Meet Furman's Dressage team

One of the lesser-known competitive teams on Furman's campus is the Furman Dressage team. The team, formed three years ago, competes in the Intercollegiate Dressage Association and sports a small, but dedicated group of talented riders."Dressage" is a French word, often translated as "training." In the world of competitive horse training, dressage corresponds to training a horse so that it responds to a rider's cues in the most effortless way possible.

The idea of dressage goes back to ancient Greece where Xenophon, a Greek military commander, wrote about training horses to maximize their responsiveness in battle.

Now trainers continue this tradition, teaching horses to respond to quiet cues. The pinnacle of the sport is evidenced in the Lipizzaner stallions at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.

While the riders of the Furman Dressage team do not get to ride Lipizzaner stallions, they still take their sport very seriously.

Each member must ride at least once a week and take lessons with an accredited instructor at least twice a month. Additionally, before each IDA event, each rider must take a lesson with the team coach.

"We encourage as much riding time as possible," said team secretary Katherine Ely. "But sometimes it is not exactly feasible to devote two to three hours of every afternoon to riding - but we try."

The riders train hard because they will attend a total of eight IDA events this year. Each horse show is hosted by a school in the region, and every team is expected to ride the host school's horses.

"Lots of riders are used to only riding their own horse and are thus very attuned to that particular horse's strengths and weaknesses," said Ely. "The IDA throws a curveball in there, making the competitions not a test of how well you know your horse, but how well you really know how to ride."

At the show the riders are given 10 minutes to warm up before their test. The test is conducted in a rectangular ring where the rider is expected to lead the horse through a series of movements in a particular order. The difficulty of these movements depends on the skill level of the rider.

Through these shows the riders get to display their talent and hard work.

"The dressage team has been an integral and wonderful part of my time at Furman," said Ely. "It has given me the opportunity to get back into riding and learn so much more than I ever thought there was to learn about horses and being an effective rider. I also take great pride in representing Furman, competing on an intercollegiate level in a sport that I am so passionate about."

While the shows are very competitive there is a special camaraderie among not only one school's riders, but also among all of the riders in a show.

"We have a great group of girls, and everyone gets along really well and supports each other," said Emily Hunter, team president. "Also, the riders and coaches from the other schools are fantastic. The level of sportsmanship is truly impressive."

The team is always looking for new riders, regardless of skill or competitiveness.

"People thinking about joining the team should be aware that they do not have to own their own horse or necessarily be an experienced dressage rider to join," said Ely. "Also they do not even have to participate in the IDA shows if they don't want."

The team will travel to St. Andrews Presbyterian College this weekend to compete in its fourth show of the year.