Nearly one hour away from campus, The University of Kansas Equestrian Team practices weekly at ZeZe Equine in Louisburg, Kansas. Though it’s a bit of a drive, team members say it’s more than worth it for the bonds they develop with their teammates, coaches and, of course, the horses.
The team competes in the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA), traveling to several shows each year. Recently, Ashley Herbstreit placed second and Charlotte Grismore placed fifth at IHSA regionals. Overall, the team ranked eighth in the region out of 11 teams.
“It was kind of part of the reason I chose to come to KU,” Herbstreit said. “I love horses, and I wanted to be able to ride in college. I wanted to be able to ride horses and have a team.”
Herbstreit currently serves as the KU team’s vice president and is excited to be stepping into the role of president next year. Current team president, Abby Moore, is looking forward to watching Herbstreit’s leadership from afar, though she’s saddened to be graduating.
For Moore, a junior, one of the best parts of being on the team is creating bonds with other members and connecting over a mutual love of horses and the equestrian sport. She said that traveling out of town for competitions has created many memories and friendships that she’ll never forget.
“It’s just so much fun,” Moore said. “You know, you’re surrounded by people who love the same thing you do, and so getting to bond with that is just so much fun.”
Equestrian training and competitions are expensive, and team members need funds for travel, horse maintenance, training sessions, gear and more. According to an article in The Horse Review, steep horse show costs may be pushing riders out.
“It is a little bit hard having the barn an hour away, but unfortunately the sport is dying in the Kansas City area and then in Lawrence,” Moore said. “It’s an expensive sport. It’s so expensive, and it’s hard.”
KU’s Equestrian team is not one of the 16 varsity sports funded by Kansas Athletics Inc. and, therefore, does not receive any money from KU because it identifies as a club sport. This produces challenges for the team as prices rise within the industry. To combat this, the team spends a lot of time fundraising throughout the year.
“We love partnering with local equine businesses, agriculture businesses, photographers,” Moore said. “One of our riders went to nationals last year, and that was a really expensive trip. And because we received no funding, we did an individual fundraiser to help her through sponsorships.”
The team also does more typical fundraisers such as hosting bake sales and selling merchandise, which helps the rest of the team pay for competitions and lessons. Still, many of the costs team members face come out of pocket.
Herbstreit has been well aware of the expenses of equine sports for years. Unlike many people involved with the sport, Herbstreit’s family didn’t ride or own horses before she became invested in the sport. After her parents insisted she be involved in an activity as a kid, she decided to try her hand at horseback riding.
“It’s just so much fun. You know, you’re surrounded by people who love the same thing you do, and so getting to bond with that is just so much fun.”
— KU senior and current club president Abby Moore
“They let me just do a little horse camp just to see if I was, like, truly about it because it is rather expensive,” Herbstreit said. “They wanted to make sure I was committed to it, and I just immediately fell in love with it.”
In fact, Herbstreit enjoyed horseback riding so much that she eventually sought out a horse of her own. Because of the expenses, Herbstreit leased her horse, Winston, for five years before actually buying him in a way that was similar to leasing a car.
“Him and I, we’re like soulmates. We’re meant to be together and everybody knows it,” Herbstreit said. “I was just going to end my lease and go to college, which broke my heart, but my trainer couldn’t bear to see us separate from one another. He wasn’t for sale, but she was willing to sell him to us, which I’m eternally grateful for.”
Although she couldn’t bring Winston with her to college, she still regularly visits him back home in Colorado.
Many riders on the team don’t actually have horses of their own, so they train on horses at ZeZe’s Equine, where they practice under trainer Rachel Kruse. In competitions, horses are drawn randomly and riders only have a short time to read a card of information about their horse before saddling up and competing.
“I actually grew up in the sport without a lot of money, and I didn’t have my own horse, so I just rode whatever,” Kruse said. “It’s kind of fun for me to help and have the girls be able to ride different horses at shows and just improve their riding skills.”
Next year, the team is eager to raise more funds so it can attend more competitions and compete as much as possible.
No matter how many competitions the KU Equestrian team goes to in the years ahead, it will continue training and bonding, hoping to help each other, and their horses, grow.
At left, Ashley Herbstreit approaches a vertical vault, hoping to clear it during training at ZeZe’s Equine in Louisburg, Kansas, on April 8. At right, Herbstreit gives her horse a little love between training sessions.
