Equestrian Blog

I am still trying to catch up with everything that has gone on around here in the last week. I guess I need to find more time to write so I don’t have to catch up!

A big event for the equestrian program here at Judson in the fall is the Equestrian Demonstration Day. This is an event that is sponsored by the admissions department. Its purpose is to introduce prospective students to the equine program here at Judson. This event was started last fall and this year’s demonstrations took place last Tuesday, Oct. 13.

During this event all of the riding classes performed a routine choreographed to music on horse back. Routines included a reining routine, a routine demonstrating jumping and flat work, walk/ trot routines,and walk/ trot/ canter routines.  The demonstration had a patriotic theme this year and included music like Stars andStripes Forever and America the Beautiful.

I enjoy doing presentations like this because I get to talk to prospective students about Judson, the Equestrian program here, and encourage them to consider Judson when they graduate from high school.

It is not all fun, though. After you have worked on the same routine for four to five weeks in a row, it gets a little bit annoying. On the other end of the spectrum, not having a routine until the day before can be very stressful. It also takes a lot of work to put it all together. Each class has to make a routine, put the routine to music, and horses have to be assigned to each rider. These things in themselves are not hard, but when the presentation includes seven classes with three-six students and only 15 horses, it can get a little confusing not to mention stressful.

Though I enjoyed being a part of this unique event I cannot say that I am not glad that it is over for this year so my riding classes can go back to being normal, and less stressful...

I am a little behind, but late is better then never. Right?

We, that is the Judson College Equestrian Team, traveled to Dahlonega Georgia for our first Western IHSA show of the year. The show was hosted by North Georgia’s Equestrian team and was held at EpiphanyFarm.

We had a great weekend. We left Judson at 8 a.m. so that we would arrive in Dahlonega in plenty of time to relax and have a little bit of fun. We arrived at our hotel around 3 that afternoon. Once the van was unloaded and everyone was settled into their rooms, a group of us went to the outlets located directly behind our hotel. It was great to just hang out with some of the other girls on the team and, of course, shop. No one bought TOO MUCH, but we did find some really good sales. After a couple of hours, I decided enough damage had been done to my bank account, so I returned to the hotel and relaxed, watching TV with the other girls in my room who had not gone shopping. Later that evening once everyone had recovered from the drive and the shopping trip we went and had dinner and then made a Wal-Mart run for any last minute items we had forgotten to bring.

When we returned we busily got ready for the show the next day. It was not only the first show of the year, but the first show ever for some of us, so we were more than a little nervous. To make things worse the weather forecast for the day of the show was rain and I don’t just mean a light shower here and there, no I mean torrential downpours. So at 9 o’clock at night, three of the girls and I go walking out of our hotel, chaps in hand, so that we can spray them with Scotch Guard.  If anyone looked out of their hotel window I am sure they would have been wondering why in the world there were four pairs of chaps spread out on the side walk beside the parking lot. Fortunately for us, the rain stayed at bay until the show was over.

The show was a great success! I was nervous that morning, but by the time my class went in the ring I had calmed down and was ready to ride for a first place blue ribbon. I didn’t quite make it, but I did come in second and received a red ribbon. Everyone on Judson’s team did an amazing job! There were two shows held that day, back to back, and all seven of our team members placed in both of the shows. We came in third place overall as a team and all agreed that we had a very successful weekend.

Our next show will be held at Berry College in Rome, Ga. on October 24 and 25. That show will include a western show Saturday morning and a hunt seat show Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. 

- Once upon a time, there lived a college student, her roommate and a number of other young women. The girl was beginning to feel slightly sleep deprived from the everyday college life, extra curricular activities, and last, but not least, the group was trying to put on a play. It would be a magnificent play, the finest in the land, but the journey was long with many hills and bumps. The end, however, was in sight. They just had to get to showtime at the top of the last big hill. Though the path was steep, the young women knew that they would reach the end with the help from their new found sisters and friends.-

Ok, so it wasn’t once upon a time, it is now.  I am the college student and the other young women are Judson students in the Junior/Sophomore (Jr/Soph) class; and I am suffering from a lack of sleep. It has been a crazy, crazy week.

The equestrian teams have had full dress days two days this week. These are days where we have to wear our show clothes during our riding class. The purpose of doing this is to get them approved so that we can become familiar with how it feels to ride in them, especially for those of us who have never showed before and have no idea what it is like to ride in tall boots and chaps. Though really not that big of a deal, it seems very stressful.

On top of the regular course load and whatever extra curricular activities they have going, members of the Jr/Soph class put on a "pageant." Pageant is a play theJr/Soph’s put on for their big sister class and, like anything worth doing, it takes a lot of work. We have had practice for 2 hours a night, four times a week for about month and we still have a week left. This may not seem like much, but with everything else everyone has going on and trying to put it all together in a relatively short amount of time, it is a lot. Oh yeah, we have to try to keep the name of the play and what it is about a secret!

Regardless of the hard work and the late nights, I enjoy it. It has brought us together as a class and I have gotten to know people I really didn’t know and people I already knew a lot better. We are what is getting each other through the stress, late nights, and crazy schedules. Finest in the land, maybe not, but the play will be great.

It’s not all hard work though. Tonight a big group of us carpooled up to Tuscaloosa for a game of bowling and just hanging out. One game turned into three for some of us and a much later night then originally expected but it is not often we get to do stuff like this, so we took advantage of it. It has been a crazy, busy, eventful, exciting week and I look forward to the next one because there is never a dull moment here at Judson.

Until next time: GOOD NIGHT!!!

 

 

Now, you have heard about what we have done or are doing as an equestrian program here at Judson, but not much on whom we are.  Today I would like to fix that and introduce you to the Judson College Equestrian Program.

The Equestrian Program at Judson is not large, but then what about Judson is? However, its small size is an advantage; it allows us to have a large range of opportunities that may not be available to larger programs.

The Equestrian program offers an academic minor in equine science, and two interdisciplinary majors: Equine Business Management and Equine- Facilitated Mental Health. Equine Business Management, Equine Disease Management and Equine Nutrition are all classes that are offered as part of the classroom portion of equine studies. These classes are taught either by Mrs. Jennifer Hoggle, or Dr. Doug Halbrooks.

Judson’s Equestrian Program also offers a number of “hands on” type classes where the students learn by participating and working with the horses. These classes include animal partnership, light horse training, and riding instructor classes. Animal Partnership is a class where students learn how to build relationships with horses and to form a partnership between them. The way we learn about the relationship between animals and humans, and begin to form one for ourselves is by doing a series of ground work exercises that teach the horse to have trust in us and vise-versa.  This class also teaches us the important roles animals play in our lives. An example of this is when we take horses to a local nursing home; this allows us to see the significance that just getting to interact with a horse for a couple of minuets can have on someone’s life.

Riding instructor classes are where the student actually helps either Mrs. Jennifer or Mrs. Janice teach a riding class. This teaches the student how to teach and help others learn to ride, as well as, helps them to see things that they may need to work on in their own riding.

This brings us to the riding classes. Judson offers riding classes for all levels, from never having been on a horse before to advanced with a desire to compete on the team. The beginner classes learn the basics of working with horses which are:

• the things you need to know before you can ride
• how to groom
• how to lead and,
• how to tack a horse

 This usually only takes a couple of lessons and once the students have mastered that, they move on to the basics of riding, which are:

• how to ask the horse to walk
• how to halt and,
• how to steer

The riding classes are structured to meet the needs of the riders in each class. Students in the advanced classes and on the team work to improve the skills they already have, as well as, working on more advanced concepts. Riders in these classes will likely already know some of these skills, but are lookingto improve them and learn skills they do not know. There are also classes offered for the riders who fall between these two levels.

One of the greatest things about Judson’s Equestrian Program is that it is offered at very few other colleges.  Best of all anyone can take an equine or riding class. You do not have to be an equine major, minor, or on the team to participate. You may just want to learn to ride, have some free time in your schedule for another class, or just need an elective.