Emily Dengler has been riding horses on Smoke Tree Farm in Baldwinsville, New York since she was 7 years old. When her grandfather paid for her lessons as a young girl, her mom was worried that she might enjoy them and would want to pursue the sport.

“My mom pulled him aside and was like, ‘Uh Dad, what if she actually likes horseback riding?’ And my grandpa said, ‘Well I guess I’ll just keep getting her more lessons then,’” Dengler said, laughing. “Fifteen years later I am still riding horses and now own my own horse. It kind of spiraled out of control when I was 7 years old.”

The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry senior environmental education and interpretation major is now co-president of the Syracuse University English Equestrian Club. The team is made up of 11 girls, and about half of the club members competed at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association regionals competition at St. Lawrence University on Saturday. They are coached by Denise Van Patten, whose family owns Smoke Tree Farm.

The SU English Equestrian Club is different from SU’s Western Equestrian Club due to the style of riding. English riding uses different styles of riding and saddles, and English riders compete in different events.

Annie Archibald, a second-year member of the English Equestrian Club, said working with a small group of girls in this club is a unique experience.

“We may not have lessons with every single person on the team each week, but when it comes down to it and we go to horse shows all together, we come together as a family,” said Archibald, a sophomore supply chain management and marketing dual major. “The best thing is that up to 72 hours together with the same group of 10 girls in the same hotel room — you kind of bond together.”

But the girls don’t create relationships with just their team and coach. The most important bond, Dengler said, is the one they create with their horses.

The club uses about 10 training horses to work on individual weaknesses of each girl. Kristen Doerr, a junior biotechnology major and co-president of the club, said they ride the horses at Smoke Tree Farm at least twice a week in the fall and once a week in the spring for about three hours each ride.

Doerr also said the club competes in eight shows each year — six during the fall semester and two during the spring — and expects a number of girls in the club to make it to nationals this year.

She finds the girls on the team extremely impressive, because once they arrive at the competitions, they do not ride on their own horses. Each girl is drawn a name of a horse, and without any time to prepare or ride the horse, the competition begins immediately, no matter what division they are currently competing in. This is unique to the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.

“It’s different. It’s really neat,” Doerr said. “It really makes you work really hard for what you get, which just makes everything so much more rewarding. When you make it to regionals, going up against girls that have been riding their entire lives, that’s just so rewarding.”

Published on April 2, 2015 at 1:05 am

Contact Jackie: jmfrere@syr.edu | @jackie_frere