The United States Coast Guard Academy equestrian team poses at Morgan Farm near West Point on September 25th, 2011. The riders in this photo are identified in the fifth paragraph below (photo courtesy Tina Bove/USCGA Equestrian Team).

THE OTHER INVITATIONAL SHOW HELD ON THE SEPTEMBER 24TH/25TH WEEKEND

While many schools traveled to Ohio for the Pre-Season Tournament of Champions in Westerville, Ohio on September 24th, two teams which were not invited to the Tournament had the day off to prepare for an all-service academy horse show held one day later.

The United States Military Academy, which has fielded an IHSA team since the early 1970's, invited the United States Coast Guard Academy to West Point for a show involving only the two teams. In total contrast to the USMA team, the Coast Gaurd made their IHSA debut in the spring of 2011. The September 25th contest would be only their second or third IHSA-related meet ever.

A week after the event Coast Guard coach Tina Bove (who was Tina Struble when riding for Army and, for one semester, Navy) sent Campus Equestrian an e-mail going into detail as to how well her recently-born IHSA team faired at Morgan Farm (we have included Bove's text verbatim)...

"I wanted to send you a picture and some information on the United States Coast Guard Academy's first horse show this season. We competed at Westpoint in the All-Academy horse show on Sunday, September 25, 2011. Unfortunately it was just USCGA and USMA competing but we had a great time. Cadet 2/c Carrie Bigos took 2nd place in the Walk Trot class. Cadet 2/c Lydia Monks took 2nd place, Cadet 1/c Joe Dillier took 5th place, and Cadet 2/c Alex Fell took 6th place in Beginner Walk Trot Canter class. Cadet 1/c Sarah Troch took 2nd place in the Novice flat class and 1st place in the cross rails class.

I'm not sure if you can post this anywhere on your website but I thought I would pass along a picture and some information. In the picture from left to right are Cadet 2/c Alex Fell, 2/c Lydia Monks, 2/c Carrie Bigos, 1/c Joe Dillier, LT Tina Bove, and 1/c Sarah Troch. Thanks, Tina Bove."

The United States Military Academy as seen at Morgan Farm on September 25th. Surprisingly neither USCGA coach Bove nor USMA rider Devin Redding indicated which team was high point and which was reserve in either of their e-mails (photo courtesy Devin Redding/USMA Equestrian Team).

Having received such an enthusiastic e-mail from Bove we wanted to learn how the USMA riders did. After all, the home team does in fact have the most storied IHSA history of any of the service academies. Peter Cashman, a National IHSA Lifetime Achievement Award winner who along with wife Sherry Cashman coaches the USMA team, referred Campus Equestrian to Devin Redding, a senior intermediate fences/novice flat rider from Avondale, Pennsylvania who handles publicity for the Army team. Redding was kind enough to go into similar detail as to how the Black Knights faired on the 25th (again, we have repeated Redding's words verbatim)...

"Our whole team had a great time meeting and competing against the Coast Guard team at the Dual Academy Horse show hosted at Morgan Farm. We had a number of first place winners, including CDT Liberty Baker and CDT Caitlin Anderson in our two Walk/Trot classes. In beginner Walk/Trot/Canter, CDT Emily Kozma took first place. CDT Dillon Curtis had two great wins in the Novice fences and Novice flat classes and rounded out the pointed divisions for this show. Thanks to all of the hard work of our riders USMA finished first in the show! This was the first time in a number of years that the two teams had competed. The USMA team was very happy to be able to host the USCGA team, who provided us with great competition and camaraderie throughout the day.

Here is the full list of winners from our USMA/Coast Guard horse show:

First Place: Liberty Baker, Walk/Trot; Caitlin Anderson, Walk/Trot; Emily Kozma, Walk/Trot/Canter; Dillon Curtis, Novice Flat and Novice Fences; Catherine Steele, Intermediate Flat; Morgan Proksch, Open Fences.

Second Place: Lance Barrow, Walk/Trot; Kalen Larsen, Novice Fences; Naomi Fuhrman, Intermediate Flat; Joseph Curtin, Open Fences."

Redding stated that this was the first time in a few years the two teams competed when in fact the Coast Guard team is brand new. However perhaps Redding was recalling a similar meet between the USMA, the United States Naval Academy and the United States Air Force Academy. All three traveled to Morgan Farm in the middle of the last decade, with the USMA prevailing. Kari Randle, who for the past few seasons has coached at the University of Wyoming, is the new Air Force coach in 2011-12. Randle indicated that a spring date with USMA may have been discussed and could happen if logistics can be worked out. If Army, Air Force, Navy (which just switched to Zone 4, Region 4 in order to show both English and Western) and the Coast Guard all get together in one ring it would mark the first time more than three service academies have competed in a horse show under IHSA rules. Though not a service academy, Valley Forge Military College in Wayne, Pennsylvania fields an IHSA team. When former Centenary College rider Nick Caputo coached at Valley Forge he envisioned his two-year program becoming a feeder school for the Service Academies. Caputo moved to Ohio in mid-2010 but his replacement Sara McCoy-Palmer (who rode for the University of Delaware) would likely be honored if Valley Forge was invited to an-all military academy competition.

--Steve Maxwell