The Brandeis equestrian club team is a competitive club that trains out of the August Farm in Holliston, MA. The farm consist of 26 acres of land with access to miles of trails and both indoor and outdoor riding rings. The farm is the home of the August Farm team, which competes in the Interscholastic Equestrian Association. The team is made up of middle school, high school and Brandeis students who compete in Zone 1, Region 4 of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association. Their season starts in October and runs through December. The team has 21 members and the club’s E-board consists of the president Talia Flamos ’17, vice president Emilia Feldman ’19 and secretary Michelle Oberman ’17. Katie Bobola, a full-time coach at the August Farm, coaches the team.
Avery Finkel ’17 spoke to the importance of the club to her, saying, “It means a lot to be able to continue to ride at any level in college, and to be able to compete in a national league is really exciting. Riding in a team format is really different from most competitions growing up and it is pretty unique to the collegiate level of the sport so it’s really fun to experience.”
Emily Altkorn ’17 explained her rationale in joining the equestrian club: “I joined equestrian club in my junior year because, as a pre-vet student, I wanted to get more experience with horses. It feels really great to spend time off campus each week with the animals in the fresh air, and overall it’s been a very fun and rewarding experience.”
The team’s first competition this season was the Brandeis Home Show on Saturday, Oct. 15. The team had four riders earn top six in their events. Flamos placed second in intermediate fences and fourth in intermediate flat. Oberman took third in novice fences and flat. Feldman placed fifth beg walk trot canter. The Judges did not stop there: The following day the riders hit the course again.
On Sunday, Flamos placed third in intermediate fences, and sixth in intermediate flat. Danielle Schwartz ’20 placed fifth in novice flat, her first award as judge. Feldman took fourth in walk trot canter. It was almost a month later when the Judges hit the course again at the Boston College IHSA Show on Saturday, Nov. 5. At this competition Flamos took first in the intermediate fences and sixth in intermediate flat. Schwartz took her second award when she earned fourth in novice fences. Maya Dornbrand-Lo ’18 earned fifth in the novice flat.
The team then followed up at the Tufts/Wheaton IHSA Show where Flamos was back at it again placing third in the intermediate fences and sixth in the intermediate flat, and Schwartz earned her third and fourth award when she placed fifth in novice fences and novice flat. Oberman also took second in novice fences and fifth in novice flat.
The Judges competed in their most recent competition on the Saturday, Nov. 12 in the Mount Ida IHSA Show. Flamos came back strong earning sixth in the intermediate fences and first in intermediate flat. Schwartz took home fifth in both novice fences and flat. Feldman earned fifth in beginners walk trot canter. The team had five competitions this season, and they hope to go to the 2017 IHSA National Championships held on May 4-7 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY.
