Villanova offers a unique variety of club sports for students to participate in, including an English-style club Equestrian team. While students often see club soccer or club running practicing on campus, the Villanova Equestrian team practices off campus. Though unseen, these athletes work just as hard in their relentless pursuit of passion.

The Villanova Equestrian team practices about 20 minutes off campus at Great Scott Farm, which is a business owned and operated by Lindsay Langan, who also happens to be the coach of the team.

Member Grayson Pruett described how this relationship with Langan formed. 

“Basically, what happened is that someone on the Villanova team approached Lindsay and asked if she would be our coach,” Pruett said. 

Langan owns her farm and has her own business training clients in the equestrian sport. On top of this, she provides weekly lessons for members of the Villanova Equestrian team, for which they pay a small fee. 

Each member of the team is assigned a horse for the week, and once everyone is set with their horses, they do a group ride for about an hour. 

For horse shows, the names of all the horses are put in a hat and each person’s horse is selected randomly.

“It’s supposed to be a testament to who you are as a rider,” Pruett said.

To prepare for shows, the Villanova team switches up the horses to mimic the same feel of the competition. 

The team competes in the Interscholastic Horse Show Association (IHSA) against other college students. To be on the team, there is a requirement of three horse shows each semester, one of those being the “home show” hosted in November by Villanova at the Great Scott Farm. 

“We basically have to set up everything, get the horses ready, provide snacks and provide some opportunities for fundraising,” Pruett said.

In the English Equestrian competitions, there are two major divisions or categories of challenges: flat and fences. The flat category is focused on the equitation of the rider. Fences is how well you can execute a course of jumps. These are the categories that the Villanova Equestrian team practices. 

Along with the opportunities that this club sport provides for people who enjoy riding, those on the team genuinely enjoy being a part of the team and hanging out with their fellow members. 

Member Morgan Panzrier spoke about her experience on the team.

“I love the community the equestrian team has connected me to, and I have made some of my best friends being on the team,” Panzrier said.

Pruett also shares this love for the team and mentioned lots of group bonding activities such as team brunches and other get-togethers. She described her appreciation for her fellow teammates. 

“To be able to have a community where we can all bond over a huge passion that we’ve all had since we are little is really something unique and special,” she said.

Pruett also described how she loves to incorporate horseback riding into her week.

“It is a dream to be able to ride in the middle of my school week and it’s a phenomenal form of exercise,” she said.

Villanova’s club equestrian team has around 30 members who deeply love the club. If you are interested in supporting or joining this team, make sure to check out its page on the Villanova club sports website or its Instagram @villanovaequestrian.