Abbott 08 rides her way into Midd history

Author: Sarah Luehrman

The accomplished riders of the Middlebury Equestrian Club are not unlike many Middlebury club sports - they compete against bigger and better-funded programs and often win. One rider in particular, sophomore Ptarmigan Abbott, earned significant recognition competing in the novice division when she won first place in both the flat class and the jumping class in a show at the University of New Hampshire on Nov. 5. Abbott was "our star of the show," says co-captain Mercy Trent '06, and not only was she the high point rider for the day with her two firsts, but she also earned a place in the intermediate division for jumping the next time she shows. The following weekend at the University of Maine, she earned enough points to move up to intermediate on the flat as well. "I'm glad the judge at UNH finally recognized the abilities that we all already knew [Abbott] had in making her high point rider of the day!" commented co-captain Marisa Lipsey '06. "We're very proud."

The program's coach Katherine Selby, who teaches at Equestry, the team's barn in New Haven, noted admiringly that Abbott "has worked very hard to create a better balance and overall position" throughout her riding career at Middlebury, and the hard work has clearly paid off. To win both classes in one's division is a worthy feat, to be sure, one that takes considerable consistency and steadiness in a rider, according to Selby. Abbott was, indeed, the only rider to receive two firsts at UNH that day. One of the most challenging things about intercollegiate shows is that each rider rides a horse provided by the host school that she encounters for the first time only minutes before entering the arena. After watching other riders show the horse in one or two classes, the rider gets on, has a moment to make a circle or two around the course if she's lucky, and then the class begins. "[Abbott] can pretty much ride anything," commented Lipsey. "No matter how challenging the horse is that she draws in a show, she remains unphased and always manages to get a good response from her horse, both over fences and on the flat." One thing she has been working on with Selby is her ability to read a horse quickly and then ride it to its best potential with no warm-up, an important skill when consistently competing on strange horses.

Abbott competed against around eight other riders in the Novice division to earn her ribbons, first in the jumping class in a pre-set course of mostly diagonals and outside lines over eight fences, by regulation no higher than 2'6". Her mount for the jumping class was named Flash, a "fat and furry" pony, as she recalls. As she watched him complete the course with other riders, she remembers thinking that he looked a little lazy. "I'm more used to riding quick horses," she says, rather than horses that need a lot of leg from the rider to push them forward. When she got on Flash, however, she was relieved to learn that he liked to move. "I was happy enough making it around the course without having to push the pony as forward as I'd anticipated," she commented, "but I was actually quite surprised when they announced the placings and I heard that I'd won the class."

Next came the flat class, in which a group of riders rides in a circle around the arena at the same time and responds to commands from a judge to change their horses' gait. Abbott noted that though the class is often limited to the walk, trot and canter, the judge will occasionally ask riders to make circles and other formations. For the flat class, she rode a horse named Knight, who behaved himself beautifully for her and went "on the bit" readily. A horse on the bit lets his head down low, making him much more responsive to the commands of the rider's hands and showing a very good rapport between horse and rider. It is not easy to encourage a horse to do this, and a rider who can stands out to the judge of the class. Abbott commented that the judging for these classes tends to be somewhat subjective. "You may place really well at one show and not so well at the next show," she said, "but that's also part of the fun in these types of shows." In any event, her first place finishes in the jumping class and the flat class earned her a total of 14 for the day and a ribbon for high point rider. "It's been a long time since we've had one of those big ribbons," says Lipsey excitedly.

Though it may be hard to believe, Abbott had little formal showing experience before coming to Middlebury. She has been riding horses for 10 years, taking private lessons once a week. When she was younger, she also rode with the Pony Club once a week and participated in informal schooling shows during the summer. She has a horse of her own at home in Vashon Island, Wash. named Salle, an 18-year-old half Connemara, half Thoroughbred that she has had for six years. When she is not riding at Middlebury, she takes Salle to events, which are intensive shows with three components: dressage, an individual routine on the flat; cross country, a high-speed course over fences through fields and woods, depending on the course; and stadium jumping, not unlike the jumping course in intercollegiate shows.

Needless to say, showing with Salle is an experience quite different from showing with a horse drawn at random minutes before mounting. "In shows with your own horse it tends to become such an individual competition," Abbott commented, "but at [intercollegiate] shows there's a team effort. Everyone is so supportive or everybody else and wants everybody to do well."

Abbott is one of five Middlebury riders to have "pointed up," that is, earned enough points to place into a higher division, so far this season, which is quite remarkable, according to Selby. For such a small school and a small program, Middlebury competes admirably with bigger universities. The team has now been in existence under Selby's coaching for 10 and a half years, and it has consistently placed in the regional top five, often even in the top three. Determined, committed riders like Abbott make the tiny program as successful as it is. "She has a good attitude," says Lipsey. "She always has a smile on her face and something cheerful to say even if her ride didn't go the way she wanted it to." Praise from Abbott's coach and fellow riders and the performance of the horses that she rides show that 10 years of hard work and coaching have made this patient and committed rider a truly great rider.