Fresno State finished its fall season in October and now
is preparing for the upcoming spring season in January.
Photo Courtesy of Keith Kountz of Fresno State Athletics
For the Fresno State equestrian coaches Stephanie Reeves and Julia Scrivani, the break between the fall and spring seasons isn’t one for relaxing, but getting out of the team’s comfort zone.
Reeves and Scrivani want their riders to associate themselves with a variety of different horses during the offseason in hopes of creating a well-rounded roster in time for the spring season, which starts on Jan. 28 with a team scrimmage at the Student Horse Center.
Fresno State wrapped up its fall season on Oct. 28 with a 9-4 home win against Stanford. Scrivani, who specializes in Western style, would like her riders to improve over the break between the two seasons.
“We want our athletes to ride whatever is out of their comfort zone,” Scrivani said. “Whatever is the most difficult is what they need to spend the most time on.”
Scrivani wants her athletes to ride different types of horses so it will be easier to adapt to the horses when competing away at other universities where both teams use the home team’s horses.
By riding different horses, Reeves and Scrivani are hoping that both the English and Western riders will increase their chemistry with a variety of horses, essentially improving their performance in the arena. Because the horses the equestrian team works with do not travel, they must become accustomed to connecting with horses in a short time.
In competition, riders are only allowed four minutes of practice with the horse they are competing on, and because both riders and horses are competing, the chemistry between the two is crucial in the arena.
Reeves and Scrivani want to improve the riders’ chemistry in those four minutes, and will practice that for the spring using structured practices and timed drills. Scrivani gave some thoughts on how the riders can make changes to their mounting.
“The timeline of when they sit on that horse and the four minutes we get to warm up, they need to be faster about making changes then,” Scrivani said.
And Scrivani knows the best way to make changes before an event are to just make them and be done with it.
“Commit in your mind,” Scrivani said. “And then be done with. Think about it. Do it and get it done.”
The short, but concise game plan will be in full effect for the Bulldog equestrian team as it looks to break back into the top 10 of the Varsity Equestrian Coaches Poll, after slipping out of the rankings recently.
Scrivani and Reeves should have little trouble with their riders and their regimen as senior captains Shawna McClurg and Sammie Jo Stone help with the riders’ responsibilities.
“This team is very disciplined,” Scrivani said. “I know that when we encourage them to do something, they are going to take that to heart and really try hard to get it done.”