{"id":78362,"date":"2014-05-14T08:00:41","date_gmt":"2014-05-14T12:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=78362"},"modified":"2016-01-05T13:39:35","modified_gmt":"2016-01-05T18:39:35","slug":"equestrian-nationals-kirwin-kiesler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2014\/05\/14\/equestrian-nationals-kirwin-kiesler\/","title":{"rendered":"Equestrians Kirwin ’15 and Kiesler ’16 ride to top-10 finish at Nationals"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Katie Kirwin \u201915 maneuvers Otis into position for a photograph, the agreeable grey gelding responds willingly to her gentle nudges.<\/p>\n

The photo shoot is uneventful until Otis steps on Kirwin\u2019s foot. As Kirwin winces, you get a quick insight into what goes on between rider and horse.<\/p>\n

Like any relationship, it can be unpredictable.<\/p>\n

For Kirwin and fellow Bates Equestrian Club<\/a> member Hannah Kiesler \u201916, the ability to manage equine unpredictability is a big reason the pair landed in the top 10 of the recent Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championships in Harrisburg, Pa.<\/p>\n

\"Otis<\/a>

Otis (left) and Juno (right) flank Bates Equestrian Club riders Katie Kirwin ’15 (co-captain), Carolyn Attenborough ’15 (co-captain) and Hannah Kiesler ’16. Kirwin and Kiesler landed in the top 10 at this year’s national horse show. (Photographs by Jay Burns\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

Kirwin, a team co-captain, was seventh in intermediate equitation over fences<\/a>, and Kiesler ninth in novice equitation over fences<\/a>. (More on those terms later.)<\/p>\n

\u201cFor both of them to place in the top 10 at Nationals is an amazing accomplishment,\u201d says second-year coach Ginger Klingenstein-Albert, who, with her husband, Mike, owns Venture Farm <\/a>in nearby Pownal, where a dozen or so members of the Bates club do their riding.<\/p>\n

\"web-140508_equestrian_riders_IMG_0666\"<\/a>

Club coach Ginger Klingenstein-Albert says placing two riders in the top 10 at Nationals “is an amazing accomplishment” for Bates.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cOf the 10,000 collegiate riders from 400 colleges that start any given year, only about 400 riders qualify for the IHSA Nationals,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s especially amazing considering Katie and Hannah competed against riders from varsity programs who are coming out of the national junior ranks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEquitation\u201d is the name of this equine sport. Unlike categories of competitive riding that emphasize the horse\u2019s ability (like hunter and jumper), equitation \u201cfocuses on how well the rider performs over a course,\u201d says co-captain Carolyn Attenborough \u201915, a politics major from Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass.<\/p>\n

\"Hannah<\/a>

Hannah Kiesler ’16 of Glencoe, Ill., with Juno.<\/p><\/div>\n

One class of equitation has small jumps (\u201cequitation over fences,\u201d Kirwin and Kiesler\u2019s event) and the other doesn\u2019t (\u201cequitation on the flat\u201d). Each class has novice, intermediate and open ranks.<\/p>\n

At a show, horses are assigned to riders by draw. Even if a rider’s horse is having a bad day, it\u2019s still possible to score well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt depends on how you deal with the situation,\u201d says Kirwin. \u201cAt one show, an Endicott rider had a big white horse that bucked throughout the course. But every time the horse bucked, she dealt with it calmly, and she won the class. The judge rewarded the rider.\u201d<\/p>\n

As with other equine sports, the human and horse adjust to each other\u2019s unpredictable natures \u2014 and yes, just as we humans consider horses to be unfathomable, horses can find their riders to be confusing.<\/p>\n

While Otis stepping on Kirwin\u2019s foot was just an unpredictable mistake, not an act of insolence, it suggests another way that a horse is less like a piece of equipment and more like, well, a teammate.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lacrosse stick isn\u2019t going to vary day to day,\u201d says Kiesler. \u201cBut a teammate will have good days and bad days, so you have to be ready for a variety.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What it’s like to work with horses (or, why they’re not like a piece of sports equipment)<\/h3>\n