The 2024-25 Otterbein Dressage and Hunt Seat teams are very excited to continue their success for the upcoming season.
Otterbein’s equine teams are coming off very successful showings with the Hunt Seat team finishing seventh in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Nationals and the Dressage team bringing home a Reserve National Championship. The team captains and head coach spoke more on the outlook of the season.
Head coach Kari Briggs said she was excited for this upcoming season mentioning the addition of the amount of freshmen joining the barn as well as the returning players. She also mentioned some of the goals she has for this season.
“My expectation for this season is to be a national finalist and be competitive on that field against the best in the nation," Briggs said.
Rachel Kulha, a junior systems engineering major is the current Dressage team president. Kulha competes in the introductory level, which is the lower level of dressage that allows a rider to compete with someone of similar competition, background and experience.
Kulha’s main goal was stated very simply.
“We are trying to go to nationals as a team," Kuhlha said. She also talked about herself wanting to play her part in helping the team, “Personally I need to work on the small things, grabbing the minute details and getting repetition.”
Senior business administration and management major Emma Herbruck, the president of the Hunt Seat team, restated on the same goal of getting back to nationals in Tryon. Herbruck competes in the intermediate flat and the intermediate jumping divisions.
Herbruck said as a team that they need to do more than just the mandatory two hour practices two times a week. She also mentioned that they need to ride different horses to be extra prepared for show day when they draw a different horse than the one they train with.
The Otterbein dressage team’s next competition will come Feb. 8 and 9 at home. The Hunt Seat team’s next show will be on Feb. 1 and 2 at Ohio University in Athens.
