Equestrian team wins awards

BLOOMSBURG--The Bloomsburg University equestrian team (BUET) competed in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) regionals on April 2-3. BU students Chloe Sullivan, Olivia Vandine, Tara Herzog, and Anna Sassman placed first in their classes. The team placed fifth overall for the show year, and four riders qualified to compete in Zones. Bloomsburg University is part of IHSA (Intercollegiate Horse Show Association), Zone 3, Region 4.   

BUET’s president and Western team captain, Chloe Sullivan, a junior from Pottstown, Pa,  knows a thing or two about horses. 
 
“I grew up on a horse farm, and my mom coaches the Kutztown University’s equestrian team, so I was aware of what college equestrian teams when I came to BU,” said Sullivan, “My freshman year, I went to the activities fair and signed up for our team. Over the last few years, I have become more involved and now serve as the team president and Western captain.  

Bloomsburg’s equestrian team has both English and Western teams, with separate coaches and show schedules for each. BUET’s English coach is Amie Wolfinger, while the Western coach is Wende Swartz. English riding works on flatwork and jumping. Western riding focuses on rail work, ranch riding, and reining. 

“At Bloomsburg, we are all one team, but we do offer two different disciplines, English and Western. You can choose to do either or both,” stated Sullivan. “We have different barns for different disciplines, with one coach at each barn. Coming back from the pandemic, our team is smaller in numbers, with just 20 members. Showing (competing) members are required to practice once per week, and non- showing members are required to lesson every other week,” said Sullivan.
 
Sullivan will participate at nationals in Harrisburg in the Western discipline later this week. 
“As of now, I am the only one qualified for nationals. However, we have four members competing at zones (English riding) for a chance to qualify for nationals,” said Sullivan, “To prepare, I have been increasing the number of lessons that I take, spending lots of time at the gym, and watching high-level riding videos online.”