The LSU equestrian team has been practicing this semester with one goal in mind: qualify for and compete well at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association’s national competition.The equestrian team is a club sport consisting of 21 riders whose experience on horseback ranges from life-long to almost none. The members practice every week at Ravenwood Stables, located 20 minutes outside campus.The team’s vice president, plant and soil systems senior Emily Taylor, said the goal is to not only make it to nationals but also have a good showing.Taylor said the team went to nationals in Los Angeles two years ago but didn’t place in any events. The size of the classes, height of jumps and caliber of horses were much different than what they were used to seeing. “We were a little overwhelmed,” Taylor said. “It was very intimidating.”Taylor said she thinks the team can compete well at nationals now that they’ve been there before.”There’s no doubt in my mind we should be top tier,” Taylor said. “I think this year is going to be a good year for us.”Taylor said the club holds tryouts every August and tries to take as many people as possible, but they are limited by the number of horses available. The number of riders is usually around 20 because the team uses horses privately boarded at Ravenwood.Taylor said finding and retaining dedicated members who can ride well is sometimes a struggle. Members must put up their own money for lessons and travel.”We want to take the people who seem the most committed, but we want people with skills,” Taylor said. “As a sports club, it’s great for people to get out there and ride horses, but it’s kind of expensive and people have trouble understanding that.”Taylor said Janet Talmadge, the owner of Ravenwood, allows some members pay for their lessons by cleaning stalls or feeding the horses.”We have a great relationship with Janet,” Taylor said.The team is a member of the IHSA and competes against 25 other schools in its zone. Under IHSA rules, all shows require the rider to draw a random horse and compete without warming up and with unfamiliar tack.This is also known as “catch riding.” It works by having the judges evaluate the difficulty level of horses, giving more difficult horses to the riders with the most experience. During competition, the judges grade riders based on how well they handle the horse, ignoring anything the horse does wrong that wasn’t the fault of the rider.Learning how to ride a horse is a difficult task in itself. Catch riding adds a new level of challenge.”Learning how to be a good catch rider on an unfamiliar horse is much more difficult than learning how to put in a perfect round on a horse you have ridden many times before,” said coach Leaf Boswell, a graduate student working on a Ph.D. in biological sciences. “Catch riding is a way to even the playing field in competition.Boswell has her riders alternate the horses they ride in practice to prepare them for shows.”In a non-intercollegiate setting typically a rider always rides the same horse,” coach Leaf Boswell said. “In our practices I do my best to make them ride a different horse each time so they are always adapting to something new.”–Contact Katherine Terrell at [email protected]