We cheer on the Badgers, from football to basketball to volleyball and hockey, hoping they bring another national title back to our state, but there is one team at UW-Madison that you may have never heard of and they could use our cheerleading too. The UW-Madison Equestrian Team is headed to the Kentucky Horse Park to compete at Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) national competition. Ashley Haggard is a graduating senior and team member and she says that while the team may not officially be Badgers, they have a long history at UW-Madison.
The team competes across the Midwest at shows sanctioned by the IHSA. While there are many different riding types, the team focuses on riding in Hunter Equitation classes. Ashley explains that those classes are judged on the rider’s ability, rather than the how the horse performs. That’s an important distinction because when the UW Equestrian Team travels to competition, they leave the horses they ride at home. Instead of pulling a trailer with their own mounts, the hosting team provides the horses the team members will compete on. Not only does this make traveling to competitions easier for teams, it also opens up the opportunity for students who don’t own horses to participate.
While the UW Equestrian Team was only created in the last twenty years, Ashley says the Hoofer Riding Club has been around since the 1930s. The club has a long standing tradition of making horses more accessible for all. And while the team has had individuals qualify for nationals, this will be the first year since 2015 that the entire team has qualified to make the trip to the Kentucky Horse park in Lexington for the national competition.
Since the team is part of the student union, it is not an official Badger team. So they are not funded by the university and are looking for supporters. Ashley says that anyone interested in helping to fund the trip to the national competition, which is happening during finals week, can visit hooferriding.org and can select to make a donation directly to the team. You can also follow the team on social media by searching @BadgerEquestrian on Instagram or Wisconsin Equestrian on Facebook.
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