For most riders, sacrifice and dedication are words they learned early on in order to pursue their love of the horseback riding. As each moved away to college, this desire led them to become a part of the UCSD equestrian team, which continues to foster the riders’ passion and ability.

The 30 members compete in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association against nine other schools in the region, including the University of San Diego, University of Southern California and UCLA, and UCSD has consistently been a leader in the field of stalwart competitors.

“”The Southern California region is extremely competitive,”” junior captain Laura Erickson said. “”But this season our team outclasses all the other teams in their support for each other, their consideration for competitors, respect for leadership.””

The competitions are broken up into two different types of showmanship: Western and English, which is also known as Hunt Seat. In Western, a slower and more collected style than English, horse and rider do rail work followed by a pattern of backing up, pivots, circles and other tasks.

The English style is faster-paced, and involves jumping over fences while keeping a rhythm in flats and through transitions between gates.

The main idea of both styles is to make it all look easy and natural to the judges, but a huge challenge arises in IHSA’s way of promoting fairness and cutting costs. Riders draw a random horse supplied by the host school, and to ride successfully at shows, a rider must maintain control and perform with an unfamiliar animal.

“”The horses teams use are competition-ready, and I was mostly used to horses [that were] not fully trained,”” sophomore Megan Glanville said. “”I had never ridden a horse that responds to vocal commands, so getting used to such sensitive animals has been a big adjustment.””

To address these adjustments, the equestrians must make a 15-minute trip to the Del Mar stables for a three-hour practice, which supplement the lessons they must pay for on their own. They are only required to practice once a week to show, and for many of the members, this is already difficult.

“”Most of us just don’t have the time or money for any more than that,”” senior Cassey Marsh said.

The equestrian team’s first event of the year, a Western competition, on Oct. 21-22, hosted by Cal Poly Pomona, where the Tritons set a high mark for their season, clinching first place and being named Reserve Team Champions for the show.

On Nov. 14, the Tritons entered the USD English competition, hosted at Sweetwater Farms in Bonita, Calif. Sophomore C.J. Johnson earned a second-place ribbon for intermediate fences, while junior captain Monica Wolfe snagged the other second-place ribbon in the final contest of the day in the walk trot class.

The most recent competition for the team was the UCSD IHSA English and Western Horse Shows at Ride America in Carlsbad, Calif., Nov. 18-19. As the host, UCSD faced many logistical problems, including finding horses for the show, hiring a registered judge and coordinating with all nine conference schools to arrange riders into appropriate classes.

“”I have a greater appreciation for the schools that host more than one show in a season,”” Glanville said. “”What an organizational nightmare.””

Not only did they perform as hosts, but the Triton riders also pulled off some very impressive achievements as riders that day as well. Johnson received the first of three blue ribbons from the weekend in the open flat class, while Erickson and junior Lauren Diprete finished first and second in the novice over fences competition, earning both riders enough points to place out of the novice division and qualify for regionals.

Junior Cameron Bradley also earned the Individual Rider Champion title for the show, earning second in open fences and a blue ribbon in open flat, while junior Lindsey Minor welcomed her third Reserve Rider Champion title of the season in the final.

The weekend ended with another third-place finish for the Tritons, who have four shows remaining before their regional competition on Mar. 17-18, followed by semifinals – known as Zones­ – and hopefully nationals.

If history has any influence, the Tritons can be confident about their potential, as riders have been sent to nationals every year since the team’s inception in 1993.

According to Johnson, camaraderie plays no small role in the team’s success.

“”We all work really hard to help out the team and each other, and that is the reason this team works,”” Johnson said.