Being a student athlete at the collegiate level is no easy feat, especially with a schedule as demanding as the equestrian team, averaging between four to six practice days a week.
Bridey Jones is a junior on the Fresno State equestrian team.
Jones took The Collegian along with her on Oct. 4 as she tacked up Dublin, one of Fresno State’s team horses, for practice and gave some insight on what her day-to-day schedule as a member of the equestrian team looks like.
“On Tuesdays, I’ll have practice in the morning, and then I will have class, and then we have lifts at five on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then on Mondays, we have a team meeting,” Jones said. “Practice is usually around an hour, and we jump two days a week and flat two days a week. We ride a different horse pretty much every practice.”
There are 37 girls on the team this year, and around 40 horses that reside in the stables right behind the Save Mart Center in front of parking lot six.
The team has barn managers who feed the horses but beside that, most of the care and responsibility falls onto the team.
Each girl on the team has their own show horse. This is the horse that they will primarily care for: giving them baths, clipping them, cleaning their stalls and braiding them before meets.
Jones’ show horse is Santo, a flat horse. However, Jones’ main event is jumping, where the horse and rider navigate an obstacle course of jumps as quickly as possible.
“It’s more about your position and how you look on the horse, rather than what the horse looks like,” Jones said. “So it’s a lot about what your presence is like in the ring, and how you look. So, there’s a lot that goes into it rather than just getting around the course.”
The responsibilities of the team don’t cease at practice and horse care. Preparation for a meet day is a completely separate ordeal.
“So usually the day before, we have a barn cleanup, and it takes about an hour,” Jones said. “All the horses get braided, they get baths. We have to pull out all the show tack. We put up Fresno State equestrian tents, and we also have show jumps that are different than our practice jumps.”
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Although there’s not much free time left over as a member of the equestrian team, Jones is grateful for her coaches, who work around each girl’s classes, formulating their practices to best accommodate their school schedules.
She also appreciates the athletics program, who puts their students’ education first and provides them with many tools to succeed academically.
“I would say it’s definitely hard to balance both, but it’s nice having your practices based around classes and also, we have a study hall,” Jones said. “So if you ever need somewhere that’s quiet to go and do homework and study. It’s a great place to go at athletics.”
At the end of the day, the difficulties of managing school, outside life and being on the team are worth it to Jones. She loves what she does, and has made some of her closest friends through the equestrian team.
“I would say it’s definitely a huge opportunity to be on a D1 equestrian team, because there’s only 12 dual discipline equestrian teams,” Jones said. “So I definitely value my time here, and I’ve enjoyed the last three years being here.”
Sage Lindvall, Jones’ roommate, is a sophomore on the Fresno State equestrian team. She shares similar sentiments in regards to being on the team.
“Being able to ride in a completely different environment and format than we get to outside of this and getting to ride a different horse every day is really good development in the sport,” Lindvall said. “I love the rider that it’s made me.”
The No. 7 Fresno State equestrian team (3-0) will open Big 12 conference play this Friday, Oct. 18 at 11 a.m. as they host No. 3 Texas Christian University at the Student Horse Center.
