Successful Weekend = Successful Future

Last weekend the WTAMU Equestrian Team hosted a home Hunt Seat show. The team was very successful, earning high point team on both Saturday and Sunday. The team members put in great rides with many winning rounds. For a few team members, this was their first time showing in IHSA Hunt Seat. One of our open reiners, Reilly Dhaliwal made her hunt seat debut and won her class. Hosting a home show is not a walk in the park. It takes work from everyone on the team no matter if you’re a Hunt Seat rider or a Western rider. “Home show weekends are a lot of work for the team, but it is incredibly rewarding watching everyone step up and be a leader” hunt seat captain Karis Blankenship said.

This week, the team will be hosting another home show. This will be a western three day show. Friday and Saturday will be a regular season competition and Sunday will be the Western Region 2 Championships.

Regionals is an individual competition, in order to compete riders must earn 36 points in their respective division. Once these points are earned, riders then advance to the next division and their points start over. Riders competing in open must earn 28 points since their points start over every year.

Regional championship classes are run pretty similarly to those of a regular season. There is usually more testing than a regular class and riders may be asked for additional testing in a work-off. A work-off usually tests the top 4 riders. At the end of the class, riders are invited back into the ring on foot for placings. The top two then move on Semi Finals for Western and Zones for Hunt Seat.

WT Equestrian looks forward to hosting Western Regionals, as we have a great number of our own riders who are set to compete. Here is a list of some of the riders have qualified.

• Open Reining and Open Horsemanship: Sr Kendall Woellmer and Sr Rayleigh Rowell. (So Reilly Dhaliwal is very close in points and will most likely be competing)

• Level 2: Sr Kristan Hamilton

• Level 1: Jr Baily Summers

• Rookie B: Jr Catie McCharen

• Begginer: So Rea Golt and Sr Jordan Schneider

On Sunday the Region High Point Team will also be announced. The team looks to earn its 14th consecutive Regional Championship.

tags: #ReillyDhaliwal #Western #Huntseat #RegionChampionship #KendallWoellmer #KarisBlankenship #RayleighRowell #KristanHamilton #BailySummers #homeshow #CatieMcharen #JordanSchneider #ReaGolt #homeshow