This week the Austin E. Knowlton Center for Equine Science will be filled with an atmosphere of hype, intense preparation and anticipation because on April 25 and 26 the equine center is hosting the Intercollegiate Dressage Association (IDA) national championship.
Often called horse ballet, dressage is an equestrian sport where rider and horse display changes of gaits and other movements to a set pattern. Each movement is scored that results in a percentage to determine the pair’s score.
Students from across the country will be coming this weekend to ride dressage tests in an attempt to claim the intercollegiate national championship and a slew of horse-related prizes. On Saturday, 48 individual riders will compete for the national title in the four levels, first, upper training, lower training and introductory. On Sunday, 12 teams, consisting of a rider in each level, will contend to be named the national champion team.
Last year the Otterbein dressage team was reserve champions at IDA nationals. The team placed second to the Virginia Intermont College team, which has now been disbanded due to the school’s closure.
Not only is Otterbein hosting this year’s IDA national championship, but the Otterbein dressage team has qualified in addition to four individual riders; senior Kelsie Bricker, sophomore Sharlee Lowe, junior Ashley Jungclas and junior Kailey Giancola.
Giancola, a biology major, will be riding in the individual and team competition in upper training. She finds spectators don’t always realize that in intercollegiate riding, the riders don’t have the opportunity to ride horses they may compete on before they show.
“You get told what horse you’re going to ride, you get ten minutes to warm it up, and then basically go in and do this test you've memorized,” she said.
Senior and dressage team president, Sarah Choate is one of the students helping prepare the facility for the coming event.
”The team is doing a lot of preparation both dealing with horses and just with the facility,” Choate said. “A lot of the team members are doing work to clean up the horses for the event.”
Spectators are welcome to come and watch the horse show in person or online, as the action will be live streamed all weekend on the Otterbein Athletic’s YouTube channel.
