Rider Report: What It Takes to be an Equestrian
January 14, 2015 | Equestrian
By Erin Lea Barrett
ATHENS, Ga.- Ask any student-athlete what it takes to play a sport in college and they will answer that it requires you to transform your life into one giant balancing act. To be a college athlete, you have to be dedicated, focused, and willing to work hard both in practice and in the classroom. And while every sport in the world of college athletics is different and accompanied by its own set of commitments and challenges, the sport of equestrian is on a whole other level. For most student athletes, the majority of their time is evenly split between two places: practice and the classroom. But equestrians have to find some way to manage their time between practice, class, and the barn.
“A lot of people think that being a rider only requires you to sit there and let the horse do all the work, but there’s so much effort that we have to put in to really get the most out of our sport” says sophomore rider Madison Beasley. “Unlike a lot of the other sports, there’s a lot of behind the scene work. We have to take care of our horses and our tack just in preparation for practice.”
As far as practice goes, riders arrive at the barn at least an hour beforehand to make sure their horse is groomed and ready before they can saddle them up. And even after riders are finished with practice, their job is still not done. They can spend upwards of another hour tending to their horses and cleaning their equipment before finally going home.
Junior rider Leylan Gleeson also talked about the extra time demands of her sport.
“As equestrians, we have the added responsibility of taking care of the horses on top of the hour or more that we have of practice. That’s one of the unique aspects about our sport. In most sports it’s focused on you as an athlete, but in ours, it’s really about two athletes: us and then our horses.”
Riders typically spend about 2-3 hours of extra work at the barn every week. Each rider is assigned a different horse every other week and that horse’s care becomes that rider’s full responsibility. They are accountable for cleaning the horse’s stall, attending to any of its grooming and/or health needs, and maintaining its overall physical fitness.
Practices are not the only part of this sport that requires additional amounts of work and effort; the meets are exacting on the athletes as well.
“For home meets, we get to the barn 3-4 hours before the meet begins.” Beasley explains. “Every single person on the team has a certain job that leads to the victory. If you are the barn manager you have to organize all of the horses and riders and figure out what time they all need to be ready and up at the arena. Show riders help to get some of the show horses ready. A lot of the other team members will clean stalls. Then we get dressed and get our mental focus. Warmup riders go up 30-45 minutes before the meet starts to get the horses loosened up and ready to go. So showing really takes an army and no one job is more important than the other.”
Riders are not the only team members in college equestrian that possess a unique work ethic. Amber Bradley has been Georgia’s barn manager for nine years. Her job requires her to be at the barn at least 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. She claims that there are many misconceptions about her work.
“A lot of people assume that all my team and I do is play with ponies all day. And while that is a part of it- we get to enjoy what we’re doing- there is so much hard work and effort that goes into this. We don’t just ride all day and pet ponies. We really have to be dedicated and not afraid to get our hands dirty in order to provide the best care possible to each and every horse.”
Bradley and her team currently tend to 63 horses. Each day there is a long list of responsibilities they must attend to in order to ensure the health and happiness of each horse. This includes making sure that the horses are fed appropriately and get the right supplements or vitamins. They also have to make sure each horse receives any veterinary care they might need such as vaccinations or dental work. Keeping up with deworming and shoeing schedules is another requirement.
“It’s basically about providing veterinary care without really being a vet,” Bradley comments. “You have to be prepared for any type of emergency such as colic. Anytime they’re sick you have to be willing to put your life on hold and put on your boots and go out to the barn to take care of them. You have to be willing to commit a lot of time to them because they can’t take care of themselves. That contributes to the different work ethic in equestrians than you have in a lot of other types of athletes because you have an animal that you have to provide care for.”
Whether you’re a rider or part of the barn team, being involved in the world of college equestrian is not for everyone.
“College equestrian is great!” Gleeson explained, “But it’s something that takes a lot of work and commitment. You have to be a special type of person because you have to care, not only about the animals and the sport, but all the other aspects that go into it.”
One of those additional aspects is the dedication to the horses. “It definitely takes somebody who is very committed to animals” Bradley says. “You have to love the horses and be willing to put in the time and effort needed to make sure that they are happy and healthy. It’s a big commitment as far as their health and your time goes. This is really more of a lifestyle than anything!”
Perhaps Beasley sums it up best. “It really is a unique work ethic because it truly does take a lot to be a part of this sport. Being an equestrian isn’t just about getting on the horse, riding, getting off and calling it a day. It really is about bonding with the horses and putting in 110% every day that you go out there. It’s this kind of effort that ultimately led us to the national championship last year and hopefully again this year.”
The Georgia equestrian team will return to action January 30 when it travels to Martin, Tenn. for a double-meet weekend. The Bulldogs will take on both Tennessee-Martin and Kansas State. For the latest updates on the Georgia equestrian team, visit www.georgiadogs.com.
