By Jonathan Moniz, Staff Writer
The season of the Fall 2016 Equestrian competition has begun this week, at the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) championship being held at Salve Regina.
As a testament to the last season, the event will be held with the same opening championship and with many of the fellow members of the equestrian team from last years returning. For the previous season, Alexandra Koury finished in 6th at the previous IHSA championships, the sole member representing UMass Dartmouth at the event.
The team before that had had a strong season, and finished with Koury’s performance as a strong showing and final tournament for the season. Equestrian season began on October 20, 2015 at Becker College and continued for ten games until ending on April 9, 2016.
The competitions and locales for the places that the teams competed in were Becker College, Roger Williams University, the University of Massachusett’s Dartmouth home field the Claddagh farm, the University of Rhode Island, and the Mystic Valley Hunting club.
Amongst some notables from the team for last year were Alexandra Koury from Holden, Massachusetts who competed at the previous IHSA tournaments, while Natasha Zuzarte, a senior now from Tiverton, R.I. placed fourth in open over fences and open flat, with open over fences being jumps over fences and flat being running across level ground.
With currently eleven members skilled in various portions of horse riding, the equestrian team stands poised for another strong year this season at UMass Dartmouth.
Notable is Natasha Zuzarte’s return for open over fences and open flat, which will be highly useful in the many jumping and running competitions ahead, as well as for the more difficult obstacles to be maneuvered around.
Many of the other skills and important attributes include the walk trot, walk trot canter, and novice over fence, which will help with the general competition as well as carrying the team throughout many of the lesser competitions.
Other notable members of the team are Anna von Einem with intermediate over fence from Caracas, Venezuela and Ava Soderberg from Boston, Massachusetts with walk trot canter.
UMass Dartmouth’s home field is Claddagh farm, a training facility that specializes in jumpers, hunters, and Equetation fields for the riders. They also have an indoor and an outdoor ring with which they use to train and help riders practice.
The upcoming season will feature competition against multiple schools and teams from around the region, including Salve Regina, the University of Rhode Island, Becker College, and Brown University. In addition to these competitions between the intercollegiate fields, there will be also numerous side displays and performances to look forward to.
Last season heralded a series of strong placements and great performances from the riders of the equestrian team, and also featured them and their skills in tournaments around the region. Continuing on to this season for the finals and for the entry into the IHSA tournament is a steady accolade for the equestrian team.
The next event, after the championship at Salve Regina, will be Sunday, October 16, at Brown university. Good luck to the Corsairs!
Photo Courtesy: Corsairathletics.com