According to a brochure from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Northwestern has an equestrian team. But when Weinberg freshman Genevieve Beyea arrived Fall Quarter, she found that the club team had been put out to pasture.
Now Beyea – and about 20 people who came to an informational meeting Wednesday night – are hoping to get back in the saddle.
Beyea, a competitive equestrian for nine years, led the meeting along with Weinberg sophomores Jessica MacDonald and Molly Morgan.
The equestrian team, once recognized and funded by the university, dissolved in 1994 when the students in charge graduated and no one came forward to take their place.
“I don’t think there was a lack of interest,” said Peter Parcell, NU’s director of club sports. “It just boiled down to not having someone in charge. It’s easy for people to say they want to ride, but it really depends on how much time they have to devote to this.”
But the students who plan to resurrect the team acknowledge the commitment involved in running such an organization.
Before the idea of reviving the team came along, MacDonald, Beyea, Morgan and a group of friends would go to the Freedom Woods Equestrian Center in Morton Grove on Friday afternoons.
One of the equestrian center’s riding instructors suggested that the group start an actual team affiliated with NU, MacDonald said.
Students who attended the meeting said they look forward to supporting the new team.
“I love riding – it’s a different kind of sport,” said Sumitha Ganji, a Weinberg freshman who attended the meeting.
Beyea said the group would next take steps toward formal recognition by the university.
“Evaluating interest was the first step,” Beyea said. “Now we have to fill out applications, hold elections and get a faculty member to sponsor us.”
And group members will have to hold their horses until NU ponies up the funding.
The next 12 months will be a probation year, Parcell said. If the group is approved as a club team, it must wait a year to receive funding from NU.
National organization memberships and competition entry and stable fees will increase the price for team members.
“Let’s face it – horseback riding is an expensive sport,” Morgan said. “But if we become a club sport, we’ll get $500 after the initial year. We’re also going to write to alumni for donations and come up with fund-raisers.”
If it attains club team status, the group plans to join the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.
The IHSA divides the nation into zones, and NU would belong to a Midwest zone similar to the Big Ten, Morgan said.
At IHSA competitions, participants draw a horse’s name from a bag and then have to ride it without the opportunity to practice – a true hurdle for the “hard core horseman.” The IHSA season runs from fall to February, which means that the group would be unable to participate until next year.
But for now, MacDonald said the group will seek to build student interest.
“There’s no level of horsemanship required,” she said. “We just want anyone who’s ever wanted a pony to come and ride.”
