Collegiate Times

Virginia Tech may have been denied its chance to bring home a national basketball title, but another sport will have its chance to represent Blacksburg this weekend at a national competition.

One of the university’s standout competitors this year is a team that seems to hone its skills from the very nature of our community’s landscape. Way out at Campbell Arena, in the distinctive barn seen from U.S. 460, the Virginia Tech Equestrian Team has been training all year and has now picked up the pace more than ever for its upcoming appearance at the National Competition.

At its core, Tech’s equestrian program often attracts students because of its reputation.

“It’s part of what drew me to Virginia Tech. It has such a solid program,” said Erin Bullard, a freshman university studies major. “I wanted to be part of something that I can offer my skill to, as well as just to be part of a successful program.”

The team consists of three different disciplines: the western team, the hunter team and the dressage team. While the hunter team is the most commonly recognized equestrian team that jumps horses, the dressage team concentrates on a more focused and intricate type of performance. The French translation for the word “dressage” literally means “training,” and the sport itself focuses on developing the horse’s natural ability to perform through a series of patterns and specific movements. In competition, these focused patterns are paraded around the arena, as each of the horse’s movements is controlled by the commands of the rider.

“It’s kind of a hard concept to grasp,” Bullard said. “The idea is making a connection with the horse, moving the horse around using your body rather than just your hands and different aids.”

Dressage starts at a very basic level, and by working with horses each day, the team is able to learn how to communicate with the horse as well as how it will respond.

“Everything builds on itself, from learning the basics to upper level pirouettes, and in-place trots,” Bullard said. “It’s cool to see and feel what can be accomplished.”

This weekend, the hunter team will be sending three individuals to the National Competition in Laurinburg, N.C. A team of four individuals from the dressage team and one individual competitor will join them.

A major part of the training is that the participants are assigned a horse at random before the competition begins, getting only 10 minutes to get used to the horse before performing.

“We’re told you can’t prepare for dressage, so that’s why you try to get as much information as possible about skill and being able to handle different horses,” Bullard said. The team trained all year, riding 40 of the different horses at Campbell Arena to gain as much experience as possible.

Besides the tactical preparations the team has made for this weekend, the bonds the team have formed with each other both on the practice fields and off have been equally important.

“It’s a team sport, so we’re competing with one another rather than against,” Bullard said.

“We have to trust one another more than anything.”

The team this year consists of mostly freshmen, two of whom will be competing at the national level this weekend. Coach Teresa McDonald figured this year was to be a building year, until she saw the commitment of the girls and their results.

“I wasn’t sure at first, but they just kept giving it their all out there,” McDonald said. “We kept winning, and every time I thought, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, is this happening?’”

To show its dedication, the group has decided to add an additional day of practice to its normal Monday and Friday schedules. To coordinate with everyone’s schedule, they all agreed to meet every Wednesday to practice at 5:30 a.m.

It was amazing to see their dedication, seeing what it could accomplish before most kids are getting out of bed,” McDonald said.

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A version of this article appeared in the Apr 22 issue of the Collegiate Times.