A week ago on September 18th, the first meeting and evaluation ride for the Westfield State Equestrian Team was held.  Those of us who could make the meeting met at our Owl Home Team’s Stable, Grindstone Mountain Farm where two of our team Captains, Cali Cybulski and Riley O’Connor, came, along with our Team’s Trainer Adria Pandolfini-Loiko. 

Cristina Ciampa is another Team Captain who could not make it due to a prescheduled horse show she competed in. 

There was a variety of riders with different levels of experience in the saddle at our meeting. We began by sharing our horseback riding experience before tacking up a couple of horses. One was a chestnut gelding named Boo and the other was a flea-bitten grey gelding named Goose. We then headed to the outdoor arena where we took turns riding to have our experience level evaluated.

All of us were excited to be there working together to groom, tack up, ride, support one another, untack, and hose the horses down after.  We look forward to training, and for those of us interested in competition to ride in upcoming Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) shows starting this October.

We would love to have our fellow students come check us out and show support at the horse shows we are competing in! The show dates for the Fall 2021 semester are October 2, October 16, October 17, October 30, November 6, and November 13. To keep up with the Westfield State Equestrian Team follow us on Instagram @WestfieldStateEquestrian