This weekend the equestrian team will travel to Painesville, Ohio, to compete in the Tournament of Champions at Lake Erie College. The show will feature 22 schools from the east coast and beyond, many of which have ridden at Nationals in past seasons, or are expected to this year. What differentiates this tournament from typical collegiate horse shows, besides the sheer volume of teams competing, is the fact that every school can only bring eight riders, as opposed to the usual 16 or 20 who comprise a team at most regular season shows. For that reason, the Red will be relying on a relatively small amount of riders to keep up the team.

The equestrian team is off to a strong start this season, building some momentum that it hopes to carry through to Regionals in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on March 28. Much of this momentum was built when the Red finally got over the hump of beating Skidmore. The win reversed what had been a one-sided rivalry for over a year — a trend the team aims to continue over the course of the next several months.

The equestrian team’s show at Skidmore this past weekend was not without controversy, as it placed a disputed third out of thirteen teams, behind the host team (47) and Morrisville (38). The Red managed 36 points and was followed in the standings by Colgate (34), Hobart (28), Hartwick and Hamilton (26), Binghamton (25), Cobleskill (24), Siena (23), Anent (19), Ithaca (18), Elmira (14) and Albany (10).

The equestrian team was hitting on all cylinders this past weekend, as it beat rival Skidmore to claim victory in the latter portion of Morrisville’s two-day show. The Red started the weekend by scoring 34 points on Saturday, which put the team in third place behind Skidmore (46) and Morrisville (39). However, the riders came back in dominating fashion on Sunday to beat their rivals to the east by five points and secure their first win of the season.

The equestrian team put forth a solid effort this past weekend, as it played host to the Cornell Show on Sunday afternoon. The Red managed 37 points, which placed them third behind Skidmore (47) and Colgate (40). Rounding out the standings were Hartwick (31), Morrisville (19), Hamilton (16), Elmira (13), Albany (11) and RPI (6).

The equestrian team kicked off its season this past weekend at the Hartwick Fall Show, finishing second behind Skidmore. The show, held in Oneonta, N.Y., featured riders from 15 schools in the region, including Colgate, Binghamton, Elmira, Albany, RPI and Ithaca.