The Jackrabbit Women’s Equestrian team is headed to Davis, California early next week to take on four other schools in a battle for the ECAC Conference Championship title.
Jackrabbit equestrian, is a part of the Eastern College Athletic Conference, also referred to as the ECAC. This conference is also home to Minnesota Crookston, UC Davis, University of Tennessee Martin and Delaware State.
This competition consists of three rounds, the first round, second round and championship round. Teams will go head-to-head and winners will advance.
“The student-athletes and horses work extremely hard to prepare for events. The horses are majestic, and it’s absolutely incredible the way the student-athletes can control them,” SDSU Athletics Senior Associate Athletic Director of Facilities and Operations, Jeff Holm said.
There are two disciplines, jumping seat and western, with two events per discipline. Jumping seat includes equitation over fences and equitation on the flat. Western includes reining and horsemanship, with five riders competing in each event.
During competition, the rider is put on a horse at random against a competitor from the opposing school, both riding the same horse.
The horses in competition are owned by or leased to the home team.
Each rider has a four-minute warm up to get to know that horse, and then they complete a pattern with a very specific set of maneuvers and receive a score declared by the judges.
Whichever competitor scores higher on that horse, receives a point for that team. There are 20 points at stake.
“The most obvious difference between equestrian and any other individual sport is the fact that the student-athletes are dealing with their own performance AND the performance of another living creature directly attached to their individual performance,” Holm said.
Holm also said Equestrian is also unique because the athletes have never been on a team before entering college.
Outside of college, these athletes only compete individually at horse shows on their own horse. They never experience a team atmosphere before entering college.
“I think going into ECACs this year, there is a bright and fun energy among the team and an overwhelming hunger to make it to the final,” Jumping Seat Coach Allie Kriendler said.
Western Coach Jordan Gates said that her favorite part of ECACs when she was an athlete for SDSU was watching all the schools in the conference come together and fight for the championship, while coming together as a team and supporting each other.
“I strongly believe we will be more successful than years past. We have been preparing and improving more than ever. The whole team is hungry to march their way through each ride and each round,” Gates said.
Holm said he also anticipates the team to be very successful. He mentioned that the team works so hard and deserves to show well.
“The best way to prepare is take it step by step, pattern by pattern and take a breath. It can be very easy to feel overwhelmed with the amount of patterns we have to make it through. We just need to take them as they come and everything will follow,” Gates said.
As the team approaches the competition, they have a full week of practices and workouts leading up to their departure. The athletes are very busy but also very excited.
This year’s championship is unlike years past because the competition will not be held at a school facility, it will be held at a horse show grounds facility close to the UC Davis campus.
Last year, SDSU hosted the ECAC Championship competition. Hosting takes a lot of work and organization, but also provides an advantage for the home team being familiar with the horses they practice on each day.
“I think it is easy for us to focus on ourselves going into an away meet because we do not have to worry if our horses are going well or will be able to do the patterns. We get to focus on how we look and where are minds are without adding the pressure of putting on a successful meet,” Kriendler said.
Kriendler mentioned that the best way for SDSU fans to support the team is through social media, watching the livestream and live scoring.
She mentioned how much a simple Instagram story or tag can make the team feel the love and support from the entire campus and student body.