Horse Back Riding at Columbia

by Annika Dronge

The team draws its membership of approximately twenty-five students from both the undergraduate and graduate programs at Columbia University. Most of the team-members are female. This reflects the female dominance in the sport of horse back riding, one of the only sports in which males and females compete against each other.

There is a significant amount of talent to be recognized on the Columbia Equestrian team. Several of its riders have competed on a national level previous to their enrollment at Colum bia. Many have their own horses, and have ridden their whole lives. There are also those who have learned to ride rather recently, but practice every week, as much as three times a week, as well.

The team stable is located in Riverdale, the Bronx. Riverdale Equestrian Center is not owned by Columbia University, but is a commercially run facility. It is a half an hour commute from campus. The grounds are twenty-two acres of arenas and trails, accom modated with approximately fifty horses. Duncan Scott of Canada is the coach of the team, proving to be the most supportive and qualified coach the team has experienced in years.

Riding competitions, or horse-shows, are held at schools with equestrian teams, about six times a semester. The hosting school will provide each rider with a horse for the jumping phase and the "flat" (non-jumping) phase of competition. Each rider is judg ed individually, which Columbia usually does very well in. However, since the Columbia team is comparatively small, the larger teams usually do better in overall ranking. Columbia competes in Zone II, which means our competition includes such schools as W estpoint, New York University, and Pace University.

One of the only negative aspects of such a strong team as the Columbia Equestrian team, is its lack of funding. It receives barely enough to cover the cost of using vans to go to the horse-shows. Ironically, horse-back riding was named as the most expensive sport next to race-car driving, if one can consider that a sport. The end result is that many of these dedicated riders are paying out of pocket to practice, about $500 a semester, and to compete, about $50 a horse-show, for a school that does not support or recognize them.