Equestrian Team: Riders Hope to Trot Their Way to State Champions Once Again

BY Jane Forman

For those interested in business, there’s DECA, for those who like giving back to their community, there’s Key Club, and for those who enjoy being outside, there’s FFA. Just to name a few. And for those who ride horses, there’s Equestrian Club.

 The Castle Rock Equestrian Club includes girls from RAL, Castle Rock, Toutle, Mark Morris, Kalama, and Kelso. The team meets every Monday night at the Cowlitz County Fairgrounds to ride together.

“I’ve rode horses all my life and when I heard that our school had an actual Equestrian team, I jumped at the opportunity,” team member Rylie Norris 11 said. “I can’t wait to start competing.”

The team is looking forward to their first meet at the end of February in Elma. Meets are organized a lot like track meets, with several different events going at a time.

At the February competition, they will be competing in seven timed gaming events, seven team events, and 11 performance events. The majority of their meets will be held in Tacoma and Elma.

“We will be mainly focusing on gaming this year because it is our strong point,” Coach Bloomfeldt said. “But we will also need to work on team events and technique because those are our weak areas.”

 An example for a gaming event is barrel racing, where the rider is timed racing around a pattern of barrels. A performance event is dressage, where the rider and horse show off their training methods in an arena working with different skills.

 The Castle Rock club started in 2006 with just three members proposing their idea to the ASB. Since then, the club has grown to over 30 members.

 Last year, the club took home the state championship trophy, beating out each of the four districts.

 All of the coaches do so voluntarily and have much experience and knowledge of riding under their belts. “

To me, seeing the girls succeed is payment enough,” Coach Tina Kline said. “I love watching the girls grow into better and better riders.”

 The girls compete February through April, and prepare for state May 13-16 in Wenatchee.