By Allison Grande '08

Waking up before dawn, traveling over an hour for weekly lessons, and giving up an entire weekend day. These are just some of the sacrifices that the fourteen members of this year's equestrian team are willing to make in order to do what they love.

Some of the members of the team, like co-captains junior Liz Stitzel and senior Sandra Glascock, have been riding their entire lives.  Meanwhile, other members, like first year Jamie Ziden and junior Stephanie Armitage, have only been riding for a year or two. However, all the members of the team share the common traits of loving horses and the desire to compete – which they hope translates into high team scores for each show.

"Even though we all ride individually, we're all working toward one goal and come together as a team by the end," Armitage said.

Nowhere was this team attitude more apparent than at the Oct. 13 show at Centenary College. The team left at 6 a.m. from the Campbell Sports Center and, after enduring a bitterly cold October day filled with a painstakingly slow judge and one very exciting ride, returned back to campus at 8 p.m.

"The show was really long, but I think that the kids all came together well," Lori Rakoczy, who has coached the team for the past ten years, said. "When the going got a little rough, they all pitched in and helped each other out, and that is what being a team is really all about."

Accompanied by eclectic 80s elevator music blaring from the loudspeakers, the team started their day talking, joking, and learning which horse they had drawn for the day. At all shows, each member of a team is assigned a horse to ride and is not allowed to practice on or become familiar with the horse until she is in the ring, about to compete.

The competition began with the open fences division, which includes the most advanced riders from each school. Stitzel, who has made Nationals the past two seasons, started the day for the Gryphons with a fifth place finish in open fences. Senior Jessica Hilbert competed in the Novice Fences division, completing the course with a fifth place finish.

After a lunch of sandwiches, fruit, chips, and string cheese (this selection of snacks was purchased the previous day by the team's captains), the jumps were cleared from the course and the flat division events commenced. This portion of the competition started off oddly as the judge stood in the middle of the indoor ring instead of taking his customary position in the announcer's booth overlooking the ring. According to the riders, this positioning by the judge resulted in the riders doing more walking, trotting, and cantering compared to previous shows.

The team persevered by capturing two ribbons in the Novice Flat Division, one in Advanced Walk Trot Canter, and three in Beginning Walk Trot Canter, including a fourth place ribbon for first year Emma Greenberg in her first show for Sarah Lawrence. During the Novice Flat division, junior Aston Hollins-McClanahan was bucked off her horse and was forced to go to the local hospital where fortunately she was diagnosed with just a broken wrist. The team fought on, though, and by the time 6 p.m. rolled around, Stephanie Armitage, finally, was prepared to compete in the final division of the day.

When Armitage mounted Tucker, a huge 17 hand horse, to compete in the Walk Trot Division, the announcer asked the crowd to give a hand to "the most patient class of the day." Armitage delivered, earning third place for her division, the team's highest finish of the day. At the previous week's show, Armitage had also won the highest place for her team with a first place finish in her division.

The team finished in eighth place in the twelve team show for the day. At the conclusion of the day, the team again piled into their coach bus to make the hour and a half ride back to campus, arriving at the Sports Center just after 8 p.m.

So what makes these riders so willing to endure these long days and occupational hazards?

"This is a wonderful opportunity to do what I love in the company of some fantastic people, my teammates," first year Caitlin Durham said. "Early mornings and long days are just part of the bargain."

Co-captains Stitzel and Glascock agree. Stitzel said that while she enjoys the challenge of horse shows, "really I love everyone on the team and that is what keeps me coming back." Glascock loves "just being on a team and feeling that 'family'-like spirit."

Once a week lessons at a barn in New Canaan, Conn. are also another perk of being on the team. The riders love traveling in their small group of team members and bonding with horses like Tea, CJ, Otis, and Charlie. First year Rachel Schwarz admits that these riding lessons are her favorite part of the team, and that it honestly "just never occurred to me NOT to ride."

Rakoczy, who sees her team at these lessons and at each competition, enjoys "getting to see the team members grow from year to year, and getting to see them discover things about themselves that they never knew." Rakoczy hopes that each team member "will carry the experiences that they had on the team forward to their life outside of school and outside of the team."

The team has just concluded their fall season and will resume their lessons and competitions in the spring.