Only a handful of schools recognize high school equestrian teams as club activities, but the Lake team is making a mark anyways.

Last year, an eight-member Lake equestrian team won an Ohio Interscholastic Horsemanship Association Division 2 state championship at Vail Meadows in Oregon. Coach Connie Workman’s team took first place by scoring 98 points to outdistance Anthony Wayne (89 points) and Tinora.

This year, Lake’s four-member team hopes to repeat, only in Division 3 because of fewer participants on the team.

This year’s Lake equestrian team members are Morgan Collins, Ashley Landers, Ellen Johns, and Alyssa Knierim. Collins rides a quarter horse named Ace, Landers an Appaloosa named Zap, Johns a quarter horse named Bubba, and Knierim a Tennessee Walker named Bristol, and they are veteran riders.

“This is the end of the season and they ride all of the time. They are not like 4-H kids that ride once a year,” Workman said. “All these girls show all year long, so there really isn’t any reason for us to hold practices.

“It’s really fun because it’s a whole different competition than their county fair or their regular open show series, so it mixes all the kids up. They all root for each other even though they are on different teams. It’s just a whole different atmosphere and it’s kind of the end-of-the-year for horse showing,” Workman continued.

The bleachers are usually packed with supporters. Fans wear their school colors, too.

“They all wear their shirts and they cheer for each other,” Workman said. “Some of them are competing against the same people in 4-H shows or other things, but they are hollering for the other teams, too.”

The competition, which is co-ed and combines Western and English riding into one event, is just as intense as any other high school sports activity, Collins says.

“I always get nervous when I go out to show and go for the win. I’m just kind of thinking to myself, “I’ve got to win’ and it’s just nerves. It’s hard to figure out sometimes what the judge is looking for and so I just try to change different things in each class to see if that will help my placings better,” Collins said.

This season’s District 2 meet was September 18 at the Wood County Fairgrounds in Bowling Green. The show consisted of 80 riders from nine teams with 97 horses showing in 17 classes. Lake was first in Division 3 by defeating runner-up Genoa, 94-13. Erie County won in D-2, and Fremont won in D-1.

Workman says the high school equestrian program is continuing to grow throughout Northwest Ohio.

“In 11 years, it went from 22 (riders) the first year and now we have 80 in our district. It’s come a long ways,” Workman said. “This year, just in our district, we have 10 more riders than we had last year. I think we had a couple teams drop out from last year, but they are coming back next year. It’s growing. The two teams we lost this year in the other district was a coaching issue — they didn’t have somebody to coach. If that happens, then those kids can go to a different team.”

This year’s state championship is October 16 at WB Ranch, an indoor facility in Swanton. The show will have winners from each division from the three districts competing for a state title. Coach Workman suggests that Lake, Eastwood and Genoa fans should come out and cheer for their teams.

Workman believes Lake stands a good chance of winning a state title again.

“I think we will,” Workman said. “We had to jump down a division because we didn’t have as many kids, but we still beat many of the teams in our division by 40 or 50 points. The girls are already designing a shirt for back-to-back wins, so they better win it.”

Collins agrees, saying, “It’s going well. We actually have been having fun with it since we are in the lead quite a bit. We’re riding pretty well. We’re going to try really hard to win all the classes at the state meet.”

District 2 has nine teams consisting of 81 riders from Lake, Genoa, Erie County, Otsego, Bowling Green, Eastwood, Fremont, Perrysburg, and Oak Harbor.

District 1 teams include Anthony Wayne, Central Catholic, Evergreen, Notre Dame, Springfield, Swanton, and Sylvania. District 3 includes Tinora and Napoleon.

Workman says if you want to participate and your school doesn’t have a team — no problem.

“Last year I had a Gibsonburg kid and I had a Woodmore kid. ‘If my school doesn’t have a team, what can I do?’ and so I’m the district chairman and we can put them where their needs are, we can see what their expertise is, kind of move them around, and make sure they have a good experience,” Workman said.

Collins, who plans to attend Ohio State University and major in veterinary science, says the high school season adds a touch to a whole year competing in shows. She and Ace had just placed at the Ohio State Fair before the OIHA season began.

“It’s nice because everything else ends in August, so once this starts up, then you have something to do. I just love showing,” Collins said. “My friends come out and they watch my show and they have it on announcements (at school) every Monday after the show. We do get a lot of support.”

The OIHA awards banquet will be Nov. 7 at Holiday Inn French Quarter in Perrysburg.

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