Albion College - Equestrian Club

Equestrian Club Nav

The Hoofbeat
Spring 2007 issue

The Equestrian club has been extremely busy this 2006-2007 academic year. The club put on a movie night for the Albion College community, volunteered at two different non-profit horse organizations, raised over $500 for various horse causes, and put on a community event called, “Giddy UP,” which drew close to 200 people for rides to music and informational horse demonstrations at the Nancy G. Held Equestrian Center. The club also traveled to local horse expos and clinics to give members an opportunity to expand their horse knowledge.

On the competition side of things, the Varsity Hunt Seat Team had two riders compete at the regional championships for the I.H.S.A.. Merrill Howland then went on to Zones. The Dressage Team also had a very successful season. The team placed fifth out of the 12 teams in Region D. Mark Lampen and Halley Sissom both received reserve championships in their respective divisions and moved on to the National Championships in New Jersey held April 28th-29th.

At the Sleight Awards Banquet, The Equestrian Club was named the Student Organization of the Year for its contribution to the Albion College community as well as providing leadership opportunities for its members. The Equestrian Club was very honored by this awards and looks forward to its achievements in the future.

We would also like to welcome our new school horse Jackson II, a fifteen year old Canadian Thoroughbred. He looks to be a great addition to our program!

Happy reading!
Halley Sissom, '08
Equestrian Club President

2006-2007 Albion Equestrian Club Officers

President- Halley Sissom, ‘08
Vice President- Kate Van Ness, '09
Secretary- Alex Goss, ‘09
Treasurer- Kayla Discher, ‘10
Historian- Mary Applegate, ‘10
Webmaster- Brittany White ‘10
Committee Chair – Kathryn Pflasterer

Spring 2007 Club Calendar

February 7th- 9th- Club bake sale to benefit C.A.N.T.E.R.
For the club's spring semester fundraiser, club members baked over 200 cookies, muffins, rice krispy treats, and even puppy chow for a campus wide bake sale. All money raised went to C.A.N.T.E.R. to help purchase ex-racehorses. The club raised $180 for C.A.N.T.E.R. in the two-day bake sale.

February 17th- Giddy Up!
The college's equestrian club put on the event for local residents, which included demonstrations on basic horse care and rides to music. Club members did all of the demonstrations. Horse care demonstrations included how to groom horses, fit saddles, and eating habits of horses. Nearly 200 people attended this event and by many accounts the highlight was the rides to music. The rides demonstrated four different styles of riding: Dressage, Western, Side Saddle, and Jumping.

March 24- Little Sibs Event
Little Sibs weekend is an annual tradition at Albion College. But until 2007, there had never been an event at the Nancy G. Held Equestrian Center. Members of the Equestrian club helped make this first time event happen. Popular demonstrations from the club's previous Giddy Up! event were repeated and participants were given to opportunity to get “up close and personal” with the horses.

March 31st- April 1st- Jim Graham Clinic
The Albion Equestrian Club traveled to Paragon Farms to audit the Jim Graham Clinic Saturday, March 3, 2007. All agreed it was an amazing clinic to audit. One Albion Equestrian, Brittany White, rode in the clinic on her horse Raise the Volume.

Equestrian Stars

-Ashley Ozelski, ‘09 (Macomb/Eisenower), competed in the IHSA regional championships held at The University of Findlay.

-Merril Howland, ’09 (East Grand Rapids/ East Grand Rapids), competed in the IHSA regional show and placed second which qualified her to compete in zones held in Kentucky where she placed fourth.

- Mark Lampen, ’10 (Zeeland/Zeeland East), finished the season as reserve champion in the lower training division for region D. He will be competing in the national competition to be held in New Jersey.

- Halley Sissom, ’08 (Chelsea/Chelsea), finished the season as reserve champion in the upper training division for region D. She will be joining Lampen at the national championships in New Jersey.

- Megan Tatoris, ’09 (Troy/Athens), finished second in her first ever IHSA competition.

Dressage Team (IDA) Results
The Dressage team picked up the second half of the season where they left off In November. The highlight of their season included many respectable placings in the region and also the chance to send two riders to the National competition held at Centenary College in New Jersey.

	Findlay Feb. 10	Lake Erie Feb. 25	Bethany 1 Mar. 3	Bethany 2 Mar. 24
Kayla Discher, '10
Brittany White, '10	63.1% 5th	63.6% 4th	43.33% 8th	57.77% 6th
Halley Sissom, '08	64.8% 7th	70.4% 2nd	61.2% 2nd	60.8% 5th
Katie Lindow, '08
Mark Lampen, '10	65.7% 5th	61.07% 10th		67.5% 1st
Lauren Cross, '09			50.87% 11th
Mary Applegate, '10		58.57% 10^th
Allison Robbins, '10	61% 8^th		58.5% 8^th	59.52% 8^th

Dressage News:

Mark Lampen (Zeeland/Zeeland East)- Reserve Champion Lower Training, will compete at Nationals

Halley Sissom (Chelsea/Chelsea)- Reserve Champion Upper Training, will compete at Nationals

Kayla Discher (Plano, TX./Plano West)- 6th place in Region, first level

Brittany White (Midland/H.H. Dow)- 5th place in Region, first level

Albion College Dressage Team placed 5th over all in the region.

Varsity Hunt Seat Team (IHSA)

The Hunt Seat Team finished their season strongly with a 4^th place finish at The University of Findlay. Ashley Ozelski (Macomb/Eisenhower), who competed in advanced walk-trot-canter, joined sophomore Merrill Howland (East Grand Rapids/East Grand Rapids) in the regional show at Findlay February 25, Ozelski and Howland both had excellent performances at the regional competition. Howland placed second at the regional competition and went on to compete at Zones held in Kentucky where she placed fourth. Congratulations to all members of the hunt seat team on their accomplishments this year!

Name	Level	Findlay Feb. 25
Jessica Smith ‘08	Open	4^th Fences 6^th Flat
Mallory Fellows ‘10	Intermediate	4^th Flat
Halley Sissom ‘08	Intermediate
Lauren Summer ‘10	Intermediate
Emily Amidon ‘10	Intermediate	3^rd Fences 1^st Flat
Alex Goss ‘09	Novice	2^nd Fences 4^th Flat
Katherine Ross ‘10	Novice	5^th Fences 5^th Flat
Tricia Marheine '10	Novice
Merrill Howland ‘09	WTC/ Novice
Ashley Ozelski ‘09	Ad. W-T-C	6^th Flat
Sarah Lange ‘09	Ad. W-T-C	1st Flat
Rachel Feuerstin ‘10	Ad. W-T-C
Kendra Edwards ‘10	Ad. W-T-C	2^nd Flat
Aimee Depotter ‘10	Ad. W-T-C
Megan Tatoris '09	Walk/Trot	2^nd Flat
Deborah Riedel ‘10	Walk/Trot
Veronica Smith ‘07	Walk/Trot

Annual Awards Banquet
The equestrian club banquet was held on April 14, and the four perpetual trophies were awarded to members of the hunt seat and dressage teams.

Merrill Howland was named the Most Valuable Rider for the hunt seat team and the dressage team had a tie for Most Valuable Rider, with national qualifiers Halley Sissom and Mark Lampen sharing the honor.

Lampen was also awarded the Coaches' Award from dressage team coach George Halkett for his success as a first-year member of the dressage team.

The award for Most Improved Rider went to first-year student and hunt seat team member Mallory Fellows '10 (Jenison).

It was agreed that everyone had enjoyed a wonderful evening and are looking forward to the year to come, one that will no doubt be filled with more horses and good friends

Summer Plans

Katie Lindow ’08 (Canton/Canton) intends to compete Leone (3 year old Trakehner) and Junior Katie Lindow and her horse Leone Kappy (11 year old American Warmblood) in USDF recognized shows. Katie and Kappy will be showing first level at Dressage at Waterloo, Copper creek, Dressage at Lamplight, and Dressage at the Kentucky Horse Park. Meanwhile Leone will be making appearances at USDF Breeds Championship shows in the in hand classes. She is looking forward to riding Leone this summer and taking classes to become certified in Equine Massage Therapy.

Kate Van Ness ‘09 (Spring Lake/Spring Lake) will be competing at the Michigan Apple Blossom shows, Michigan Buckskin shows, and is looking to compete at the All American Buckskin Congress in October. Her training goals include perfecting her flying changes.

Mark Lampen ’10 (Zeeland/Zeeland East) will be competing in USDF recognized shows with two mounts: Miss Mona Lisa (13 y/o Holsteiner mare) at Training and First levels and Olivetto (10 y/o Holsteiner gelding) at First and Second Levels before undergoing knee surgery. Afterwards, he plans on continuing his training with internationally recognized trainers, Patrick Burssens and Bruce Mandeville.

Kayla Discher ’10 (Plano TX/Plano West) and her gelding Papparazzi, training in dressage, have already qualified to go to nationals at the end of this year at 3rd level and are hoping to qualify at fourth level as well. They will reside in Bay Harbor for the summer with Papparazzi staying at the Bay Harbor Equestrian Club. They are tentatively planning on competing at USDF/USEF recognized shows including Dressage at Waterloo, and Dressage by the Bay.

Brittany Findlan ’10 (St. Claire Shores/Lakeview) and her horse Ollie are looking to open their season in mid May. They will be eventing in the Belle River Farms Horse Trial sanctioned by The Eventing Association of Michigan (TEAM) in July. In the Dressage world they will be making appearances at Waterloo Hunt Club, and Justamere Equestrian Center. Ollie will be showcasing his Hunter/Jumper abilities at both the Justamere Equestrian Center, and Windemere Equestrian Center. They are looking to improve their dressage by participating in a clinic with Susan White to be held at Hunter's Run Farm.

Thank you for reading The Hoofbeat. If you ever have any story ideas for future issues or comments on current issues please contact Brittany White at BMW10@albion.edu.
Again, thank you for your interest in the equestrian program at Albion College.

Albion College ◦ Albion, Michigan ◦ 517/629-1000