Equestrian Students To Compete For Prizes, Grade

Virginia Tech equestrian students will compete in the intramural hunter show Nov. 18 at in the Alphin-Stuart Teaching Arena as a final exam for the animal and poultry sciences mounted equestrian classes. The show will start at 5 p.m. and will end around 9 p.m. in the hunter arena.

At the end of every semester the equestrian students compete for their final exam in the Intramural horseshow. Virginia Tech Equestrian Club’s Public Relations representative, Lizzie Warriner, said each semester the show has 60 plus participants. There will be nine main classes in the hunter show and each of those classes will be split into multiple sections of riders, said Warriner.

The Equestrian Club’s president, Priya Subbarayan, said, “The show is open to only the riders enrolled in equitation classes in the department of animal and poultry sciences. All the students of those classes are expected to show.”

Subbarayan said many of the students on the riding team and in the club are in the riding classes. These team members who participate in the intramural show may be at a slight advantage. Warriner said that the show is run in an intercollegiate style. Riders arrive at the arena for their class and mount a horse drawn at random with no chance to warm-up or get a feel for the horse. Each of the team members will have participated in a show of this style and will know what to expect, she said. This differs from a traditional horse show were riders practice for months and are very familiar with their mount.

Warriner said the organizers are the animal and poultry sciences department’s class instructors, Teresa McDonald and Sherri West, along with others from the classes and club. “With concern to demands on students, since it is on a week night… we all pitch in to make the show function smoothly,” Warriner said.

The show will use as many of the animal and poultry sciences department’s 34 horses as possible. “A few of our good horses will be used more than once, but they are well compensated with treats for their extra effort!” Warriner said.

The equestrian classes costs students an additional fee of $500 to their tuition that fee is expected to go up in the next year to $750, according to Teresa McDonald. The classes are pass/fail and showing improvement from the beginning of the semester earns you a passing grade on the “final,” said Warriner. In addition to a passing grade, students who place will receive ribbons.