November 2020 Issue

Page 6 November 2020 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN BLACK’S LIVESTOCK -The Next Pasture - Where the grass is always green, lush & stirrup high Individual Horse & Pet Cremation Standard Mortality 24 hour service available John E. Black: 610.220.5262 Matthew Hoffman: 610.656.3258 Office: 610.584.4482 Fax: 610.584.9111 BLACK’S LIVESTOCK P.O. Box 662 Skippack, PA 19472 www.nextpasture.com Are Historically Black Colleges and Universities Ready for Horses? State University attorneys then agreed to keep the program alive for the 2010-2011 season. Si- multaneously, 15 student athletes filed a class action suit against the school, arguing that eliminat- ing the team would violate Title IX. The school’s consent that would keep the program going for another year achieved part of the objectives of the class action suit. In October 2010, the class action suit was settled, and the terms of the settlement were not disclosed. So, as the pandemic has altered everyone’s plans, Dela- ware State University still has an equestrian team and Ridgely says that they have 62 student athletes on the roster for next year. She is still busy directing the program and fulfilling the strict NCAA rules for student athletes. “Most people don’t know about our sport,” Ridgely says, “but we follow the same rules as any other Division I team.” There is a team that rides English and a team that rides western. “The Equitation team competes on the flat and over fences. The western team competes in horsemanship and reining.” She says the athletes can bring their own horses and pay board, or “they can let their horse be in the program and we pay for its board and its care; and we get to use it as part of the team for practice.” There’s rigorous practice, rigorous study, and the philoso- phy that “we always say academ- ics first, athletics second.” She says that the team works out three times a week on strength and conditioning. And every eques- trian has a lesson three times a week. “There’s a mandated study hall, mandatory workouts three days a week, mandatory riding three days a week,” she says. The barn is in Felton, sever- al miles from campus. The team leases space on the farm, which is a standardbred facility. “The girls love being here,” she says. “They get away from campus. Anyone who loves horses would rather be there than anywhere else.” The team was recently ranked among the top ten in the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA), although competition for this year has been disrupted by the pandemic. (Continued from page 1) Tired of running to the tack shop to find your copy of East Coast Equestrian? SUBSCRIBE! You’ll get it in your mailbox each month (before it hits the tack shop) for as long as you like. PLUS : Place FREE classifieds each month. Just $20! Visit eastcoastequestrian.net to sign up.