University of Georgia Athletics
What You May Not Know About Equestrian
April 16, 2015 | Equestrian
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
ATHENS, Ga. -- Did you know that the Georgia equestrian team is in Waco, Texas, this weekend, competing for back to back national championships? Did you know that the Bulldogs are going for the program's seventh title since it began competing in 2002-03?
For many of us, a lot of "did you know" questions involving equestrian will yield only one answer: no. It's understandable. Just about the only times you see horses on television are when they're racing around a track, surrounded by folks in silly hats and sipping mint juleps, or when Clint Eastwood or John Wayne is riding into town. And UGA's facility is far from campus, in Bishop, so not many folks just stumble upon the equestrian team in action.
On the eve of Georgia's quest for a seventh title, let's gain some knowledge. Here are 7 things you may not know about equestrian and the Bulldogs:
7. You may not know that equestrian is not yet an NCAA sport. It's classified as an emerging sport and currently participates in the National Collegiate Equestrian Association. Other emerging sports are rugby, sand volleyball and triathlon.
It takes 40 competing programs to be an NCAA Division I championship sport and right now there are roughly half that number in equestrian. Georgia coach Meghan Boenig said it's time to begin working toward a growth spurt.
"I think right now is such a critical moment," she said. "We have so many things well poised. I think as coaches, with a group of about 22 of us, we had our heads down and were focusing so much on our programs and their growth, and each of those programs and their standards have risen incredibly, exponentially. But what we didn't do was pick up our heads and look nationally, at the NCAA and what's going on in the sport."
That's changing, she said, and equestrian's popularity is growing at colleges all over the country.
"I'm really very optimistic about what the future is going to be," she said. "I think we've dispelled a lot of the myths about the sport that are out there and there's so much interest. Go to any campus and I guarantee you you're going to find clubs that are doing it, there's horses that are already there, there are kids that want to be doing this, and kids that will pay to go to school to be doing it."
6. You may not know that all of Georgia's 55 horses are donated, and that Georgia produces some of its own hay for the horses to eat.
Normally, those horses don't make road trips. Georgia has brought 10 horses to Waco, Boenig said, and they will be added to the pool of mounts provided by all teams. In each of the four equestrian events within a competition, horses are selected at random.
"We're trying to eliminate as much home-horse advantage as possible," Boenig said. "You want to ride neutral horses."
Per the NCEA website (collegiateequestrian.com): "Five horses are selected for each event. Each rider is paired with one of the five horses in a random draw before the competition. ... Riders from opposing teams compete on the same horse in the head-to-head competition."
In collegiate equestrian, part of the challenge, part of the point of the whole thing, is to ride and execute jumps or other maneuvers with a horse you don't know.
One horse can vary wildly from the next, so it's not always as simple as changing cars from a Porsche to a Jeep, where the fundamentals are at least the same.
"In some cases, it's like going from driving a Porsche to a steamboat," Boenig said.
5. You may not know that when a horse is randomly selected, the rider gets just four minutes to see it in action (ridden by a warm-up rider), and then four minutes on the horse, before competing.
That's not a lot of time to get a feel for how it handles. Those minutes before the competition begins are critical.
"I just kind of see what it's most comfortable with and what things it does well and what things it doesn't do well," said Georgia senior Kylee Arbuckle, who this week was named SEC Rider of the Year in the event Equitation on the Flat (more on that later).
"And then when I get on I just kind of feel that out and push those buttons."
Ideally, you don't want to be the first rider on the horse. That first rider has only those few minutes to evaluate the horse and then go compete, while her fellow riders can watch everyone that goes before them and gather even more information.
"You want to get as much as you can out of the time you have to hopefully see what you'll have," said Georgia senior Sara Parr, named first team All-America this season in Horsemanship. "But some of them will change once it's time to show and they'll get a little quirkier."
Of course, just because you get a sense of the horse you're riding, that doesn't mean you're in for a good ride.
"Over the years I've learned that it's not always going to be perfect. You just have to make the most out of what you have," Arbuckle said.
4. You may not know that Boenig, who has been Georgia's coach from Day One, has been fascinated with horses since she was very young. The first word she ever spoke? "Horse."
"It was my first word, and my family had nothing to do with horses," she said. "I think I pointed out a window, they said. We were driving in the car and I pointed out the window at a horse."
She didn't get her first lesson for a few years. It took a lot of begging, she said, first of her parents and then, smartly, her grandparents.
Arbuckle didn't have to wait as long. Her mom's a trainer and she's been on horses, "probably since before I could walk."
3. You may not know that there are 12 teams in the NCEA Championship field and the Bulldogs are the No. 1 seed, which earns them a bye into Friday's quarterfinals.
Led by Georgia, four of the top five seeds are from the SEC: No. 3 South Carolina, No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 5 Auburn.
And the four SEC teams have won all 13 the NCEA championships; Georgia has six, Auburn has three and South Carolina and A&M have won the title twice.
2. You may not know the format of NCEA championship features four riders from each school, competing in the four disciplines: Hunt Seat Equitation Over Fences, Hunt Seat Equitation on the Flat, Western Horsemanship and Western Reining.
Again, let's let the NCEA website explain:
"Hunt Seat Equitation Over Fences -- The judges evaluate the rider's position, consistency on course, smoothness, flow from jump to jump, the number of strides (steps taken by the horse) in a line and the rider's plan to complete the course. Scoring for the event is out of a perfect score of 100.
Hunt Seat Equitation on the Flat -- The riders have to perform a flat test on their horses in a 40 x 20 meter arena. The test consists of nine movements to be judged on accuracy, smoothness and overall position of the rider. Each movement receives a score from 1-10. The 10th score judges the position and seat of the rider and the correctness and effectiveness of her aids. The score is out of a perfect score of 100.
Western Horsemanship -- This event is designed to evaluate the rider's ability to execute a prescribed set of maneuvers with precision and smoothness while maintaining a balanced, functional and fundamentally correct body position. The ideal horsemanship pattern consists of seven to nine maneuvers and is extremely precise with the rider and horse working in complete unison, executing each maneuver with subtle aids and cues. Exhibitors are scored for each sequence of maneuvers with a -1.5 to +1.5 score for each maneuver with a base score beginning at 70.
Western Reining -- This is a class based on set patterns and a precise scoring system. Within these patterns the horses' and riders' athletic abilities are tested in a series of maneuvers including spins, stops, flying lead changes and circles with changes in size and speed. In collegiate competition, the rider must perform one of the set National Reining Horse Association (NHRA) patterns. There are a total of eight parts to a reining test with each individual maneuver judged from -1.5 to +1.5 with a base score beginning at 70."
1. You may not know that equestrian riders are about as detail oriented as anyone. That's what the sport's all about: details. It's about the rider maintaining proper body positioning, the smoothness of the horse's gait and maneuvers, the ability to follow a course to perfection and so many other little things that have to be done correctly.
And, don't forget, they're doing it on horses that were total strangers not long before.
It's probably not a surprise that this attention to detail extends to the riders' lives off the horse, as well. Georgia had eight riders earn NCEA academic honors this season.
"If you're not on top of everything it's really easy to get behind, and then it all falls apart," Arbuckle said. "If you really pay attention, doing things like being on time to polishing your boots, it makes a really big difference."
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. You can follow him on Twitter: @TheFrierson and @ITAHallofFame.