Fort Lupton, Colo.(10/14/11)—The University of Colorado English equestrian team will play host on Oct 22-23 at the their coaches’ barn in Fort Lupton, Colo. Prestigious schools such as the Air Force Academy, the University of Nebraska and the University of Wyoming will be competing in the show. Weather permitting, the event will begin at 8:30 a.m., with the jumping classes first and the flat classes in the afternoon.
The Buffaloes equestrian team is off to a great start this season, winning the first show that they competed in. The Buffs’ scored 41 out of a possible 49 points to secure the win. Sophomore Kaley Silipo won both her open Over Fences and Open Flat classes and received the award for High Point Rider, while CU Senior Jenica Northrup received Reserve High Point Rider with a first place in Intermediate Over Fences and a second place in Open Flat.
The season is young, but nevertheless there is an excitement about the team.
“We've been very impressed so far with the team, we have only had one show for each discipline, but we have proven that we are ready for the season,” said team president Anna Bohlin. “The team is full of a lot of new members, over twenty new girls, with a wide range of abilities. That is the best part of having new members, because in order to become a competitive team we must have riders in each ability level from Walk- Trot to Open.”
Team chemistry is one of Colorado’s biggest strengths this year, an attribute that is critical to the success of any equestrian team.
“Already this year I have seen some major improvements organizationally and logistically,” said Bohlin. “We have a very strong board of officers who each care greatly for the well-being of our team. The team overall seems to work very well together this year as well. It takes a lot to host a horse show, with over 140 entries last weekend we had about 40 horses to make it work and everyone did a stellar job at making sure all that needed to be done, got done. I am really looking forward to this year with the CU equestrian team because I know we will go far.”
For more information on the Colorado equestrian team visit their website at http://www.colorado.edu/StudentGroups/Equestrian
