| Centenary University, the 2017 Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association’s reserve national championship team, won its Zone finals over the weekend and qualified for the national championships, to be held next month in Harrisburg, Pa. The Zone competition was held at Centenary’s equestrian center in Long Valley. Zone finals across the country were sponsored by the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association.
Coached by Michael Dowling and Heather Clark, the Centenary riders are consistently at the top of the IHSA results. They have many Cacchione Cup winners to their credit, including Katherine Steiner in 2017. Michael credits the success of the Centenary team to the strength of their program, the support of nine full-time faculty members and the depth and diversity of their horses. Training the team, Heather focuses on fine tuning position, while Michael concentrates on effectiveness and the horse’s way of going. Their teaching styles complement each other and play a key role in the team’s success. “If the rider is more comfortable riding warmbloods, we put them on a hotter type of horse so they can figure that out,” Michael said. “When we have a rider that’s a little better on a thoroughbred-type horse, then we try to get them more comfortable riding a big warmblood. We constantly try to change it up.” That’s important, because horses are drawn by lot at IHSA competitions. As the team gets ready for nationals, the coaches will look at where their riders were weak at Zones and do a lot of strengthening and work without stirrups. “I’m really excited about the group of students that we have this year,” Michael said. “Every year, we become more determined to put on a better show. Harrisburg is about as close to home as we get, so we have a lot of volunteers coming. It’s going to be a fun event.” |
