Q. How can I join the Stanford Equestrian Team?
A. The equestrian team holds tryouts at the beginning of the school year. Acceptance to the team depends often depends on what level of riders we need, but factors we consider are overall equitation, horsemanship, teachability and commitment to riding. We also hold informal tryouts at the beginning of each quarter for students returning from abroad or who request to be considered for the team.

Q. How many students do you take from try-outs?
A. Right now, the team has approximately fifty members and we took about half the people who tried out, but it varies from year to year

Q. Do I need to know anything about riding to join the team?
A. No, riders of all experience levels are encouraged to try out because in intercollegiate competition we need riders of all levels from Walk/Trot and Walk/Jog to Open Fences and Open Reining

Q. What is the time commitment of being on the team?
A. Team members must ride in one lesson a week and hack at least once a week. Hacking involves riding on your own time and helps keep the team’s horses exercised. Beginners will have a lunge lesson (in addition to their regular lesson) instead of a hack. Team members of all experience levels are expected to help care for the horses. This means an hour of work each week for the Red Barn as well as care of a horse with one's "horse family." Finally, riders attend shows, which means traveling to compete at other schools

Q. How much does it cost to be on the team?
A. Team dues are $250 per quarter. Scholarships are available through the club sports office for students who need financial aid. Show fees are $20 per class.

Q. Why does it cost money to be on the team?
A. Equestrian is a club sport at Stanford, which means that it is entirely student-run. We do get some funding from the club sports office, the ASSU and Stanford Athletics. Team members are required to write letters for The Stanford Fund every quarter to raise money for the team. We also have a team job (working desk shifts at the Ford Center) that team members can volunteer to cover in exchange for a reduction in their TSF letter requirement. These are all ways to keep our team dues as low as possible, but it still costs money to feed and care for the horses and pay our coaches.

Q. Does the team compete in English or Western competitions?
A. Both! The Equestrian team has a competitive English and Western team with some riders showing in both.

Q. Do I need my own equipment, or does the team provide it?
A. It is strongly encouraged that all team members own at least a pair of breeches and riding boots (though any boot with a heel will work) for English and jeans and boots for Western. At the beginning of the year, the team usually makes a trip to a local tack store so that beginners can buy the basic equipment they will need. Thanks to a sponsorship from Troxel, the team is able to provide both lesson and show (velvet) helmets to all team members. Members are not required to own their own show clothes, and for competitions it is usually possible to borrow someone else’s jacket, rat-catcher, etc.

Q. Since riding is not a varsity sport, what organization oversees the competitions?
A. The Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) is the governing body for equestrian competition while it awaits full NCAA recognition. (At the moment, equestrian is only recognized as an NCAA “emerging sport” and will be so until 40 Division I schools or a combination of 50 schools from Divisions I and II recognize equestrian as a Varsity sport.) All team members must be members of the IHSA, which costs $20 for one discipline or $30 for members riding both English and Western.

Q. What are competitions like?
A. Competitions are usually one or two days on the weekend. Some shows are “double” shows, with English in the morning and Western in the afternoon (or vice-versa). All riders are placed in a division corresponding to their skill level, from Walk/Trot to Open, at the discretion of the team coach. Riders compete in their division and earn points for each place (7 for first place, and so on) until they “point out” of their division into the next one. Points are also part of the process used to determine who qualifies for Regionals, Zones, and Nationals.

Q. Do you ride your own team's horses in competitions?
A. No, the host school typically provides the horses. In accordance with IHSA rules, riders draw a horse out of a hat and are not allowed any time to warm up before entering the ring. This is intended to make it a level playing field for all riders, as they will all be mounted on unfamiliar horses. Judging is primarily based on the rider’s abilities, as it is understood that not all the horses are show-quality.

Q. What schools does the team compete against?
A. Stanford competes in Zone 8, Region 1 of the IHSA. Other schools in our region are Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, College of the Sequoias, Santa Clara University, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, and the University of Nevada at Reno.

Q. Do you get class credit for being on the team?
A. Yes, team members may register on Axess to receive one C/NC unit each quarter.

Q. How many horses does the team own?
A. the team currently owns about 20 horses. Many of these horses have been generously donated to the team.

Q. Can I ride my own horse?
A. Yes. But riders with their own horses are strongly encouraged to take lessons on the team’s horses because learning to "Catch Ride" ride horses other than your own is part of the challenge of IHSA.

Q. How can I learn more about the team?
A. Contact the team or come to a meeting Monday evenings at 7 pm at the Red Barn Club House.