For some on campus, horses are more than mere animals: they’re divine.

“God comes back on a horse at the end of the Bible,” freshman Phoebe Warren said. “So he knew what he was doing when he made them.”

Warren is one of four women on Hillsdale’s club equestrian team. 

The club practices at a facility in Jackson with nearly 20 horses. According to sophomore club vice president Elizabeth Gaines, the owner of the facility contracts with the college to host the club. The team competes as part of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association. 

Gaines said she has been riding since she was nine, and leased horses for several years in middle and high school.

“I did a competitive team for two years in high school that’s very similar to the way that we show in college,” Gaines said.

Warren also started riding when she was nine and decided to join the club as soon as she knew it existed.

“I thought ‘why not?’ It’s like therapy,” Warren said.

Sophomore club president Sarah Morris said she has also ridden horses since she was young.

“I’ve been riding for six or seven years, and I owned a horse for three years in high school,” she said. “I did a lot of little shows but I never went to anything all that big. So it was a big adjustment.”

At competitions, competitors ride horses that are new to them. According to Morris, there are between 25-30 horses that competitors watch warm up. Afterward, riders draw a horse’s name out of a hat to determine which one they will compete with.

“Then you get placed on a horse, which hopefully you saw riding earlier so you can have an idea what’s going on,” she said.

Morris said riders are given notes about their horse to help them determine how to handle it, but they have to adjust on the spot. 

“There’s some riding that’s judged on the horse and some that’s judged on you,” she said.

To prepare for the spontaneity in competitions, Morris said their trainer has them ride different horses each practice to help them handle a variety of temperaments in horses.

“She has a very wide variety of horses that allows us to get a good understanding,” Morris said.

According to Morris, the club competes two weekends per semester on average. This year, the club has three competitions in the fall semester and one in the spring, with potential for more if riders qualify.

In IHSA competitions, there are two categories of competition, according to Gaines.

“The two categories are flat classes, which is no jumping, just riding around the arena, and then over fence classes which are jump horses, and you’re placed into a division based on prior experience.”

Gaines and Morris currently compete in the flat class but hope to move up in the future by scoring high in competition.

“If you win enough ribbons in shows, you eventually will get moved up,” Gaines said.

Although it is too late to join the team this year, Gaines said students can start riding lessons as soon as next semester, as the owner of the facility also offers riding lessons to students, regardless of their involvement with the club.

The team’s next show is Oct. 19-20 at Kalamazoo College.

According to Gaines, riding horses provides a great outlet for students to get off campus.

“For me, it’s a fantastic stress reliever,” she said. “Obviously, if you have experience riding horses, it’s amazing to have the opportunity to continue riding in college. I love it. But even if you’re a total beginner, it’s fun to get off campus, it’s fun to try something new.”