KINGSTON, R.I. – November 27, 2017 – The University of Rhode Island’s equestrian team is in the midst of an extended string of success, having won five consecutive regional championships and made its first appearance at the national championships last spring, where the team placed seventh. Despite a rocky start to this year’s campaign, the Rams still have high hopes for another regional championship and a return trip to nationals.
The team’s success is all the more remarkable because equestrian is a club sport, which means the riders must raise about $80,000 each year to train, travel and compete.
According to team president Jen Blazy, each of the 43 riders must not only participate in weekly riding lessons, team workouts and meetings, but they also conduct raffles, host a golf tournament, sell candles and do other fundraising to pay for the facilities, coach, entry fees and other expenses.
“But it’s all worth it,” said Blazy, a senior pharmacy major from Massapequa, N.Y. “All of our lives we’re taught that horseback riding is an individual sport, but in college you’re not only riding for yourself, but your points count for the team. It’s been fun to be a part of a big team that has become a family to me.”
The URI riders train at Hunter Ridge Equestrian Center at Ramrod Farm in Ashaway, which is owned and operated by the team’s coach Wendy Brayman. She said that intercollegiate horse shows are quite different from the shows most riders probably participated in while growing up. For instance, the team hosting the show provides all of the horses, which are assigned randomly to the riders. And the riders get little time to become acclimated to the horse.
“Unlike at home, where they usually ride the same horse every week, at horse shows here they get on a horse they’ve probably never seen before and immediately go into the ring to compete,” said Brayman. “It’s a big learning experience for freshmen. Most of them haven’t done it before and have a hard time getting used to it.”
“You have no idea what your horse’s personality is going to be like,” said Jackie Romero-Bourassa, a sophomore pharmacy major from Leicester, Mass. “They’re like people; they’re all different. They can be crabby or laid back, and their sizes vary, which affects how big their stride is. And some can be really pokey. All we get ahead of time is a description of the horse, and based on that, you just get on and go.”
Riders compete in one of eight classes, based on their experience and skill level, including a category for those with less than six months of riding experience. So the team recruits beginning riders during the first week of school each year.
“Your beginning rider is just as important as your best rider. They can each earn us seven points,” said Brayman. “So we do take people who have never ridden before. We need people in every class.”
For the eight riders who competed at nationals last year, it was the highlight of their riding career.
“It was probably the most fun I’ve ever had with this sport,” Blazy said. “I never competed on a level like that before. We rode in this gigantic arena made specifically for our sport, and I earned an honorable mention in my class against 16 other colleges. It was a huge honor just to be there.”
The team’s top rider, Lauren Henry of North Kingstown, placed fourth at nationals last year and earned second place in the Cacchione Cup, which is awarded to the rider who scores the most points in his or her region in the open division, the highest level of competition. It was Henry’s second trip to nationals; she qualified as an individual rider in 2016 and placed ninth.
“My personal goal for this year is to qualify for the Cacchione Cup again,” said Henry, a junior majoring in entrepreneurial management. “I’d really like to win my class at nationals, since coming in second last year left me a little hungry for the win. And it would be great if the team could qualify for nationals again, too.”
Not everyone has such high expectations, however. For many of the riders, being part of the team and encouraging their teammates is as important as winning.
“Last year I was very unsure of myself, so my goal for this year is to make sure all the freshmen are included and to encourage people to care about the team,” said Jessy Peterson, a sophomore psychology major from Chester, N.J. “For the team, I want everyone to put their best effort in. Whether or not the team gets to nationals again, if we’re all putting in 100 percent, you can’t fault anyone.”