The wind was kicking up and so were the horses at the Intercollegiate Horse Show at Robertson’s Stables in Bakersfield.
“This wind is going to make it interesting,” said Kathi Hickerson, the BC Equestrian Team coach, and teacher of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) class at BC.
For BC, the show was successful.
The team went on to receive numerous ribbons in the Western-style show on Saturday, and on the following day in the English competition.
The team was competing against eight other colleges in the IHSA, including Stanford University; University of Reno, Nevada; UC Santa Cruz; Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; Reedley College; CSU Fresno; Sierra Nevada College; and UC Davis.
Horse shows for English and Western riding styles are held throughout the school year and riders who qualify go on to regionals, then they go to zones and then nationals in New York, according to Hickerson.
Three from BC’s team have done well enough this season to go to regionals this spring. Hickerson said there were about 15 students in the team and the class. Both English and Western styles are taught.
The team practices once a week and is open to both men and women who are full-time students.
“If you don’t know how to ride, we start you from the ground up and teach you how to ride,” Hickerson said.
Anybody can take the class, said Rachelle Seidel, who rides English style and has been on the team for two years.
“You don’t have to have a horse. If anybody has any interest in horses, it’s an easy ‘A,’ it’s fun and it’s an enjoyable thing. You get to travel a lot of places, and we’ve got national events and competitions,” she said.
Seidel said many people don’t know about the team.
“Even my professors are like, ‘Really? You have an equestrian team?’ Most people don’t even know what ‘equestrian’ is, what the word means,” she said.
The Equestrian Team gives students an opportunity to learn more about horses and become better riders.
“It’s so spontaneous,” said Laine Hendricks, who rides both English and Western. “Usually once you get into college, they don’t really offer that many programs anymore. Plus it’s hard to balance with school work and since this is more of a college-oriented program, they work around so you can be able to accomplish your school work while being a part of the program, while getting credits, too.”
In a show, entrants are not allowed to ride horses they’re used to, so communication and directions are important, Hickerson said.
“Being able to listen to what someone’s telling you, those are life skills that will go with them forever,” she said. “And then what follows is teamwork, and being part of something is so very important as growing up and having that social group.”
Cassandra Sobreno joined the team because she loves animals.
“I do it for the love of horses, that’s all I do it for,” she said. “I plan on being a veterinarian of large animals, so I need to get as much experience with the larger animals as possible. I’ve been riding since I was 13 years old, so the love of horses has grown. It was a great way for me to get involved in horses over here because I didn’t know anybody. I gained a lot of friendships through it. … We all learn from each other.”
Scholarships also are available through the program, which is in the Agriculture Department.
“We need more members,” said Sobreno. “Anybody can join, that’s the good thing about it. You don’t have to have a horse or saddle or even experience. Anybody can do it.”