The Erskine College Equestrian Club was organized in 1989 by Edith Brawley and Harriet (Brawley) Morton. The club is a member in good standing of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) and participates in the regional horse shows against such teams as UGA, USC, Berry, Clemson, Converse, Auburn and UA.
The Erskine team has done very well over the past ten years. The team began with only two members and now fluctuates between five and nine members. The majority of the other teams have more than twenty competing riders and alternate riders. Over the past four years Erskine has finished fifth overall in hunt seat and sixth overall in stock seat out of fourteen teams. Erskine has also won high point and reserve at two shows. The team has produced one national qualifier and one zone qualifier. This year, one of the riders also won the Miller’s Intercollegiate Scholarship.
How do these shows work?
Riding itself is not an easy sport and riding in the IHSA shows is not made any easier. Riders literally draw a horse’s name out of a hat before their class and have to get on the horse and ride directly into the show ring without having practiced at all, much less on that particular horse. Dealing with horses is like dealing with a 2 year old child–you never know what is going to happen next! Even though performance is based on the rider’s form and knowledge, it is often the “luck of the draw” that wins.
The shows are held at a host school and they provide the horses. The season is all year long and regionals are held at the beginning of April. To qualify, a rider must obtain a certain number of points (35). Each point is based on what place a rider gets–1st place gets 7 points, second place gets 5 points and so on through 6th place. Each class usually has from 10 to 16 riders, so it is not easy to accumulate these points. If a rider qualifies for the Regionals, that rider must then place in the top3 in the class to qualify for Zones. In order to qualify for Nationals, that rider must place in the top 2 at the Zone finals.
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