Sophie Gochman op-ed and follow ups.

[MHM]

I knew an IHSA coach some years back who would regularly need to round up new riders throughout the season as her walk-trot riders would win enough to no longer be eligible for those classes. She would walk up to students and ask if they had ever wanted to ride a horse. If they said yes, they got the chance to ride and show if it all worked out. So there are places where they do follow the eligibility rules.

[hairystockings]

@initiate1987

I was also in IHSA in the last 5 years. I think personal experiences can vary wildly depending on what region you’re in. The teams in mine were always super supportive of each other (except for one) and the majority were clubs. It makes me sad that some teams can be so catty. My coach squashed that behavior as soon as it arose.

She also made sure that each person’s record was perfectly checked, even the people with spotty lesson histories. She wouldn’t take the chance. One story she told us was a NY team that won Zones and was on its way to Nationals when it was found that one of their riders (not a Zones or Nationals rider) should have been placed in a division higher. The whole team was dq’d before they even got there.

So I was in IHSA 10 + years ago now. My freshman year our team lost in a tie breaker at Zones only to find out the girl in novice fences from the winning team had lied on her paperwork (claimed a trainer showed her horse when it was really her that showed the horse) and she was not eligible to be in novice, she should have been higher. Her team was DQ’d at nationals and we got the phone call while nationals were occurring and scrambled a team together and drove out. We could only send competitors for the divisions that had not shown yet but yeah, people take that seriously. If your team or an individual are particularly competitive, they better be placed correctly. If someone had a walk trot rider who clearly had no business being in walk trot, questions would be asked.

I will also say the team I was on was not super welcoming, lots of entitled personalities on the team with unrealistic demands of what should be available to them in a club sport. So if you were not a dedicated horse person already, I probably would not have waded into that quagmire (or stayed long). On a related note, we had trouble finding and retaining walk trot riders…hmm…

Ten years later I believe that team is in a much better place as it found solid footing in both barn and coaching and I think that has made a world of difference for them. Kids I know in their program now seem very happy.

[TheMoo]

@hairystockings

So I was in IHSA 10 + years ago now. My freshman year our team lost in a tie breaker at Zones only to find out the girl in novice fences from the winning team had lied on her paperwork (claimed a trainer showed her horse when it was really her that showed the horse) and she was not eligible to be in novice, she should have been higher. Her team was DQ’d at nationals and we got the phone call while nationals were occurring and scrambled a team together and drove out. We could only send competitors for the divisions that had not shown yet but yeah, people take that seriously. If your team or an individual are particularly competitive, they better be placed correctly. If someone had a walk trot rider who clearly had no business being in walk trot, questions would be asked.

I will also say the team I was on was not super welcoming, lots of entitled personalities on the team with unrealistic demands of what should be available to them in a club sport. So if you were not a dedicated horse person already, I probably would not have waded into that quagmire (or stayed long). On a related note, we had trouble finding and retaining walk trot riders…hmm…

Ten years later I believe that team is in a much better place as it found solid footing in both barn and coaching and I think that has made a world of difference for them. Kids I know in their program now seem very happy.

My IHSA team from 20 years ago never asked those questions. Me the seasoned rider who sucked at EQ and still do, showed W/T :eek:

[hairystockings]

@TheMoo

My IHSA team from 20 years ago never asked those questions. Me the seasoned rider who sucked at EQ and still do, showed W/T :eek:

Oh my! There is a questionnaire that I Imagine has evolved since I first joined the team that is very detailed about your riding and showing experience. It is the first thing you do now when you join.

[TheMoo]

@hairystockings

Oh my! There is a questionnaire that I Imagine has evolved since I first joined the team that is very detailed about your riding and showing experience. It is the first thing you do now when you join.

Not back then. Try out and they put you where you would win. Since it’s EQ I was considerably lower… :uhoh:

[ghst13]

@TheMoo

Not back then. Try out and they put you where you would win. Since it’s EQ I was considerably lower… :uhoh:

That’s not universal either. My team from 20 years ago definitely had us fill out a questionnaire on our showing experiences at the first tryout and used that to place riders in the correct division.

We definitely were not a “horsey” school (no equine studies majors for example) but the school was big and had it’s own stable that offered PE classes as well as IHSA and polo. I think we paid less than $500 a semester as team members which got us three practices per week. The team was small enough that everyone got a chance to show at least once a year.

[Highflyer]

I rode on a small club team about 20 years ago and can remember filling out a questionnaire but it seems like it was pretty much only about competition experience. I was an UL pony clubber but had not competed at recognized horseshows or events and ended up in Novice.

[ghst13]

@Highflyer

I rode on a small club team about 20 years ago and can remember filling out a questionnaire but it seems like it was pretty much only about competition experience. I was an UL pony clubber but had not competed at recognized horseshows or events and ended up in Novice.

That matches what I remember. I also ended up being placed in novice because although I had done a lot of schooling shows, I had not done recognized shows.

[hairystockings]

@ghst13

That matches what I remember. I also ended up being placed in novice because although I had done a lot of schooling shows, I had not done recognized shows.

Same, I had done a ton of unrated shows up to 2’6 and that put me in Novice. I was my most competitive in novice, it was downhill for me when I started pointing out. My nugget-y butt could not compete in Open.