Equestrians seem to appear every four years in the Olympic competitions, but participants in the sport are practicing daily and competing year round.

For students who are accustomed to cheering the football, volleyball, or soccer teams, equestrianism as a sport is usually unfamiliar. Students at LHS compete on a local team with Oakdale and Urbana. Their next competition is on November 24th at Oatland Stables.

An equestrian is , “I would say anyone involved with a horse on some level,” said Christina Rizzutto, instructor at Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue. Over 4.6 million people in the U.S alone are involved with horses in some way. Most people say that it’s just “getting on a horse and riding it.”

The “secret language” participants know better between rider and horse. The rider is simply communicating in a way that makes sense to a horse. The language is based on the way horses communicate within a herd. Horses are very sensitive animals and will move with the slightest touch to the barrel (the side of the stomach).

It’s not difficult to start riding, but it is difficult to be successful at it. “On a scale of one being the easiest and ten being the hardest, I would have to say four and a half,” sophomore Delaney Wagner said. Confidence is a key in equestrianism. It is all based on the horses’ senses, if a rider is nervous or unsure; the horse is nervous or unsure. When a horse is nervous or having a bad day, it is harder to control.

Green horses are horses that have either come right out of training or aren’t very confident. Green riders are people who have just started riding or aren’t very confident either. Never put a green rider on a green horse.

George Morris, Olympic trainer said, “Every second you spend with a horse you are either training or untraining something” The Linganore equestrian team is always competing to win the next blue ribbon for our school.

Junior, Livia Schuller, is a part of the equestrian team. She placed second and fifth in her flat classes at her last show, and fourth in jumping. “I believe that the equestrian team should be seen by our school just like football,” said Livia. The team supports each other just like any other team.

Mrs. Gayle Blair, the advisor for the ISHS. “Before I was a teacher I use to be in the horse industry,” said Mrs. Gayle Blair. There is a totally of ten girls on the team.