This year marks the first time in the history of Longwood University that a rider from the Equestrian team will be competing in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association’s (IHSA) National Championship.
Junior Equestrian team Co-Captain Lauren Shires has beaten out 9,299 other riders, in the USA, to earn herself one of the 16 spots in the Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation division.
“Lauren (Shires) will be our first rider to represent Longwood University at the National level,” said Coach KC Meadows.
Shires had to earn her spot in the National Championship through a long process she’s been working on since her freshman year.
During Shires’ freshman year she took an IHSA questionnaire to find out what class she would be put into; that’s when she was placed in the Walk-Trot-Canter division.
Every ribbon that Shires earned during this year accumulated points for her to qualify for Regionals; she needed 36 points to qualify, she got it.
Once Shires made it to Regionals, she needed to win either first or second place to move on to Zones, she won second place.
At Zones, it was the same format as Regionals. Shires had to win either first or second place to make it to Nationals; again, she won second.
Now Shires and Meadows will be traveling up to Harrisburg, PA for the National Championship on May 1.
“I feel really honored to be able to represent Longwood at this [National Championship]. I’ve been working really hard towards it. It’s always been a goal,” said Shires. “This was a huge goal I had for myself, and I was really excited to meet that goal.”
The Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation division that Shires will be participating in does not do any type of jumping She just keeps the horse on the flat surface. The division just has different variations on how fast the horse will be moving throughout the performance.
With the IHSA’s format, Shires cannot bring her own horse because the IHSA requires the riders to draw a random horse and perform without any warmups.
“I can’t warm up the horse or anything. I can get on the horse, I can walk it, and then I have to go into the ring, so I don’t get any warmup,” said Shires. “It’s kind of a challenge because every rider is going to have to perform their best without knowing the animal they are riding. So, I know what I’m doing, but I have to try my best.”
The preparation that Shires has been going through for the National Championship has been vigorous, especially working with her nursing major too.
“I lesson on Tuesdays, then other days I have practice rides. I ride one horse in particular, but then we have a bunch of different horses at the barn, so it’s really easy to get on a different horse and just ride it like they would ask me to in the competition,” said Shires. “It was hard with my classes to balance everything out, but I’ve been able to do it.”
Meadows has been a huge help for the Equestrian team as a whole, not just Shires. She allows the team to go out to her barn and ride on different horses.
According to Shires, Meadows also sets it up so that the team can go to many different horse shows, not just IHSA shows, in order to help them be in the horse show environment.
At the same time, Meadows believes Shires is the perfect representative to be the first Longwood representative at the National Championship.
“Lauren embodies the spirit and mission of the IHSA as well as our program here at Winter Hill for the Longwood team, including past and present riders. She has been a mentor, confidant, and role model for riders and coaches alike in her skill, dedication and perseverance both in the ring and in the classroom. Lauren’s success in making it through Regional and Zone Championships is well deserved through her efforts,” said Meadows.
Both Shires and Meadows stress how important the team element has been throughout the whole year.
“The program has achieved its success through all of our riders, families, and supporters who were ever a part of it. We all share Lauren’s (Shires) success in making it to Nationals. This is, after all, a team sport in the IHSA,” said Meadows. “More importantly it is a family here at Winter Hill, and we are all so proud of this milestone in Longwood Equestrian Team’s journey.”
The National Championship will not affect Shires’ exams, and she will be leaving directly after her final exam on Wednesday, April 30 with Meadows.
“A lot of people don’t know there is an Equestrian team, and we’ve never had the team qualify for something this big. So, I think it’s directing us to a new step for the Equestrian team to become a higher level than what it is,” said Shires.
Equestrian Rider Headed to National Championship
For the first time in Longwood history a rider on the Equestrian team is going to the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championship.
