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| Dana Montgomery, a senior animal science major, and a member of the Hunt Seat team jumps Mack during a practice. |
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| Marissa Knowlton, a freshman animal science major, jumps Burbury. |
Cal Poly Pomona's Hunt Seat and Western horse teams have jumped, trotted and galloped to become 2007 Regional Champions in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.
Coincidentally, the teams will host the Zone 8 Championships at Fairplex in the coming weeks, giving them the home team advantage.
Cal Poly Pomona's Intercollegiate Horse Show teams have beat top schools like University of Southern California, UCLA, UC San Diego, Cal State San Diego, Cal State Fullerton, the Claremont Colleges and University of Arizona.
“This has been our best season in about six years,” says Hunt Seat team co-captain Carolyn LaPrade, an Urban & Regional Planning major.
The Hunt Seat team attracts students from a variety of disciplines and requires a year-round commitment to care for nearly 20 horses.
The Hunt Seat team is a club team funded by ASI and fundraisers, which pay for the boarding of their Thoroughbreds and a Gray Holsteiner at the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center.
“We do all of the work to care for the horses, which makes it really affordable,” LaPrade says.
The team also provides nearly all of the horses for the shows held in the region, and will do so at the IHSA Zone 8 Championship at Fairplex on April 7.
The Western Zone 8 Championship will be at Fairplex on March 24-25.
With over 350 colleges and more than 7,500 riders, the IHSA is the world's largest intercollegiate equestrian organization. The Cal Poly Pomona team competes in shows throughout the region and nearly always sends a team to nationals. Riders may choose to compete in Hunt Seat or Western equitation ranging from beginning walk/trot and walk/jog classes to open over fences and reining classes.
Any student can join the teams, and owning a horse or having experience is not required. For more information visit: https://www.cpp.edu/~horseshowteam/index.htm.