United States Eventing Association

Over the month long winter break University of South Carolina (USC) at Aiken Eventing Team members dispersed to spend time with family and friends from home. From South America to New York, riders spent time reconnecting with family and recharging, both mentally and physically. Our equine partners enjoyed the warm South Carolina weather as they got their own month long vacation just to be horses again. The break was well-received after ending the last semester on a high note by winning the Intercollegiate Team Challenge at Poplar Place Farm in November. When we returned to campus, we met to talk about our plans for the coming semester, both individually and as a team, both academic and equestrian-related.

Samantha Baker (Pictured Above), our Vice President, is graduating at the end of the semester. Her goals are to graduate with honors and bring along her new Off-The-Track Thoroughbred to be able to compete in Aiken before her college career in “horse country” is over.

Brendan Quinn (Pictured Above), who was on the team for our Poplar win, has decided to take his experience and bring along a new upper level prospect. He hopes to find and begin training his new partner during the semester.

Kirsten LaVassar (Pictured Above), one of our many freshman members, hopes to take more lessons and improve her dressage riding. She also would like to be able to compete once before the semester ends. Academically, Kirsten will be striving to get as many A’s in as many classes as possible.

Nicole Wisniewski (PIctured Above), the only sophomore on the team, has quite a year ahead of her. With her horse Mainstay, who also competed for the win at Poplar, she hopes to move up to Preliminary either by the end of the semester or by the end of the summer while she continues to work side-by-side with her trainer Kurt Martin. She also plans to spend spring break in Ocala with Kurt for additional training.

USC Aiken Eventing President, Manon Quilodran. Chris Quinn Photo.

As the President of the USC Aiken Eventing team, my New Year’s resolutions are to continue to work with the team through its growing pains, work hard to fix all the flaws between my horse and me in the Dressage ring, and continue to work hard academically in pursuit of my dream of going to vet school. My final goal, is to compete at my first Preliminary over the summer and always be better than I was yesterday.

As a Team, we have a lot of work to do. We are excited to be working with our new faculty advisor, Jill Hampton. Working together, our plan is to secure more sponsors, hold clinics and engage in other fundraising efforts to support and grow the team. We are already meeting with prospective new students who are interested in joining the team. And, of course, in everyone’s mind is a desire to work hard with our horses in order to field a competitive team for the Team Challenge at Chattahoochee Hills and to have another opportunity to forge new relationships with other teams and other eventers who share this crazy passion! Happy Belated New Year to all of the Collegiate teams!

To learn more about USC Aiken Eventing, please visit their Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages.

All Photos Courtesy of USC Aiken Eventing Team.

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