Spring 2006

Partners on a Great Team

In many ways, the story of Ed Arn’s long and well-lived life follows the plot line of the Successful All-American Male.

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The setting is a flat area in a wooded ravine, waterfall splashing in the background. “Work the calves, work the ankles. Half halt him, slow, there. Post, barely touch the saddle. Pull your feet out of the stirrups and straighten your knees, put your legs back farther on the horse. Use your thighs more, soften the small of your back.”

Coach Karla Amass believes training her four-legged athletes is crucial to the team’s success. Here she praises Mozart+ for his hard work with the Wooster students.

On a warm, late winter day, two young women respond to these suggestions and get their horses to respond, too. “Good job, Julie. Nice, Emily,” the coach says.Welcome to the newest sport at The College of Wooster.

In only two years of competition, the Wooster Equestrian Team has garnered several ribbons in district and regional shows. More importantly for its members, though, the program offers an enjoyable, healthy experience in the natural world, one that involves bonding with horses, teammates, and an “awesome” coach.

Riding also helps relieve the stress of coursework, says Erica Clites ’06, from Ann Arbor, Mich. “When you’re riding, especially when you’re competing, you can’t think of the other things in your life. You have to pay attention all the time.When you lose focus, you start making mistakes.”

“I like the way that the horse and I work together,” Clites adds. “It’s a partnership.”

Building a Team

Julie Horst ’07, who grew up in Smithville, Ohio, began to ride at age five and to show four years later. But she didn’t think she would have time for riding after high school, she says. “When you go to college, you sell your horse. But then you find that a part of you is missing.”

Horst seriously missed riding. So with some advice from coaches at other colleges, she began organizing a team at Wooster in 2003–04, and the group began competing the next fall. Horst currently serves as the team’s president. Its adviser is Horst’s mother, Esther Horst, a nurse at The College of Wooster.

Horst, Christina Lindstrom ’07, and Heather Couch ’08 live in Morris House, the equestrian team’s program house. For that privilege, they volunteer a minimum of two hours each week at the Christian Children’s Home of Ohio, north of Wooster. Lindstrom helped set up the home’s therapeutic riding program, Reins for Life, and is the program’s student coordinator. In return for cleaning barn stalls and other chores, the Wooster students can ride the home’s horses in the facility’s paddock and on its trails.

The equestrian team welcomes all students—from beginners to experienced riders—with varying degrees of interest. Students may choose only to attend group meetings and educational events; competitions and lessons are not required. Although the 2005-06 Wooster group is all women, men are invited.

Newcomers find the mix of students positive and encouraging. “ It’s a diverse group of people,” says Erin Ingram ’07, who joined the equestrians this past winter, “but they are all welcoming and make it easy to feel comfortable and a member of the team.”

The team’s success goes beyond the show ring—the word is getting out. The College admissions office now gets calls from prospective students who are interested in riding. Take Emily Richardson ’07, for example. She made sure that the College had an equestrian team before transferring from Ohio University. Richardson especially appreciates the small team at Wooster and its emphasis on collaborative effort, she says. “It feels like we’re all in it together.”

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