A girl walks by you on campus as you casually head to your first class of the day.
It is only at second glance that you realize this particular girl happens to be walking with a helmet and a whip. In fact, she is walking with a group of people all carrying the same regalia.
Ever wonder who they are?
These student-athletes are part of Fairfield’s Equestrian team, which is also referred to as FUET.
For those unfamiliar with the sport, equestrian is the official term for competitive horseback riding, and the Fairfield team competes in several competitions across the Northeast.
The Fairfield University Equestrian team was founded in 1992 and has continued to grow rapidly each year.
At the moment, FUET currently consists of 18 members, and each class is represented on the team.
FUET competes in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association, a competitive league that includes many schools from around the nation, including several Division-I’ sports programs.
League division in equestrian is no different than from any other collegiate sport. The country is split up into zones and then further divided into regions.
FUET competes in Region Four, Zone Two, a Northeast division of the division.
The zone, one of the more competitive divisions in the conference, includes local several local colleges and schools, including Sacred Heart, Columbia, NYU, St. Joseph’s and Nassau Community College.
So far this season, the Stags have competed against several nearby rivals, including NYU and Columbia.
Aside from the competitions, the day-to-day life of an equestrian team member is what defines this intriguing club sport and proves that the sport is far from ordinary.
Each rider participates in at least two lessons a week with trainer and coach Kelly Taylor, a successful former collegiate rider and a very sought after trainer in Fairfield County.
Each Sunday, FUET travels to different shows in New York and Connecticut. They begin their day with a wake-up call at 3:45 in the morning to catch a 4:30 bus.
Typically, the bus pulls into the barn on the day of a competition around 7 a.m. and everyone must get off the bus to watch the horses of the day get warmed-up.
In the eyes of a rider, this is a very important task and a chance to see how the horse they will be riding behaves.
The show typically commences around 8 a.m. and is divided into six divisions.
The highest level is known as an Open, which is followed by Intermediate, Novice, Walk-Trot-Canter Advanced, Walk-Trot-Canter Beginner and Walk-Trot.
During the 2007-2008 year, FUET had seven riders qualify for regional events, including sophomores Heather Boyd, Lindsay Maroney and Elysse Ruschmeyer.
Still, the heart of the team is comprised of its senior class, which includes Kelly Burke,Deb Green, Liz Jones, Lindsay Maroney, Steph Simpson and Elysse Ruschmeyer – all of whom were standouts at this past season’s regionals.
Following regionals, Boyd, Maroney, Burke and Ruschmeyer qualified for zones, which took place at Skidmore College.
After a phenomenal showing at regionals, junior Ruschmeyer qualified for nationals.
In fact, last season Ruschmeyer traveled to across the country to compete in Los Angeles, California in a national event. Ruschmeyer finished the season strong placing 14th out of the 31 riders in her division.
Regardless of the all-too-frequent long days and early wake-ups on Sunday mornings, sophomore Heather Boyd loves her teammates.
‘You will rarely see a team so happy and laughing so much after such a long day. We are all really close and all support each other,’ said Boyd.
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