It is not often that an athlete is judged by an Olympian. At Cornell’s home show this past Sunday, the riders were given the unique opportunity to be critiqued by three-time Olympic rider Michael Page. In addition to the esteemed judge, Intercollegiate Horse Show Association founder Bob Cacchione made an appearance at the show. A Cappella group Last Call even sang the national anthem at the start of the competition, according to junior captain Emily Kowalchik. 

But the most exciting part of the day came at the show’s close, when the Red claimed the blue, red and yellow champion ribbons for the fourth consecutive time this season. Finishing the Cornell competition with a total of 42 points, the squad rides into its upcoming double header with a perfect 4-0 record.

Twelve other teams competed against the Red on Sunday. Nazareth — which will host the double header that completes the show season for the fall semester — trailed Cornell with 39 points, and Ithaca took third place with 35 points. Rochester, Alfred, Binghamton and seven other schools were also present. Binghamton even brought five of its own horses to the show; however, its riders were still required to draw a horse at random, as per ISHA regulations.

Highlights of Cornell’s successful day include senior Bronwyn Scrivens’ fourth straight fences victory, which sends her to the Regional Championships in the spring, and junior captain Emily Kowalchik’s win against a rider from Nazareth, naming her the high-point rider for the day. Yet what makes the Red’s victory even sweeter is that the squad did it all while making sure that every single horse and rider was ready to go. 

“We’re really proud of how things turned out,” said senior Caroline Rusk. 

Rusk, along with junior Emily Webster, was in charge of coordinating all of Cornell’s horses and riders, making sure that everyone knew where they needed to be.

With 11 rookies out of 27 team members, there were more people who needed to learn the ropes than usual. 

“We had a lot of people who were brand new at horse shows … [but it] ended up not being as big of challenge as we expected,” Rusk said.

Freshman Renee Botelho was one of the rookies who experienced hosting a show for the very first time, who placed third in the beginner walk, trot, canter class.

“[The show was] hectic but fun,” she said. “It wasn’t hard, it was just a lot of work … but it was rewarding.”

It is normally very difficult for the host team to do well at a horse show, simply because there is so much for all of the squad members to think about. But Cornell was able to pull it off. It was a more exhausting day for the team, but they still performed well, according to Kowalchik. 

“It’s really hard to do a good job running your own horse show doing the behind the scenes stuff and also perform really well, and that worked out today,” Rusk said. 

Head coach Chris Mitchell is very proud of his squad’s success.

“The show ran so smoothly … everything was just really really well done,” he said. “It was a great day all around.”

As for next weekend’s show at Nazareth, Mitchell said he has high hopes for his team. 

“I expect them to win,” he  said. “We’re tired but we’re not down at all.”

To ride to victory once again, the squad only has to continue doing what it has been doing all season, according to Mitchell. 

“These girls are working hard to get those results and it’s paying off,” he said.