If you are around Ashlyn Batten for just a little while, you quickly realize her love of horses. She has an enthusiasm for them and has been able to show that enthusiasm through Campbell University’s Club Equestrian team. Check out what Ashlyn has to say about her time on the team and what it is all about!
The CU Club Equestrian team was started in the fall of 2011. I have been horse crazy since I was eight years old and grew up riding horses, so I was extremely excited when I found out that a couple students had started a Club Equestrian team. When I came to Campbell, the only thing I felt it was missing was an outlet for my love of horses, but that problem was solved my sophomore year! The first semester we had five people on the team and we are now up to seven team members and this is our first semester competing in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). This is the first semester that Campbell has had an English team and a Western team. We ride twice a week at Saddletree Stables in Willow Springs with our coach, Michelle Campbell.
Unlike regular horse shows where each competitor brings their own horse, at the IHSA shows, the host school supplies all the horses for everyone. The purpose of an IHSA show is to see that a rider can still have perfect equitation when riding a horse that is completely new to them. A rider draws a horse’s name out of a hat literally five minutes before their class starts and they have to go mount the horse and go straight into the show ring- they’re given no time to get used to their new mount.
The Equestrian Team has been a great experience for me! I have gotten to meet other horse lovers at Campbell, as well as take lessons with a great coach.
Written by: Ashlyn Batten
Edited by: Marisa Linton
Photo by: Austin Higgins
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