The Auburn University Equestrian Center’s quiet, green pastures and dusty dirt road feel impossibly foreign to be so close to the heart of campus. It seems to resemble the University only by name and familiar sight of construction.
Beside the covered performance arena, a small brown building stands. Inside, the executive committee for the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association meets atop a dusty floor with a refrigerator labeled “Human Consumption Only.”
Lisa Dorsey, head coach and Western coach, worked with Greg Williams, head coach of the NCAA team, to bring the club team back to Auburn, which was abandoned after the team moved to the NCAA. Dorsey had previously been the associate Western head coach for the NCAA team for seven years.
“He gave us the facility, he let us have horses, he figured out how to make it work and then I just ran with it,” Dorsey said.
Dorsey said the NCAA team is elite, but because of this, it can’t serve all the students at Auburn.
“There are so many people at Auburn that love horses, want to ride, want to do things, but they don’t have the opportunity,” Dorsey said. Dorsey participated in IHSA while she was in college and coached IHSA before coming to Auburn.
Dorsey said she stepped down from her position on the NCAA team when she had her son because she wanted more time, which prompted a laugh from the executive committee.
Jennifer Beck, treasurer of the IHSA team and senior in psychology and kinesiology, said she estimated about half of the members have ridden horses since they were very young, while the other half had a love for horses but never had an opportunity to ride.
“Before I started the team three falls ago, I had maybe sat on a horse five to 10 times in my entire life,” said Claire Reach, fundraising chair and senior in animal science production management.
Last year, Reach placed ninth at the IHSA nationals for the Beginner Western Horsemanship competition. She said she never could have anticipated making it that far whenever she started.
“It’s kind of like a disease or an addiction, and I really don’t want to get away from it,” Reach said. “They’ll all tell you the same thing.”
Addison Howe, show committee chair and sophomore in pre-pharmacy, said she participated in horse shows every weekend before college.
“We have the whole spectrum,” Howe said. “We have people who have never been on a horse before, and we have people who have done this their whole life.”
“It’s a great family if you don’t want to do the sorority [or] fraternity route,” said Emilie-Grace King, community service chair and junior in exercise science.
According to Beck, general members of the club pay $75 per year, while non-competing members pay $375 and competing members pay $800 a semester to practice.
“Practices break down to about $32 a practice, and if you were able to get lessons somewhere, most places are $50 to $60,” Dorsey said. “So it’s actually a lot more reasonable to ride on the team.”
The team fundraises to alleviate the financial cost for members by hosting benefit nights and meeting with the Organizations Board on campus to get funding. They are also considering having a candle sale, and each member is required to sell $50 worth of ads for their home shows.
Last year, the organization participated in Tiger Giving Day with “Four Feet for a Future,” which asked for donations so the club could purchase a reigning horse, which are difficult to acquire through the horse donation process.
The IHSA club was nominated last year for Organization of the Year at Auburn. It was only its third year as a club.
The club will have its home shows on Nov. 10 and 11 at the Auburn University Equestrian Center.
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