With a new home at Premier Equestrian Center LLC in Hudson, Mich., a new arena completed in September, the Hillsdale College Equestrian team has been able to thrive this past year.
New riders had the opportunity to compete, and more experienced riders have advanced further in competition. This year at regionals, junior Daniel Kish represented Hillsdale in Stock seat, which was on Feb. 8 and 9, and Anna Purzycka will compete in Hunt seat on March 1.
For the Stock Seat competition, which is also known as Western riding, Kish won fourth place.
“As great as qualifying for regionals is, it’s also a great accomplishment for the team as well,” coach Danielle Cole said. “Out of the 29 riders he was competing against, he was fourth in the region. The riders that placed above him were from very large schools. It was a particular accomplishment because they have a lot more access to riding. I’m so proud of him for competing and placing where he placed above riders that have so many more opportunities with horses.”
Since arriving at Hillsdale as a freshman, Kish has been competing at the collegiate level.
“I’ve never made it this far before,” Kish said. “So I’m really excited to have been able to compete.”
Senior Anna Purzycka advanced to the regional competition as well, but in the Hunt Seat division. Purzycka began this season in Advanced Walk, Trot, and Canter, but quickly made it into the Novice division.
Purzycka has been riding since she was 14 years old, and has competed in horse shows since joining the equestrian team three years ago.
“I’ve grown incredibly over the past year with Danielle and Ingrid (Poissant) coaching. At every show, you walk away learning something new about yourself and yourself as a rider. You have a different horse every time and different judges, and you have different people in the ring, so in navigating between all of that you learn a lot.”
While Purzycka and Kish were the only students to advance to the regional competition, many of the younger or newer riders made great strides.
“Some of our freshman riders go from just barely walking and trotting to being on the correct diagonal.” Purzycka said. “It’s great to see how they’ve grown as riders, but then also to see the new friendships that have come out of it.”
One of these freshman riders is Lillian Quinones, who has ridden both English and Western. This year was her first year in show, as she competed in the Walk, Trot division.
“The nature of the IHSA competition, the fact that we ride different horses everytime we compete, is very scary,” Quinones said. “You learn so much about different horses. It’s just so different when you have a horse that you know.”
Overall, Quinones said her time this year with the team has been very rewarding.
“Our coaches have been really amazing. They sacrifice so much. They drive us to our shows at 5 a.m. and get back so late,” Quinones said. “I’ve made some really great friends. And we have the awesome new arena.”
Anyone is able to compete, Cole explained, as they’re always looking for new riders.
“They cut us off at around 20 per division,” she said. “Up until that point, we’ll always accept new members, even if they’ve never ridden before.”
