In the past couple of weeks the Oberlin College Equestrian team has successfully competed in two shows. On March 5 the team traveled to Ohio State University for two Western shows. The following weekend the team traveled to Akron to compete in two days of Hunt Seat competition.

In both styles of riding there are various skill levels competing in different divisions. Each rider competes to place first through sixth. Each placing is worth a certain number of points. A first place is worth seven points, second place is worth five points, third is four points and so on down to sixth. In each division, or class, there is one rider who is chosen as the point rider. This means that their points are applied to the team’s total. At the end of the show each team’s points are added up and the one with the most points wins, or is high point team of the day.

At the Western show Oberlin competed extremely well, wrapping up the year in third place in the region. This was especially exciting considering that Oberlin just started up the Western team this year and competes against much larger, more experienced teams like Ohio State University.

The team is really looking forward to improving next year. The most notable individual performance at the Western show was senior and president Rebecca Rudolph who placed second and third in the advanced division.

The Hunt Seat show was full of even more individual accomplishments. In Hunt Seat there are both flat and jumping classes. In order to move up a division, a rider must win 35 points. Upon reaching 35 points the rider moves on to compete in Regionals. Two of the equestrian team’s riders pointed up at the English show. Sophomore Abigail Wolf won her flat class the first day, which meant she pointed up. Sophomore Cecilia Galarraga also pointed up. Rudolph placed third in jumping on one day and won two sixth places in flat. Sophomore Lisa Greenberg placed third on the first day and second on the second day in flat.

Wolf pointed out that the team was especially proud of the fact that they brought two of their own horses to use in the show. The two horses, named Cody and Kricket, showed very well. As Wolf said, “Everyone from the other teams seemed to love Kricket. Hopefully we'll be able to bring more to the shows next year.”

Greenberg was also a big fan of the horses. “They were a huge hit. Kricket won a bunch of classes for people the first day and Cody won a bunch the second day. The girl who beat me on the second day was riding Cody,” said Greenberg.

Overall the team is looking forward to growing and improving next year and is extremely proud of individual accomplishments from this year. Regionals will be held on March 25.