{"id":2332,"date":"2025-05-30T20:51:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T20:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worcester.edu\/magazine\/?p=2332"},"modified":"2025-05-30T20:51:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T20:51:25","slug":"the-ultimate-equestrian-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worcester.edu\/magazine\/2025\/05\/30\/the-ultimate-equestrian-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ultimate Equestrian Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Above: <\/strong>Emmy Forde \u201928 and Louise make a jump at an October meet.<\/em><\/p>\n

Members of the Worcester State equestrian team compete on new horses at every event. In the process, they learn to trust and adapt\u2014and to communicate across species.<\/span><\/h3>\n

By Rebecca Cross  
\nPhotos by Ellen Pechinsky \u201927<\/p>\n

Compared to each of the other 23 varsity and club sports at Worcester State, the equestrian team is an entirely different animal. <\/p>\n

In those other sports, athletes test their skills against individuals or work as a team in coordination against another team. Horseback riding tests the communication and coordination not among people but between species: a human rider and a half-ton animal that is almost pure muscle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relationship between horses and humans is amazing,\u201d said the team\u2019s coach, Courtney Germain \u201918. \u201cHorses are a thousand pounds and have minds of their own. It\u2019s amazing they do the jobs they do, because really they don\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

For all their size, horses look to humans for emotional cues and guidance. \u201cHorses pick up on your emotions,\u201d said Germain. \u201cI feel like people think you\u2019re just sitting up there doing nothing. Like they don\u2019t think it\u2019s a real sport, but jumping, stuff like that, you\u2019re guiding the horse every step. You\u2019re guiding the horse off the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Germain started riding at age 12 and got her first horse, a gelding named Sam, when she was 14. She graduated from Worcester State with a bachelor\u2019s degree in criminal justice but chose to work full time with horses because she loves them so much. \u201cTo me, horses are like big dogs,\u201d she said. \u201cA lot of people are scared of them, but they\u2019re very gentle.\u201d<\/p>\n

The eight members of the Worcester State Equestrian Team have weekly lessons with Germain at Windstar Farm in Sterling, Mass. Some members have been riding for years. Others are beginners. They all get personalized instruction and riding experience on each of the farm\u2019s seven lesson horses.<\/p>\n

Four team members compete in shows run by the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA), founded in 1967. Its mission is to provide equestrian competition for all college and university students regardless of riding level, gender, race, sexual orientation, or financial status. Today, with the costs of owning and competing with a horse easily reaching $15,000 per year, the sport is out of reach for many. IHSA levels the playing field by requiring host colleges to provide tack and horses, which are assigned to riders by drawing lots.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Julia Hach\u00e9 \u201926, Maddi Sheppard \u201926, Luna Hubbell \u201928, Coach Courtney Germain \u201918, Emmy Forde \u201928, and Ellen Pechinsky \u201927 show off their ribbons.<\/p><\/div>\n

Mastering Any Horse: The Core Skill of IHSA Competition <\/strong><\/h5>\n

For a rider, competing through IHSA is far cheaper than owning your own horse. In addition, the way IHSA competitions are structured and judged creates a more level playing field. \u201cWhen you\u2019re competing in the regular horse world, a person could be winning because they have the most expensive horse in the class,\u201d Germain said. \u201cWith IHSA, it comes down to how well you ride, not how expensive your horse is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole point of competing in IHSA is to be able to ride any horse that you sit on,\u201d said co-captain Ellen Pechinsky \u201927. Pechinsky is studying nursing at Worcester State and has been riding since she was 6 years old. She likes that IHSA competition teaches riders to closely observe and flexibly work with their assigned horse. \u201cThe judges are very understanding that a horse might do something the rider isn\u2019t always prepared for,\u201d said Pechinsky, \u201cbut they\u2019re looking for how you respond to the horse, how we appear and act.\u201d<\/p>\n

For co-captain and business major Julia Hach\u00e9 \u201926, who started riding at age 5 to build up leg muscles affected by cerebral palsy, being assigned random horses \u201creally gives you an opportunity to showcase your skills as a rider.\u201d <\/p>\n

Germain prepares team members for competitions by having them ride many different horses at Windstar. \u201cRiding all these different horses makes you a better rider,\u201d she said. \u201cYou learn something from every horse you ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pechinsky and Hach\u00e9 have a few favorites at Windstar\u2014although they\u2019re quick to note that they love them all. Pechinsky\u2019s favorites are Alfie and Autumn. \u201cBoth are wildly different,\u201d she said. \u201cAlfie is a good, healthy challenge for me, and Autumn is a sweet little mare who tries her hardest for you.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hach\u00e9\u2019s favorites are Ranger, \u201ca bundle of joy,\u201d and Doodles, a 31-year-old kids\u2019 lesson pony with a sassy side.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Emmy Forde \u201928 and other equestrians at an IHSA meet this fall.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Rewards of Riding: Mental, Physical, and Emotional<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Just like humans, each horse has a distinct personality. For a rider, learning to read that personality quickly and adapt in response is part of what makes IHSA competitions so, well, competitive.<\/p>\n

Some horses are sensitive, some are lazy, some need a firm hand, some need a soft hand. Some have longer strides, and all have quirks. ISHA judges evaluate riders partly on how well they adapt to an unfamiliar horse.<\/p>\n

For safety, professionals carefully evaluate each rider\u2019s ability so they are matched with an appropriate horse. All riders wear helmets, and many wear air vests to protect their chests. EMTs attend every show.<\/p>\n

\u201cHorseback riders are the grittiest people I know,\u201d said Hach\u00e9. \u201cThere\u2019s this whole attitude that you get right back up, keep trying.\u201d Last summer, she was jumping a pony that had a short neck. \u201cI kept getting nervous I would just go right over her. Courtney said, \u2018Just sit back and cement yourself in the saddle.\u2019 It\u2019s about getting out of your head and trusting the horse you\u2019re on, trusting yourself, and trusting your coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team is always recruiting, and when the co-captains talk to potential new members, they tout both the physical benefits and the emotional ones.<\/p>\n

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Pechinsky loved to go out and ride. \u201cIt was a tough time for me,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was important for me to get out of the house, to focus on something other than myself and how I was feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is hard, let\u2019s be honest,\u201d added Hach\u00e9. \u201cBeing on a horse takes you away from all the stuff going on in your life. All your stress, all your worry is completely gone, and you\u2019re just in the moment, riding a horse.\u201d  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Above: Emmy Forde \u201928 and Louise make a jump at an October meet. Members of the Worcester State equestrian team compete on new horses at every event. In the process, they learn to trust and adapt\u2014and to communicate across species. By Rebecca Cross   Photos by Ellen Pechinsky \u201927 Compared to each of the other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[28,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-worcester-state-magazine-spring-2025"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Ultimate Equestrian Challenge | Worcester State University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worcester.edu\/magazine\/2025\/05\/30\/the-ultimate-equestrian-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Ultimate Equestrian Challenge | Worcester State University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Above: Emmy Forde \u201928 and Louise make a jump at an October meet. 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