “When I was a kid, I was similar. I fell in love with them just like he did from the start. Horses were my escape from the inner city.”

Given his understanding of horses and of his son’s determination, he believed Miguel had a chance to ascend to the top ranks of the competitive riding world. So instead of becoming overwhelmed by the direction things were taking, Miguel Sr.

Miguel Wilson takes a break during a horse show at the Colorado Horse Park last July.

“I bested my record today!” Wilson writes. “I rode 13 horses today! Six of them were ridden without stirrups. It’s Miguel Wilson has taken pains to document his walkabout adventures in safe to say that I’m exhausted. Something that stuck with me today was ‘feel his ridetotheolympics.com blog. Last the burn’. That burn means you’re doing year, he attempted to post every day, something right. It means that I’m imand he came fairly close. proving in my riding. The highlight of my The blog is a delightful portal into his daily life at the barn and on the road. day was was when a trainer stopped her group lesson to use me as an example.

It’s hard to turn away once you read She said, ‘He wants it.’ Truer words posts like one titled “I Can’t Feel My have never been spoken. I want to be Legs,” written after a mid-June day of the best rider I can be, and I’m willing to training. In fact, it inspired the lede for put in as much hard work as I have to. this very story:

The blog:

It’s amazing to have your hard work noticed.”

Wilson has decided to back his posting down, frequency-wise, but he’s proud of the effort he put into documenting 2014, and he feels like he accomplished his goal of bringing his readers in on his experience.

“The thought was there,” he says, “The thought stayed true.”

Be sure to subscribe to Wilson’s equestrian musings via the RSS button on the Ride to the Olympics blog page.

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explains.

How you can help: The Ride to the Olympics Foundation is currently acA LEG UP: cepting donations both for Wilson’s Olympic goal and his One of the key concepts of 16-year-old Miguel Wilson’s outreach efforts. The Foundation, according to Wilson’s Ride to the Olympics Foundation is rooted in helping oth- father, Miguel Wilson, Sr., is in the process of becoming a nonprofit organization, so donations will soon be tax deers kickstart their equestrian dreams.

Wilson has already hosted a Day at the Barn event at an ductible. Donations may be made via credit card or PayAlpharetta-area barn, during which he introduced a group pal. of visiting youth to the resident horses and provided a rid- For more information and to donate visit ing demonstration. His plans for the Foundation go far be- www.ridetotheyolympics.com. yond just getting kids into the barn, though.

The next step: Wilson plans to host a Day at the Show in order to introduce would-be competitors to the rigors of an actual show day. He also wants to host a horse camp - this one will be, he admits, “a big undertaking.”

He needs significant resources to pull off an event of this magnitude; some of the biggest needs would be counselors, horses and a facility to host the camp.

Another big goal is to provide a support system for kids getting started in the horse show world; this desire inspired the rider level system he wants to institute as the Foundation becomes capable of sponsoring young people. Miguel Wilson, Sr., far right, stands with children and volThe levels will run the gamut of rider ability, and he has a unteers from a local Boys and Girls Club during the Ride vision of donations to the Foundation providing funding for to the Olympics Foundation’s Day at the Barn, which took kids at the advanced level to travel and show. place at an Alpharetta stable. The children got an introBasically, the Foundation would provide “anything duction to barn life, getting to meet the horses and see a you would need to get to live out the rider dream,” Wilson riding demonstration.

The Ride to the Olympics Foundation:

began brainstorming.

The two Wilsons took a road trip from their home in Atlanta to Virginia, and they had some frank discussion about the financial backing that Miguel’s goals would require.

“I told him that I did not have the resources at the time,” Miguel Sr. says.

But he also told his son not to give up and that they would find a way to begin scaling the Mount Everest of riding goals.

“Don’t get discouraged,” Miguel Sr. recalls telling his son. “There’s always more than one way to get what you want in life.”

Miguel Sr. felt the horse-owning public would want to help, but he realized they had to hear Miguel’s story in order to do that.

“We’ve got to create a vehicle for you to introduce yourself to them,” he told his son.

By the end of that road trip, they had hashed out a framework for the Ride to the Olympics Foundation: it’s part charitable foundation for other young people who want to ride, part publicity vehicle for Miguel’s Olympic dream. When Miguel discusses the Foundation, his excitement for the myriad of charitable events he has in the planning stages is palpable. Right now, though, as Miguel Sr. points out, the pair have their hands rather full as they negotiate the challenges of building Miguel’s career.

Miguel is hopeful that the Foundation will help in bringing him the attention, and by extension the funding, that he needs to eventually step into

the international spotlight.

“We thought this could definitely happen,” he says, “having it out there - it would help … Even if I don’t make it to the Olympics, I’ve definitely done something … with the right amount of funding, I could do it.”

A day in Wilson’s life Miguel Wilson is living out the dream that so many young people say they wish they could pursue: the one that ends with riders piloting lavishly talented horses through Olympic jumper courses. The nagging question most teenagers circumnavigate is this: what does it really take to get there?

Apparently, what it takes is the ability to keep the vision through the daily grind and through the changing

See WILSON page 15

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Dubois From Page 6 bois realized she was finding deep satisfaction conducting those evening lessons. She became the assistant trainer at that barn, and her affinity for teaching grew.

“That’s where I found my passion to teach kids to ride horses,” she says.

Breakaway Farm: 5840 Union Church Road, Braselton, Ga., 30517 For more information: www.break-awayfarm.net or www.facebook.com/BreakAwayFarmIeaTeam

“To me, it’s not work.”

One day, on impulse, she stopped by a facility in Braselton that she had heard was in need of a trainer. That barn, as it turned out, was the stepping stone that finally allowed her to stride fully into the equestrian world again.

She took the head trainer position, and through a series of events over the following few months, she became the lessee of the property on Union Church Road, and Breakaway Farm was born.

Of course, none of these events were as simple as they seem on paper.

Moving on from the barn in Gainesville where she had taught lessons for the past few years was a particularly difficult emotional decision, and Dubois also had to let go of the proverbial handlebars and make her final exit from the corporate world.

Perhaps the most complicated turn of events was this: as Breakaway was forming, so was another facet of Dubois life - she was pregnant with her son, Caleb. Somehow, the stars aligned, and she was able to keep her position at Progressive throughout her maternity leave - a particular point of relief.

“I was able to have a kid without the stress of not working,” as she puts it.

And then Dubois found herself as an entrepreneur handling the ins and outs of boarding, training and selling horses and hauling clients to shows.

At the same time she also made her own break from hunters to take on the jumper ring competitively. Her constant reinforcement has been her husband Sean, a reliability engineer for Ethicon without, according to his

wife, a horsey bone in his body.

“I don’t think he had ever touched a horse until he met me,” Dubois says of her husband.

He’s been game for the adventure, though, helping to propel her emotionally through the process of starting her own business.

“He’s been my 100 percent supportive backbone,” she says. “I was really worried about the security.”

He’s gotten pretty good with his fence-building and barn repair skills, and Dubois doesn’t hesitate to put him to work.

“Anything I need done, he does it,” she says.

All the way to Nationals Breakaway soon became a hub for youth competitors, and today Dubois has a thriving IEA (Interscholastic Equestrian Association) program in a region where there seems to be a high school team on every corner. Read that to mean the competition is stiff in Zone 4, Region 6.

Despite the pressure, Dubois has thrived coaching middle and high schoolers in the Interscholastic format, and she has seen a path of leadership among her peers begin to open before her. She just completed her first year as Region 6 IEA president.

She is there every step of the way for her middle and high school teams, whose members compete all school year in what Dubois admits is a long season. All those long practice sessions and weekends on the road payed off this year, though, culminating in Wellington April 24-26 when Dubois shepherded middle school rider An-

gelica Davis, then 11, to IEA nationals as an individual competitor.

Davis is a tiny rider with a big heart; she “probably weighs about 50 pounds wet,” by Dubois’ estimation.

There was no callback for finals this year for Davis, but Dubois was pleased just to have made that first trip as a coach.

Davis rode on the flat in the Future Beginner Equitation division, which, according to the IEA’s official website, rideiea.org, is open to riders in grades 6-8. Only the top eight riders, out of the handful who filter past the region and zone competitions, are placed at the national level, as Dubois points out.

“It was a huge accomplishment to go,” she explains. “(It was) the top 22 riders in every class in the country.

Just to ride at nationals, I think, is a huge accomplishment.”

Dubois would know.

Ten years ago this year, she placed sixth in her individual novice over fences class at IHSA (Intercollegiate Horse Show Association) nationals, where she rode for Berry College, an institution with a historically strong huntseat team that has been represented well and often at the national level.

That top-10 national ranking capped off an intercollegiate career for Dubois that had been studded with huntseat wins on the flat and over fences. Little did she know at that time that she would find herself on the other side of the rail, watching her own riders compete in a format much like the one she had become so familiar with.

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Wilson From Page 13 scenery. Miguel has already had working student positions at several large barns, and he’s picked up different skills and responsibilities during each one. When he is “at home,” i.e. not helping at a horse show, Miguel’s routine is fairly unchanging. It often involves non-horse-related tasks like feeding a farm’s dogs early each morning or painting jumps. That one actually took up quite a bit of his time last fall. Each day, Miguel found himself in jump makeover mode, paintbrush in hand; the experience was a new one that quickly grew old.

“I had never painted before, except for finger painting in art class,” he recalls.

The actual riding gig is far more interesting, but it’s not for the faint of heart, due to the sheer number of equines Miguel is responsible for working day in and day out. He’s on his first horse of the day by 9 a.m., and then he rides … and rides, working five to 10 training horses each day, depending on which clients will be visiting. It’s the kind of rigorous schedule that weeds out the wishful riders from the really driven ones, and Miguel acknowledges that fact.

Existing as a teenager in settings typically reserved for adults has its challenges.

“I’m always thrown in situations,” he remarks. “I’m always surrounded by adults, the grooms, the trainers. Sometimes they lose sight of the fact that I am 16.”

He says the growing pains that a working student position brings are well-worth the effort, however. If a rider doesn’t have the fortitude to “tough” these situations out, he says, a training career probably isn’t right for them.

“I wouldn’t trade what I’m learning for anything,” he says. “It’s some-

thing that you kind of have to be tough-skinned about and have to push through because there will definitely be a lot of setbacks.”

An A average Finding a balance between riding, academics and his charitable pursuits is also a hurdle.

“My head is spinning,” he says, “all day long about schoolwork, the Foundation, schoolwork …”

Despite a rigorous show schedule (during a previous working student position, he regularly helped his employer transport between 15 and 30 show horses between Texas and faraway destinations like Wellington, Fla.), Wilson maintains a A average in school, according to his father. Academics are something that always hover at the edge of Miguel’s thoughts, and he mentions school a lot when talking about his daily life.

Sometimes it’s difficult to retrieve his online course materials when traveling, as wireless access is spotty at some venues, but he gets the work done in the end.

“It’s something that my parents kind of instilled in me,” he explains.

“Education is important.”

He’s not sure how academics and riding will meld in the future, but post -secondary education is very much part of his plan.

“I do want to go to a university,” he says. “I’m not sure which one.”

Even with college on the horizon, he still has his sights firmly set on riding professionally.

“When you invest so much into something, it’s really hard to imagine doing something else with my life,” he explains. “I love riding, and it’s basically what I base my life on at this point … I’ve moved away from my family to ride and to live the dream.”

Are you hooked yet?

Find out more about The CE online (and pardon our progress) We’re in the process of building an top-of-the line website to better serve you.

See our online home,

collectivequestrian.com, for information about us.

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Saving Sweet Briar: The battle to keep the women’s college open is very much on

Sweet Briar House, one of numerous historic buildings on the Sweet Briar College campus, is the traditional home of the school’s president.

“I am so impressed, as always, by my brilliant Sweet Briar sisters. They are still blazingly bright and clever. To hang onto their blasts of brilliance, to just be part of the conversations, is still like catching hold of mildly electrified wire.

- Karen McGoldrick

My life was changed completely the day I arrived at Sweet Briar in ways I never could have imagined.

I grew up in Claremont, in Los Angeles County, California. I had never seen Sweet Briar before move in day. I had never even visited the State of Virginia.

Neither of my parents had seen Sweet

Briar either. We did not have money for such things as travel.

Sweet Briar had been recommended to my family by a graduate student of my father’s. Alan Balch had become Vice President of Santa Anita race track, and manager of the Del Mar horse show, and the Forum International horse show. He

later would run the equestrian venue for the 1986 Olympics, and become President of the AHSA. He highly recommended the riding program at Sweet Briar, and especially its director Paul Cronin.

I did not want to go to college…I just wanted to ride. But, as my father was a college professor, he was firm. I was go-

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Photo: Wiki Media Commons

The world learned just how determined and resourceful the Sweet Briar Vixens can be when the alumnae of the Virginia women's college kicked off an aggressive attempt earlier this year to save their beloved alma mater from closure.

The negative reaction was widespread and swift among the alumnae when the college administration announced that the school would close its doors this coming August. Champions of the 114-year-old women’s institution, which is located just north of Lynchburg, Va., launched Saving Sweet Briar, Inc., a non-profit organization that is seeking to raise $20 million in order to keep the college afloat for the time being. According to the group’s website, savingsweetbriar.com, $16 million has poured in since March. Donations are still being accepted and are tax deductible.

The organization has also launched a legal battle in an attempt to halt the impending closure of the school.

Sweet Briar’s situation has been of particular interest to many equestrians because of the college’s historically strong horse program. Today, it offers an equine studies program, and its riding teams are competitive in national associations including IHSA and ANRC. One of the Georgia equestrian community’s most vocal champions of Sweet Briar has been Karen McGoldrick, a 1979 graduate. Today, she makes her home in Alpharetta, Ga., and is a successful dressage instructor and novelist. Her literary offerings include “The Dressage Chronicles” and its followup, “The Dressage Chronicles II: A Matter of Feel.” McGoldrick wrote the following of her beloved college:

ing. Sweet Briar was our compromise.

Everything was foreign. My clothes were all wrong, the air, the light, the overwhelming greenery and especially the humidity kept me off balance my first days. I had never seen sweat beading on my skin before, and remember the confusion of seeing drops on the pommel of my saddle, and looking skyward for the rain. When people cheerily yelled “hey” at me, I remember thinking, “hey, what?”

But, it didn’t take me long to realize, getting thrown into the Briar patch at Sweet Briar was the opportunity of a lifetime.

My roommate also rode, and we were both placed into Paul Cronin’s only freshman riding class. We forged an instant friendship and soon just referred to each other as sister…as we still do today.

My advisor was a handsome guy with a red setter and an odd accent; Ross Dabney. Dabney taught my Freshman English class too. His classes were lively and fun and the books we read were engaging. Pretty soon I found that class never really ended. I found that some of us just kept talking and did not stop for the next four years. I was impressed by my classmates, some of whom were blazingly bright and clever. To hang onto their blasts of brilliance, to just be part of the conversations, was like catching hold of mildly electrified wire. You felt it though your entire being and darn it but you couldn’t let it go.

And then I met my future husband, at a Wednesday night mixer in the gym; another bolt of electricity, more endless conversations. And he was from Georgia, a state that I only knew from Gone with the Wind.

Los Angeles, even with its sunshine, never stood a chance. I graduated with a degree in English and creative writing.

Lawrence and I got married on the Monday after graduation, at the chapel at UVA. That way my SBC sisters and faculty members could be there.

We moved to Houston, where my first job was at a small advertising agency as a junior copywriter. I did get to write and produce radio spots and write newspaper, magazine, and billboard ads.

I bought a cheap horse and rode after work.

But I hated the advertising work and quit after 10 months. I really had no ex-

pectations after graduating about my career. I never felt that the world owed me anything. It was up to me to design the life I wanted. And after casting about, and aborting a Masters degree in education after I finished my student teaching stint in the classroom, I went right back to the horses and became a professional rider and trainer, focusing on dressage.

I never stopped reading and writing, for the pure love of it. I decided to write a novel as a tool for teaching about training horses and riding. I did not see anything out there like it, and as I loved reading historical fiction as a way to dive into a time in history, I thought others would enjoy learning through storytelling about horses.

And so I wrote The Dressage Chronicles. It was well received, so I wrote the sequel, “A Matter of Feel.” And now I am writing the third book and final book in the series, “Rings of Fire.” Today I split my day in two, teaching and riding in the mornings at my beautiful little farm, and writing in the afternoons. I couldn’t ask for anything better.

The announced closing of Sweet Briar hit me like a physical blow. It was a betrayal by those entrusted with her care.

You do not kill that which you are charged to protect and preserve. I believe, that now, perhaps more than in recent decades, women’s education is critical.

I now feel guilty that I assumed that those leading our beloved Sweet Briar would love her and be proud of her and fight to carry her forward for future generations. I will never be so complacent again. I have one gift that I can offer, and that is my voice. I have been interviewed and I have written opinion pieces. I have my audience among horsewomen and readers. I am engaged and vocal.

I am so impressed, as always, by my brilliant Sweet Briar sisters. They are still blazingly bright and clever. To hang onto their blasts of brilliance, to just be part of the conversations, is still like catching hold of mildly electrified wire. I still feel it though my entire being and darn it, I still can’t let go. I am proud to fight this battle, shoulder to shoulder with you.

Holla Holla.

Karen Jaffa McGoldrick, Class of 1979

“I did not want to go to college. I just wanted to ride.

But, as my father was a college professor, he was firm.

I was going.

Sweet Briar was our compromise.”

- KAREN MCGOLDRICK

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The CE Gift Guide

Commemorate. Personally.

Truly special occasions call for once-in-a-lifetime gifts Are you still looking for the perfect graduation gift for the equestrian in your family?

The Collective Equestrian has put together a collection of unique, customizable items that your special horse person will use frequently and for a lifetime. Why not make this a once-in-a-lifetime purchase and splurge a little for a special occasion? We’ve included options for both English and Western riders.

These suggestions work for young professionals, too, and are the perfect statement of “congratulations” for a competitive title earned or just a job well done. These items are also unique in that the come from family and individually-owned companies located in the Southeast. See page 21 for company descriptions and contact information.

Jump o

Monogrammed whip A quality whip doubles as a keepsake when its colors are customized and its cap is monogrammed. Find a world of options at Signature Spurs where you can add up to three colors to whips and bats. Add initials to the cap to ensure

will prov imagine harrislea www.sig

your special equestrian can always find it. . The company offers a plethora of whip options, from jumping bats to Dressage whips of varying lengths. Personalized

whips start at $69.95.

Silv

A silver buckle with engra be a welcome addition to any offerings include many shap and box styles. A completely one typica

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The CE Gift Guide

Sterling silver & stainless bit

Provide that special young professional in your life with a work of art they can use for many years with many horses. Harris offers hand-etched silver and stainless bits with a variety of versatile mouthpieces. This one sports the company’s logo but bits like this can be customized to include initials.

Custom Harris bits start around $395.

online! The websites, themselves,

Photos: crop - Signature Spurs; bit and belt buckle - Harris Leather

vide hours of entertainment as you your next custom creation. ather.com gnaturespurs.com

ver box buckle

aved name or initials will y show wardrobe. Harris’ pes in both the traditional custom creation like this ally starts around $1,000.

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The CE Gift Guide

Custom Western spurs Commemorate a Western title win with a pair of Harris custom spurs. These blued steel beauties feature sterling scrollwork that is hand-engraved. The customization options are virtually endless - choose from blued steel or sterling silver models in two sizes, six differing shank lengths and shapes, endless silver designs and 14 different rowel options.

Photos: English spurs and carrying bag, Signature Spurs logo - Signature Spurs; Western spurs and spur straps, Harris logo - Harris Leather

Pricing starts around $495.

Custom Western spur straps If you’re going to order the spurs, why not spring for the straps, too? Or purchase the straps alone to add a personalized touch to any pair of spurs.

These men’s custom models (women’s models available too!) from Harris start at $450.

Personalized English spurs Personalized spurs are the perfect splurge for the English rider in your life. Add a name or initials to these elegant stainless steel models by Signature Spurs.

The company offers an array of styles, including Prince of Wales, roller ball, rounded and traditional Dressage, with a variety of stem lengths. These personalized hardware items each come in their own blue velvet bag. Spurs start at

$59.95; bump it up to $89.95, and the company will include straps.

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The CE Gift Guide

Keeping it in the family … and in the South These companies bring a tradition of providing a personalized experience to the customers they serve. They are both located in the Southeast, but their names are synonymous with quality nationwide. Their websites showcase an abundance of options when you are ready to add a special item to your tack collection or show wardrobe. Are you stuck behind a desk and dreaming of the barn right now? These sites, as listed below, will help you pass the hours more quickly and are guaranteed to provide inspiration for your next special equestrian purchase!

Harris Leather: State Road, N.C. Harris Leather, located in State Road, N.C., has been producing highquality, customizable leather and silver works since the 1970s, according to the company’s website, harrisleather.com.

Signature Spurs: Pompano Beach, Fla. Signature Spurs, based in Pompano Beach, Fla., offers a versatile line of riding aids - think spurs, whips and bats - for the English rider.

“It all came about because my spurs

The business is truly a family affair, with generations of Harrises having engaged in leather tooling and silver making since the company’s inception. Today, Eddie Harris handles the custom silver engraving work, giving special thought to each of the pieces ordered. He considers the products of his craft to be works of art in and of themselves, and therefore price and time

vary on each order.

“Everything hinges on the complexity and the amount of time that it takes to make it,” he explained.

“When people order something custom, you want to give it the due that it demands.”

Orders can be placed online or by phone, Harris said, adding that for complex custom orders, sometimes a call is better.

kept disappearing at the ingate at horseshows,” explains founder Lisa Forman. “It was just getting crazy.”

In an effort to stymie the outward flow of valuable hardware from her tack collection, she took her spurs to have some identifying information engraved on them. She was told stainless steel could not be engraved, but she vowed not to give up on the concept of placing names and initials on metal riding aids.

marked in black with initials and many other personalized insignias riders desire. Forman ran with the concept, and today Signature Spurs offers a vast line of personalized options.

The spurs come in a wide array of styles - Prince of Wales, roller ball, rounded, traditional Dressage - and the whips run all the way from short jumping bats to 43-inch Dressage length with a plethora of popper and handle options.

“We pretty much cover any shape and size you want,” Forman explains of her products.

Visit harrisleather.com for more information.

Forman found that stainless steel can acSee www.signaturespurs.com for tually be permanently more information.

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IHSA Nationals

IHSA:

Anatomy of a national championship For the third time in its history, the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association has produced two championship teams from the same state. Here’s how all the moving pieces fit together. ting down roots in the IHSA, beThis is a banner year for the coming a consistent producer Intercollegiate Horse Show Associ- of winning riders. ation; for only the third time in its The Savannah College of Art 48-year history, it has produced and Design captured the huntseat two championship teams from the team win for the first time in its same state. history, and Berry College, in The honor went to Georgia Rome, Ga., proving itself a reliable which has for some time been put- Western powerhouse, took the FROM CE STAFF REPORTS

The statistician: Steve Maxwell Steve Maxwell, has become a bona fide aficionado of college riding teams since he first began covering the IHSA more than a decade ago; he can - and regularly does - rattle off placings and point counts like an auctioneer.

Over the years, he has come to be known as the association’s unofficial statistician - a historian, as he puts it.

Ohio teams in 2001, he explained, but both teams were from the same school: the University of Findlay. In 2002, the huntseat champion was the University of Ohio; the Western championship, however, was a tie between Ohio State University and Texas A&M University, he said. The IHSA does not break ties between teams that place at Nationals.

Therefore, this year produced a new situation: “2015 is the first time neither of those titles are a shared championship or from a single According to Maxwell’s detailed school,” Maxwell explained. research, this is the third time two IHSA National Championship teams Maxwell’s website, campusequeshave come out of the same state, howtrian.com, is devoted entirely to IHSA IN ever, this year is unique on several stats, results and little-known facts DE counts.

The previous two inthat, in some instances, date back nearPT H stances each involved a ly 20 years. catch, of sorts, he exA visit is certainly worthwhile Be WIT rry H plained. just give yourself plenty of time to T The Western and look around. It will prove to be a true SC Col HE team trip down memory lane for many IHAD leg GE huntseat titles both SA alumni and an educational experi: p e: p ORG went ence for those looking to learn more ag ag IA to about the association. e e

28

24 TEA M S:

team win in that discipline for the second time in five years. The following is a detailed look at the moving pieces (and people) that came together in just the right sequence, making it possible for these two schools to perform so masterfully at this year’s IHSA Nationals.

The co-founder: Bob Cacchione “You’re a champion just for being here:” it’s the acknowledgement IHSA Executive Director Bob Cacchione has been delivering for years to every rider he encounters at the association’s annual national competition. It’s a genuine sentiment; Cacchione knows how hard the riders have worked to be at Nationals to represent their colleges either on an individual basis or on a team.

Cacchione is perhaps IHSA’s most recognizable leader and also one of its creators. He has seen the organization grow from its infancy as the six -person club he co-founded in 1967 to an association that, by his count, plays host to upwards of 400 teams and more than 10,000 riders.

Cacchione credits the association’s success to a combination of factors, not the least of those being its

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IHSA Nationals

IHSA: a short primer:

Photos: Steve Maxwell - Steve Maxwell; Bob Cacchione - IHSA; group photo and IHSA logo - IHSA

Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Executive Director Bob Cacchione with huntseat riders at this year’s IHSA National Championships in West grassroots-style expansion and its appeal to riders of all skill levels. For instance, it’s possible for a college to begin a club IHSA team and compete at shows even without school funding, provided the team can secure trainers and school horses. Huntseat riders, as Cacchione points out, can range in skill level from beginners at the walk-trot level to Maclay Medal Finals qualifiers in the open division, while Western riders run the gamut from beginner walk-jog to open-level reiners.

STRONG LEADERSHIP: Despite his undeniable involvement in the organization’s success from the time of its founding to present day, Cacchione is quick to deflect credit toward the individuals from all walks of equestrian life who have contributed.

“This is not all Bob Cacchione,” he insists. “It’s the board of directors, it’s the coaches out there … They’re the ones who are helping the youth of this country.”

A wide array of leaders has been integral to the success of IHSA, Cacchione says, and as the association has grown, so has the scope of influential equestrians who have joined the program at the directorial and coaching levels.

“I can go right around the country,” Cacchione says, listing off a collection of board members from across the nation.

“When you have these professionals on the board for a number of years, there are your credentials right there.”

BEYOND RIDING: The intercollegiate format of putting riders with widely varying levels of experience together on teams to compete on horses they do not necessarily know makes for a unique educational opportunity. It’s also a breeding ground for networking and, for many, a gateway into the professional world.

Cacchione pointed out, for instance, that some of the students who enter IHSA to ride at the beginner level find such a calling that they pursue careers in the equine industry after college.

“They are out there in the industry today where maybe they wouldn’t (have been),” he says.

And while these riders are still in school, they’re out in the community too.

Teams are promoting more and more community service work, Cacchione explained. He cited several examples of riders helping out during community crises: students from the College of Charles-

See CACCHIONE page 32

Competitors are assigned mounts via a draw that takes place at each regular season and post-season show. Riders are given no warm-up and must “catch-ride” the horses they draw. At regular season shows, each school chooses a rider in each class to compete on behalf of the college; the points that rider earns are credited toward the school’s cumulative season score.

Riders not designated as “point riders” earn individual points, which are also cumulative. (Points earned by “point riders” also count as those riders’ individual points.)

Points carry over between school years, and riders who earn the 36 points required to move up a division qualify for regional finals.

Open division riders must earn 28 points to qualify for regionals.

The march to Nationals: Individual riders: Regional Finals: top two huntseat riders/ top two Western riders advance to Zone competition Zone Finals: top two huntseat riders/ top two Western riders advance to Nationals National Finals: top 16 huntseat riders/ top 16 Western riders in the nation compete for huntseat and Western championships Teams: Regional Finals: champion huntseat team/ champion Western team advance to Zone competition Zone Finals: top huntseat teams/ top two Western teams (numbers vary according to area) advance to Nationals National Finals: top huntseat teams/ top Western teams in the nation compete for huntseat and Western championships Classes are also held at postseason shows for individually qualifying riders. The placing requirements for individual riders to advance to Nationals are the same as the team requirements (Regionals top three; Zones - top two).

The above rules are available on the IHSA website, ihsainc.com.

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IHSA Nationals

Berry College, Rome Ga.: 2015 IHSA N The Head Coach: Margaret Knight Berry College Equestrian Head Coach Margaret Knight said she saw that Western win was a possibility for Berry early Sunday, May 3.

Berry wasn’t leading, but they were ranked in the top five teams at that point.

“I was confident it was in reach, for sure,” Knight said.

She knew she had several strong competitors still to ride for the team, and despite the fact that a national championship hung in the balance, she felt a certain optimism.

“I wasn’t terribly nervous. I was excit-

ed,” she explained. “We just had a game- tus to varsity in 2007 and began receiving plan for each of the girls.” school funding. The school’s athletic director, Dr. Tom Hart, actually attended nationBUILDING A LEGACY: Berry has, for als and was on hand to see the women win. some years, been a strong huntseat presence “He’s been really supportive,” Knight on a national level (its huntseat team bare- said. “It’s a really good experience. It ly missed qualifying for nationals this means good things for the program.” year). Recently, however, it’s been picking up speed as a Western force, bagging nu- THE TEAM: Berry’s nationals team was merous top-10 nationals placings and a na- made up of relatively young members this tional championship in 2011. Experienced year - Amanda Petersen, the Intermediate riders looking to show in college are taking Horsemanship rider, was the only senior note, and the Berry Western program is and Knight expects most riders to return reaping the benefits. next year.

Meanwhile, she’s down to the business “It hasn’t changed as much in the mid- of recruiting more talent. dle levels, but more on the upper levels,” “I have a couple interested that I’ve Knight explained. “We’re getting more sea- already recruited, and I’ve got one that I’m soned riders coming in.” going to look into,” she said.

The college’s equestrian program also Knight herself has been a part of Bergot an infusion when it went from club sta-

See KNIGHT page 26

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The Berry College IHSA National Championship Western team stands in the Eastern States Exposition arena after their win in early May.

National Championship Western Team The Western Coach: Debra Wright

work so hard, and they were just so sweet. I just knew in my gut they were going to be successful. I just felt blessed.”

Team captain Elizabeth Poczobut, a sophomore this year, was a particular standout in Wright’s eyes.

“She was captain for a reason,” Wright said.

When the championship came down to the last class, Open Western Horsemanship, the other riders knew Poczobut could drive the team to the overall win, Wright said.

Poczobut placed fourth in that class, propelling Berry to first place.

Debra Wright has served on and off as the team’s Western coach for the past 15 years or so.

This year, she formed a particularly close bond with the women she coached, and she said there was just something exceptional about this group from the start.

A UNIQUE TEAM: “It was a special team THE FASHION: from the get-go,” she said. “This year, I just Wright, who has made a career as a got extremely involved. They wanted to judge in the Western world, has officiated

at many world-level competitions for breed and performance associations, and she has developed a keen fashion sense for the show pen.

A TRADITIONAL LOOK: Her influence on the team’s competition appearance can be clearly detected in the photos from nationals. She went for a traditional, clean look for this year’s team.

“I redid several wardrobes,” she explained, adding that the women were willing to take a leap of faith in some instances and invest in some classic, custom pieces.

“The fashion is in the fit and the tradition,” she said. “I’m not about the bling -

See WRIGHT page 26

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Photos: team photo - IHSA; Margaret Knight - Berry College Sports Information; Debra Wright - contributed

IHSA Nationals

IHSA Nationals

in a Western saddle.

Standout Rider: “Some of the things I was fighting Amanda Petersen This year was somewhat of a whirlwind journey for Senior Amanda Peterson, whom Knight handpicked from among the English riders to represent the team in the Western Intermediate division. Petersen said she enjoyed the equine partners she found in her new discipline, and she expressed appreciation for Knight’s intuition.

“It was a good call on her part,” Petersen said. “It was just really fun riding Western. I really enjoyed some of the horses that I rode at school and with our assistant coach, Debra Wright.”

ADAPTING: Despite a lack of experience at the beginning of the season, Petersen seemed to come into her own

in the English just helped me to be better Western,” she explained.

Petersen’s Nationals draw, “Red,” owned by Cazenovia College, was a big part of her first-place ride, and the two had something in common: they both came from the English world. “Red,” Petersen explained, had been a dressage horse before he began his Western training.

“We had both done something else before Western,” she said. “He was a superstar. I felt like I had ridden him a lot.”

Petersen, who returned home to Arizona after graduating from Berry in May, said she plans to continue with the discipline when she can fit in rides between law classes at Arizona State. In fact, she’s already put in some calls to a couple of people she knows own Western horses.

KNIGHT From Page 24 ry’s equestrian growth for nearly 20 years.

She became head coach of the team in the 1997-1998 season after a very successful IHSA Huntseat career of her own at The University of the South. Coaching at a school that is notoriously huntseatdominant but has an emerging Western program has necessitated creativity at times, she explained. Sometimes, she doesn’t have a seasoned Western rider available to fill a critical open slot.

In fact, this was the case with Peterson, the nationals team senior, who actually only began her Western career this year.

Knight recruited her from the huntseat team for the Intermediate Horsemanship.

“I saw her ride in a Western saddle,” Knight said. “I was like, ‘I really think you need to go Western next year.’ She just tore it apart.”

Indeed she did; Petersen’s nationals performance was near flawless - she won her class for the team.

WRIGHT

From Page 25

there’s nothing traditional or basic to it.”

While appearance doesn’t determine performance, it is a factor in the judge’s perception of a rider, she explained.

“From a judge’s standpoint, we’re looking for that person who we would like to show a horse of ours,” she said.

“You’ve got to look the part. You’ve got to make a statement that you want it.”

The Berry team poses for a lighthearted photo in the SmartPak photo booth at IHSA Nationals.

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Photos: headshots - Berry College Sports Information; group - Arden Foster

tion.

Standout Rider: Elizabeth Poczobut A SENSE OF TEAMWORK: She concurs with Wright that there was a E l i z a b e t h special feel to this year’s team.

Poczobut, the “We all got along really well,” she Western team said, adding that the women were all captain, credits invested in each others’ performances. good draws as a Help for each team member with hair, significant part of her success during makeup and clothes before each class her two rides for the team, both of was just part of the team experience. which put her in the top 10 riders.

“There’s a huge group of support GREAT DRAWS: “All my horses were for each ride,” Poczobut explained. great and easy to get along with,” she The rising junior said she looks forexplained. “They were straightforward; ward to the coming season.

I had great draws.”

“We had a great season, great Each horse was unique, however, coaches,” she said. “We’re going to hit she said. For instance, one of her rein- the ground running for next year.” ing draws was a great stopper but needPoczobut has plenty of time left to ed more encouragement in its spins; compete, but she’s already looking another was a good spinner but not so ahead to post-graduate education opstrong on its stops. Poczobut had plenty tions. She’s a political science major, of opportunity to assess the Nationals and she plans to go to law school. Horshorses; she actually rode six times for es will remain a part of her life one way Berry this trip: twice as an individual, or another, though, it seems: she’s altwice for the team and twice in the ready looking at the possibility of pracAQHA High Point Western competi- ticing equine law.

IHSA Nationals

Berry College: the riders These are the riders who represented Berry College at the 2015 Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championship in West Springfield, Mass. An “I” indicates that the rider represented the school as an individual. A “T” means he or she rode as a team member. Photo credit: Berry College Sports Information

Class: Senior

Class: Sophomore

Class: Sophomore

Class: Freshman

Autumn Clark: Discipline: Huntseat; Nationals events: Open Equitation Over Fences; (I) - 4th; Cacchione Cup - 15th; Major: English

Ashlyn Clay: Discipline: Western and Huntseat; Nationals event: Beginner Western Horsemanship (T) - 8th; Major: Nursing

Elizabeth Poczobut: Discipline: Western; Nationals event: Open Western Horsemanship (I) - 2nd; Open Reining (I) 6th; Open Western Horsemanship (T) - 4th; Open Reining (T) - 8th; AQHA High Point Western: 19th; Major: Political science

AnnaLee Cooley: Discipline: Western and Huntseat; Nationals events: Advanced Western Horsemanship (T) - 2nd; Novice Western Horsemanship (I) - 4th; Major: Nursing

Class: Junior

Taylor Eickoff: Discipline: Western; Nationals event:

Class: Sophomore

Mariel Wrench: Discipline: Western;

Class: Senior

Amanda Petersen: Discipline: Western;

Beginner Western Horsemanship (I) - 11th; Major: Biochemistry

Nationals event: Novice Western Horsemanship (T) - 1st; Major: Exercise science

Nationals event: Intermediate Western Horsemanship (T) - 1st; Major: Political

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IHSA Nationals

SCAD, Savannah, Ga.: 2015 IHSA Na The Head Coach: Ashley Henry The hunt seat team championship can be attributed to a lot of preparation and a little bit of luck, according to the SCAD Bees’ Head Coach Ashley Henry.

DOING THE HOMEWORK: She prepped her team extensively for the unexpected occurrences that can ruin a class if a rider doesn’t keep a cool head. She had her riders simulate these obstacles

during practices leading up to Nationals getting cut off, being boxed in, even drawing a challenging horse. She videoed lessons so the students could see just how their progress looked, and she staged a slew of mock shows.

Henry didn’t want to leave room for any surprises during the few critical minutes each Nationals rider would have to showcase his or her skills, and coaching her riders to think through challenges was significant for her.

“Mentally, you’re preparing yourself for that competition,” she explained.

She also made sure to research the type of riding each judge seemed to prefer. It’s necessary, she said, to determine

what kind of presentation a particular judge looks for in order to stand out in a tough class.

SHOWTIME: During the pressure of the show, Henry said she really didn’t pay that much attention to the score, choosing to pour her energy into her riders instead.

Prioritizing their mental well-being and keeping them focused was paramount on her agenda.

“They get emotional because they want to do so well,” she explained.

She kept reassuring them of their abilities: “You made it to the national finals … this is a huge thing.”

See HENRY page 30

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The Savannah College of Art and Design IHSA National Championship Huntseat team after their win in West Springfield, Mass. last month.

ational Championship Huntseat Team Standout Rider: Ryan Genn

season, said. “You get so close to your teammates.”

Genn, like his coach, was pleased with the quality of the draws.

“It was a really even playing field” in terms of the quality of horses at this Nationals, he said.

His draws, both tall bays, were topnotch, he said, and “not tricky at all.” He described the gelding he rode on the flat (the same one Devon Walthers flatted later) as a “really cool” horse who “went nicely in the frame.”

Ryan Genn, a Junior at SCAD, represented the team in the Individual Equitation on the Flat and in the Open Over Fences. He said the team’s emphasis on mental preparation was what really shone through during the classes.

He attributed the team’s success to “nobody caving under pressure.”

KNOCKING ON THE DOOR: He said “I was really proud of everybody,” it was the team members’ collective hope Genn, who served as team co-captain this for SCAD to finally ascend to the top

huntseat team slot after several narrow misses.

The Bees, he explained, finished third in the nation his freshman year; they tied for a 2014 fourth place with Delaware Valley College, but they came away last year with the biggest point count they had ever scored. Genn said the team went in with “huge expectations” this year.

They had, he pointed out, run away with their region win this season and also won the Zone 5 huntseat semifinals.

“We had such high hopes,” he said.

“We had been knocking on the door for so long.”

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Photos: team photo - IHSA; Ashley Henry - Wayne Moore via SCAD Sports Information; Ryan Genn - SCAD sports information

IHSA Nationals

IHSA Nationals

Standout rider: Heather Partlow SCAD Junior Heather Partlow is relatively new to the world of horseshowing. She joined the school’s riding team during the winter of her sophomore year, and she represented SCAD in the Walk/ Trot Equitation this past year.

Evidently, horseshowing was a good fit for her, as she won the team Walk/ Trot class

at this year’s IHSA Nationals.

Partlow recalls visiting the school’s barn to do some riding in hopes of exempting one of her equestrian studies courses. Her ride evidently made an impression on two of the most prominent figures in the IHSA huntseat world: SCAD Head Coach Ashley Henry and the school’s Equestrian Studies Program Director Eddie Federwisch.

“Eddie and Ashley just pretty much didn’t let me leave the barn until I told them I’d join the team,” Partlow recalls, laughing.

Crossover techniques: Partlow attributes some of her success to the fact that she’s a

seasoned competitor in another sport: she also represents SCAD in swimming. She has found similarities between the two sports that have helped her perform in the showring, she said.

“I find myself comparing a lot of what I do in my riding to a lot of what I do in my swimming,” she explained.

The fact that she was already so familiar with the pressures of competition paid off, and she implemented some of the techniques she uses to ensure success when she’s swimming.

For example, she made a habit of designating

sure,” Henry said.

As the classes wrapped up one by one and the scores began to add up, Henry and her Bees realized the championship was theirs.

“I started crying,” she remembers. “It was just absolutely amazing.”

And about that dash of luck - Henry said, after every possible scenario is hashed out, she still relies on a few talismans: a SCAD scarf, maybe SCAD socks or bee earrings.

FULL CIRCLE: This season was especially poignant for Henry, as it marked her 10th year coaching for her alma mater. She came to the school, she said, with a specific interest in its equestrian program.

Although it’s widely known for its art and design offerings (as its name would suggest) Henry explained that SCAD has made its equestrian program an integral part of its curriculum. The school now offers a Bachelor of Arts in Equestrian Studies. The curriculum description on the school’s website lists classes like “Advanced Horse Care and Management,” “Principles of Equine Anatomy” and “Equine Business Management” among a slew of upper-level courses.

The horse program has expanded in recent years to include an off-campus equestrian center that encompasses property and a barn where the riders train.

These additions were a part of the school’s growth plan for quite a while, according to Henry.

“It was always in SCAD’s plan to have an equestrian center,” she said.

The school’s horse-related opportuni-

ties were attractive to Henry when she chose to attend SCAD. “I liked art school, but I knew I needed to ride,” she explained.

After a particularly successful senior show season, during which time she was captain of the equestrian team, the administration asked her to stay on as huntseat coach. Despite the fact that the jewelry design major had an internship lined up in New York, she decided to embark on a completely different journey with SCAD, and her enthusiasm for the horse program has only grown.

“I love my job,” she said simply.

See PARTLOW page 32

From Page 28 The horses, she said, were a big part of SCAD’s standout Nationals performance.

“I think we got some incredible horses,” she said, crediting Cazenovia College, Skidmore College and Centenary College for a good portion of them.

No matter the amount of rider preparation, one of the inherent challenges presented in IHSA competition is the fact that riders do not practice on their assigned horses ahead of the class. Sometimes, even obedient, well-trained horses present peculiar challenges, as the Bees saw at Nationals this year.

“It’s hard because it’s luck of the draw,” Henry explained.

For instance, Devon Walthers, the Open Flat rider drew a 17.1 hand horse that Intermediate Flat rider Ryan Genn had already ridden earlier in the show. A taller horse can be a nice draw, simply for the visibility factor, as Henry pointed out to Walthers. The catch: Walthers is fivefoot-one.

Henry and Walthers committed to making the best of the size mismatch.

“I said, ‘This is great. You’re going to stand out so well,’” Henry recalls.

And Walthers did stand out: she took second in a marathon of a class in which the riders were asked to drop their stirrups for an extended period of time.

However, no stirrups work was one of the things that factored heavily into all those virtual-reality practices at home, and Henry knew Walthers was a machine.

“It was an endurance race, that’s for

THE FASHION: Huntseat show apparel is traditionally understated, even uniform, to a degree.

The school funds the team’s wardrobe as part of its varsity status - coats, breeches and a team show shirt with the bee logo.

A CUSTOMIZED LOOK: Henry said she doesn’t hesitate to make clothing recommendations designed to cater specifically to each of her riders while still upholding time-honored customs. The cut of a coat, for instance, can greatly enhance a rider’s look.

“I’m going with what I think looks best on them,” she said.

The clothing, even the jewelry, available in the equestrian world is a product of thoughtful design, and according to Henry, the design curriculum at SCAD factors significantly into the equestrian program.

“It has everything to do with art and design,” she said. “There are so many innovative students (here). It’s a huge industry.”

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All photos: SCAD sports information

Henry

IHSA Nationals

Savannah College of Art & Design: the riders These are the riders who represented Savannah College of Art and Design at the 2015 Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championship in West Springfield, Mass. An “I” indicates that the rider represented the school as an individual. A “T” means he or she rode as a team member. Photo credit: Savannah College of Art and Design Sports Information

Class: Sophomore

Class: Senior

Class: Junior

Class: Freshman

Jessica Amsberry: Discipline: Huntseat; Nationals event: Walk/ Trot/ Canter Equitation (T) - 5th; Major: Production design

Lindsay Baker: Discipline: Huntseat; Nationals event: Intermediate Equitation Over Fences (T) - 3rd; Major: Equestrian studies

Ryan Genn: Discipline: Huntseat; Nationals event: Intermediate Equitation On The Flat (T) - 3rd; Open Equitation Over Fences (T) - 6th; Major: Equestrian Studies

Tess Mroczka: Discipline: Huntseat; Nationals event: Novice Equitation Over Fences (T) - 1st; Major: Graphic de-

Class: Senior

Kayla Myles: Discipline: Huntseat; Nationals event:

Class: Junior

Heather Partlow: Discipline: Huntseat;

Class: Junior

Devon Walther: Discipline: Huntseat;

Class: Sophomore

Walk/Trot/Canter Equitation (I) - 8th; Major: Equestrian studies

Nationals event: Walk/ Trot Equitation (T) - 1st; Major: Equestrian studies

Nationals event: Open Equitation on the Flat (T) - 2nd; Major: Undeclared

Quinn Lowsky: Discipline: Huntseat; Nationals event: Novice Equitation on the Flat (T) - honorable mention; Major: Equestrian Studies The Collective Equestrian Summer 2015

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IHSA Nationals

Partlow From Page 30 time for a warm-up session before each ride.

She used exercises like lunging up stairs to stay limber and relaxed before the Nationals class.

“Warming up helps me to calm my nerves,” she said.

Class strategy: Despite having some lingering butterflies going into the class, she said her

performance went smoothly. One of her main objectives was finding a space where she could be visible to the judges in such a large group.

“I stayed relatively on my own,” she explained. “When you have so many people, you want to make sure that you get seen.”

Her draw, a big bay named “Lance,” “ended up being awesome,” she said. “He was really sweet. In the Walk/ Trot group, you tend to get the bombproof ones.”

Partlow is still deciding exactly what she wants to do after graduation. Her family owns land in Indiana, she said, and she has thought about moving back there and implementing her education in the area of barn management.

For now, though, she’s enjoying being a newlywed. She and her husband married earlier this year. He is an Army Ranger, and she plans to travel with him while he completes his tour of duty.

ON THE SOUTHERN CHAMPIONS: The Southeast has experienced a surge in recent years with its Zone 5 teams placing in the top 10 at Nationals on a regular basis.

“This year,” as Cacchione put it, “they exploded.”

A dedicated Berry College coaching staff is a big reason for the team’s Western success, he said.

to Nationals.

He also had high praise for the SCAD leadership, citing Head Coach Ashley Henry and Equestrian Studies Program Director Eddie Federwisch as the driving forces behind a team that has become a veritable powerhouse in the huntseat.

“Those two do an incredible job at SCAD,” he said. “They have always been, let’s say, in the top six. To come out grand champions like this is a feat in itself.”

He was also complimentary of another standout Zone 5 program, the College of Charleston, coached by Bob Story, which produced the leading huntseat rider in Cacchione Cup winner Elizabeth Hay.

Cacchione From Page 23 ton team helped clear debris and round up loose horses after a hurricane hit that area a few years ago. Mount Holyoke riders “put in hundreds of hours,” he said, at a stricken zoo near their school after a hurricane hit the area in Massachusetts a couple of years ago. Still other teams have participated in rescuing horses from slaughter. All of these service opportunities get riders plugged into the wider world before they even begin their careers.

“They’re not just riding in the ring,” Cacchione said. “We want them to see many aspects of the horse community.”

“Margaret Knight and Debra Wright they do a great job down there,” he said, referencing Berry’s longtime head coach and its part-time Western coach, who has worked with the college on and off for years, assisting them during several trips

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Join our directory and be visible to our readership every time “The Collective Equestrian” publishes.

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DIRECTORY The following is a directory of trainers, organizations and services from throughout the Georgia horse community and beyond. We hope you’ll take time to familiarize yourself with the abundant equestrian resources we have here. If you would like to submit a listing for your equine-based business, or organization, please email the a short summary, along with your contact information or website, to editor@collectiveequestrian.com.

Boarding, lessons and training: Jennifer Buck - riding instruction for beginners through advanced riders; all ages from four up. Also boarding, training, shows, leasing, camps, judging.

Serving two locations in Woodstock and Marietta (newly opened Stables at Towne Lake). See jenniferlbuckstables.com for more information.

Rebel Woods Boarding Stables, Marietta, Ga. Unique trail riding opportunities.

Facility borders nearly 3,000 acres of trails at Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield National Park. See Rebelwoods.com for facility details.

Phoebe Loughrey Stables in Milton, Ga., offers students an intimate teaching and showing experience. Students show at AA rated and local shows; riders of all ages accepted. See www.plstables.com for more information about sale horses and other services.

Ashley Crooms Equine Development offering boarding, lessons and full training packages at In Your Dreams Farm in Alpharetta, Ga. Farm amenities include covered arena, jumping arena, ample turnout. Ashley has experience with a wide variety of breeds and disciplines that ranges from showing AQHA/APHA to AHA and hunter/jumpers. For more information, see ashleycrooms.com.

Canter Ridge Equestrian, Canton, Ga., offers a variety of services, including boarding and hunter/ jumper lessons.

State-of-the-art, 16-stall facility on 40 rolling acres. See canterridgeequestrian.com for a complete list of services.

Rolling Ridge Farm in Tunnel Hill, Ga., is located conveniently to U.S. 41 and I75, just 30 minutes south of Chattanooga. Services include lessons and boarding in two facilities, which include a 100×170 indoor. Students have the opportunity to show in GHJA shows as well as on an IEA team. See www.rollingridgefarm.com.

Equestrian Training Center in Canton, Ga., offering lessons for riders of all ages and levels of experience in English and western disciplines. Trainer Jeannette McDonald has 32 years of experience with judging and teaching. See Equestriantrainingcenter.org for a complete list of services available.

Breakaway Farm in Braselton, Ga., offers boarding, training and sales. Lessons and an IEA team under the leadership of trainer Sarah Dubois make for a youth-friendly environment. Visit breakawayfarm.net for more information.

Silver Lining Stables, located in West Cobb County near Powder Springs, offers a range of services including full board, pony parties, custom leather working and lessons with various professionals in hunters, jumping and dresIRIDE (Indian River Institute for Dressage. See www.silverliningstables.com sage and Equestrians) in Mentone, Ala., for more information.

Paradise Ranch, Locust Grove, Ga., trainer Gudrun Dees specializes in safe offers instruction for all riders with an emphasis on dressage. Trainer Mary Rising Star Farm in Silver Creek, Ga., horsemanship for adult riders new to provides a complete range of breeding horses or starting over with a riding ca- McGuire Smith has 30 years of riding experience and has trained extensively services. Standing approved and lireer. Competitive trail instruction and censed warmblood hunter, jumper and clinics. Call 770-634-5812 or visit Face- in Europe. She is available to travel to teach in the tri-state area.

See dressage stallions; offering professional book.com/deeshorsemanship for more www.iride.at for more information. mare and foal care, as well as limited information. boarding and training. See Victory’s Gait at Sweet Dreams Farm, in Fairhaven Farm in Coosa, Ga., offers a www.risingstarfarm.net. range of boarding, training and lesson Ball Ground, Ga., offers a faith-based options. Trainer Kimberly Wallace has Cedar Lane Farm in Chickamauga, Ga., learning experience through natural more than 30 years of riding experience offers American Warmblood horses for horsemanship. Serving mainly youth, that has included training in Europe. sale, many with the champagne color this is a home-school friendly atmosShe offers lessons with an emphasis on from their sire, Magon. Owner/ trainer phere. Giddy-Up classes, promoting classical principals.

See Amy Humble Lanier, a USDF “L” gradufoundational horsemanship learning, www.fairhavenfarm.info. ate, offers lessons and training in dresare offered throughout the year. For sage, eventing and IEA equitation. See more information, see victoCedar Lane Farm on Facebook or email rysgait.weebly.com.

DIRECTORY continues on page 33 champagnesporthorse@gmail.com.

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Services: gahorsefarms.com: your source for equestrian real estate in North Georgia.

Suburban and rural properties, horse farms, estate homes, recreational and mountain properties and more. Broker Teresa Anderson and Horse Pro Sales Agents assist you in finding just the right property. If you have a farm to sell, they can help with the marketing and sales process with competitive listing packages.

Deceased Pet Care Funeral Homes and Crematories: serving four Georgia locations. Providing for all aspects of equine cremation including planning, equine urns, burial lots, granite markers. Call 770-457-7659 or visit www.deceasedpetcare.com/ equinecremationservices.

County Saddles still represent a tradition of handmade quality! Make your appointment for a fitting for a customizable County today with Georgia representative Cindy Adcock. Cindy can be Lisa Turner - professional horse clipping: work guaranteed to produce show reached by e-mail at cindy@countysaddlery.com or by phone at ring-ready results! Also, farm labor, farm sitting, pet sitting. Proceeds bene- 404-285-0063. fit several animal rescues. References Georgia-based artist Robert available. Woodstock. Call 404-663Cederstrand offers finely-wrought paint3267. ings of equines and the natural world.

Working mostly in oil, he produces AAA Paints - Kingston, Ga., standing unique works appropriate for home or “Brooks Brothers,” the 2011 Pinto the workplace and available through his Horse Association of America Halter Cederstrand Studio. See Stallion of the Year. Standing to the cederstrand.homestead.com. public for the first time this year. See aaa.paints.weebly.com for more inforFarriery: mation.

Bent Tree Forge, serves Athens, CoMitchells Equine Services, based in So- nyers, Covington, Atlanta, Alpharetta cial Circle, Ga., offers horse training and and surrounding areas with a team of exercising, lessons, hauling, purchasqualified, professional farriers led by ing, sales and more. Owner Jordan Eric Gilliland, CJF. Shoeing for eventing, Mitchell offers rehabilitation for injured dressage, hunter-jumper and pleasure horses with a specialty in securing laser horses. Emphasis on continued farrier therapy services in conjunction with education and positive experience for veterinarians. See Facebook.com/ the horse. See benttreeforge.com. mitchellsequineservices.

Andrew Wells, CJF, offers shoeing and Harris Leather in State Road, N.C., pro- trimming services within a 150-mile vides quality leather and silverworks for radius of Auburn, Ala. Equines of any both English and Western riders. Enddiscipline served. Call 970-445-8937. less options in the way of show and work tack, with quite a few offerings for Nick Starr, CJF, serves Powder Springs the show wardrobe, as well. Many items and surrounding areas with professionare completely customizeable. See har- al farrier work. Shoeing for horses in all risleather.com. disciplines by a seasoned WCB and AFA competitor. Call 307-250-1030 for Signature Spurs in Pompano Beach, more info and pricing.

Fla., offers a complete line of customizable spurs and whips for the English Dogwood Forge - serving geographical rider. Spurs come in a wide variety of area above Atlanta, north to Calhoun. shapes and range from child to adult Owner Chip Crumbly, CJF, is Ga’s only sizes. Whips run the gamut from short AWCF - certified with London-based jumping bats to long Dressage whips.

Worshipful Company of Farriers. All disMost items can be monogrammed with ciplines; emphasis on owner education initials or names. See and horse anatomy knowledge. Call www.signaturespurs.com.

706-346-8706.

Dirt Road Forge, owned by Andy Jones, CF, offers farriery services for all breeds in Athens and surrounding areas. Call 706-255-0775 or e-mail dirtroadforge@gmail.com.

Heartland Horseshoeing School, in Lamar, MO, provides beginner through advanced curricula for those looking to enter the farrier industry or improve their existing skills. Housing, working facilities and equipment provided. See heartlandhorseshoeing.com for pricing and course details.

Organizations: TAG DEA (Tennessee/ Alabama/ Georgia Dressage and Eventing Association) works to provide competition and educational resources for eventing and dressage riders in the tri-state area.

Local and recognized shows offered, as well as clinics. See tagdea.org.

Western Dressage Association of Georgia: wdageorgia.org. This association is hosting shows and clinics for the developing discipline of western dressage. Classical dressage meets the Western horse!

The Ride to the Olympics Foundation exists to support show jumper Miguel Wilson as he works toward representing the U.S. in the 2024 summer Olympics.

Wilson hosts outreach events to introduce underprivileged children to the sport through the Foundation. See ridetotheolympics.com.

The World Championship Blacksmiths Association offers an exciting competition opportunity for farriers at all levels of aptitude. Emphasis on horse owner education - competitions take place at a variety of locations around the U.S. in conjunction with large equine events.

See worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com.

Join The Collective Equestrian Directory today and see your listing in the next edition. Email your business and contact information to editor@collectiveequestrian.com.

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