By: Iris Querenet
“I am part of the Columbia Equestrian Team”.
This phrase is usually met with comments such as “Oh I didn’t know we had a riding team!” followed by “So where do you ride?”.  Few people know of this amazing club that I have now been part of for two years.
The equestrian team competes in an organization called Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) which strives to make horseback riding and horse shows affordable for college students. Our team practices at the lovely Bergen County Equestrian Center in nearby New Jersey. We compete in Zone II, Region 4, against 10 other schools, mainly from Long Island. For the shows, the students do not need to have their own horse, as the host school provides them. The horses are randomly assigned to each person in the class in order to keep a level playing field. This year, two of our team members qualified for Region finals where they each placed 3rd and 5th. The overall team placed 6th in the region, an amazing feat considering all the schools ahead of us had at the least 5 times more show team members than us!
The people on the team this year have all been wonderful and we are all hoping to get some more amazing members next year!
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram (@columbiaequestrian)!
For more information, please visit: http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/equestrian/