Flashing lights, people clapping and music blasting through the speakers. Each team walks into the stadium with their hype video playing on the jumbotron. Parents in the audience take videos and clap for their college athletes as each individual name is announced. Girls who have earned the title of “All American” proudly listen to their stats announced.  

What many people don’t realize is that Equestrian is a D-1 sport. We hit the gym, suffer injuries, and push ourselves to the limit everyday.  Equestrians start our days at 5:30 a.m., endure grueling training sessions, team meetings, wednesday night video reviews, and team bonding Thursdays. We are all shockingly competitive at dodgeball, probably because equestrians are used to competing individually. We spend late nights catching up on reading and often spring from the showers across campus to make it to classes on time. 

And while normal athletes only have to consider themselves, we also have live animals to take care of as our athletes. And make no mistake about it, horses are athletes also. They get chiropractic sessions, conditioning sessions, treated for injuries, warmed up and cooled down, and all the things an athlete needs in his or her or its program to stay on top.  So while many athletes have somewhat controlled environments when they compete in national championships, our hopes and dreams will include the behavior and mental state of an unfamiliar 1200 lbs animal that is drawn at random. 

Just like every other SMU athletic team we are Dallas’ team,  and we are proud to represent our school and show school pride. At the championships we will walk under the SMU flag wearing black “Dallas” leggings and white polos that sport the “Big D” logo.  The team parade at the  NCEA Championships is a matter of school pride. Last year we walked in after seven other teams, but this year we just might be walking in first.