The Gustavus Equestrian team is starting the school year in exciting fashion by hosting its first ever competition this weekend on Sept. 25-26 at Charles Yahnke Farms in Le Sueur, Minn.

“This year we are hosting our first show, which is something the private colleges in our region don’t really do because of the general lack of funding and manpower. [The shows are] usually left up to teams where equestrian is a program or major, and they own their own barns and horses,” Sophomore show chair Sara Fogelberg said. “We were contacted last year to host one and decided to go for it.”

Fogelberg, along with Sophomore show chair Paige Yahnke, is planning and organizing the whole event, including everything from show entries and making sure the facilities have insurance to contacting other teams and having horses to ride.

The Equestrian team began in the early 2000s but was reborn again in the spring of 2006 thanks to Abby Travis ’10. In the fall of 2007, Travis, along with mostly first-year and sophomore students, put together Gustavus’s first competitive Equestrian team with around 10 members.

Now, however, the team has blossomed into more than 20 members.
“It was kind of slow this past year, but this year our team has exploded with members including people [who] have never had experience with horses,” Senior Captain Alex Grandelis said.

The two-day competition in Le Sueur will feature close to 150 riders from 11 different schools including Carleton, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and the University of Minnesota-Crookston.

Despite its ambition to host its first ever competition, the Gustavus Equestrian team, a club sport, faces many challenges.

“Funding is a big challenge because sports in general are expensive. When you add an equine partner, pay for lessons, boarding for horses, it starts to add up. We do get funding from Student Senate because it pays for show entries and portions of travel expenses. We do fundraise and pay quite a bit out of pocket. We [also] don’t have a coach on staff,” Fogelberg said.

“A lot of the schools we compete against are varsity teams. We are a club sport, and I can’t tell them how much to ride,” Grandelis said. “In this sport, it’s dedication that takes you places. Everyone does what they are capable of with school and finances. We have wonderful trainers in the area who are really good to riders and very accommodating.”

Yet, despite the challenges facing the Equestrian team, Grandelis and the team have lofty but achievable goals for this season and the future.

“Each year you do competitions with the region including a regional, zone and national show. We have a lot of new talented riders coming in, so we want to get new people hooked and qualified for nationals,” Grandelis said. “We are a good team and ranked 9th out of 19 teams in the region. The only schools ahead of us are schools with equestrian programs.”

“For the future, [we are looking for] expansion. Last year I saw the team double in size, and many of the same people are coming back and a bunch of new [first-years] are coming in,” Fogelberg said.

The Equestrian team has five events planned this year including three shows this fall and two in the spring. The team will compete in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Needless to say, the Equestrian team is very optimistic about the upcoming season thanks to a determined group of riders and recent recruitment.

“I’m really excited about this season. We have really talented riders and really dedicated riders. I’m excited to see them progress and hopefully send a couple to the regional show,” Grandelis said. “We do our own recruitment, [which is by] word of mouth, and Gustavus started sending prospective students to come talk to us. That’s another great thing about having Equestrian team. It’s a specific interest, and a lot of people have to leave their horses behind when they come to school, but they don’t have to if they come to Gustavus.”

Even Fogelberg wasn’t aware of the Gustavus Equestrian team when she enrolled last year.

“When I came to Gustavus last year, I had it in my mind I was not going to ride. I was an ignorant [first-year] at the involvement fair. I saw the booth, and it was an opportunity that I didn’t think I would have in my college career. For many people it’s not just a sport, it’s your life,” Fogelberg said. “You have your teammates and your horse, and you put your life in your animal’s control every day. It’s a lot of trust to put in a horse that you can’t control. Its amazing, because the sport and people are so passionate.”

The Gustavus Equestrian team encourages support from the Gustavus community and is excited to host its first competition this weekend in Le Sueur, Minn. For more information on the Equestrian team, visit: gacequestrian.webs.com.