No horsing around for Equestrian Club

Two members of Penn's equestrian club will compete at nationals. Two Penn equestrian riders will riding their horses to exciting places quite soon. The Penn club equestrian team has qualified two riders to the national finals at Olympic Park in Atlanta, Ga. Jenny Workman, a transfer sophomore from Chesterfield, N.J., and Eliza O'Neill, a freshman from Westchester County, N.Y., will be representing the Red and Blue in this elite competition. The equestrian team -- a club sport -- has about 35 members, roughly 12 of whom practice and show year-round. The regular season kicks off in September and finishes in March. All shows in which Penn competes are run by a national governing body, the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association. This season, Penn competed in 10 IHSA shows. At each shows, teams place a "point rider" in the five main divisions -- each differentiated based on the difficulty of the class and on whether the class is judged on a rider's performance over fences or on the flat. The individual points are then added together to get the team total. While Penn generally faces the same teams at each show, several factors make each competition unique. Location -- competitions are both indoor and outdoor -- is a factor, as is the horse the rider draws and consequently rides in the day's events. Each rider is randomly assigned a horse to show and essentially is prohibited from touching the horse before starting the course. Practicing or even adjusting the saddle are not allowed. The sole judge plays a pivotal role, awarding points based on the rider's position and ability to effectively guide and control the horse. "It is completetly subjective," O'Neill said. Each individual recieves points for the courses he or she completes. The top three placings in each event at the end of regional competition qualify for Zones, which draws riders from six to seven states. From there, the top two advance to Nationals. Workman won her class at Zones and will compete in individual-intermediate class over fences in Atlanta. O'Neill will show in the individual-open over fences class. "When I won Zones I was really surprised," Workman said. With regards to the upcoming Nationals, she adds, "I've never before in my life competed in something so big. I'm really nervous." Captain Florrie Hallenbeck, a sophomore, notes that with more riders qualifying for postseason competition, this year's team boasts a better record than last year's squad. She attributes this success to Penn's new coach, Jill Workman -- Jenny's older sister -- who has made the program more serious. Even though the IHSA is nearly 100 percent female, it is theoretically co-ed with men and women competing equally against one another. Penn's team was actually started in 1982 by Greg Best, later an Olympic silver medalist. This year's team, however, has only one male, senior Oliver Haynold -- who, according to O'Neill, everyone refers to as "the token male."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.