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LisRobin equestrian team competes in school-sponsored horse show season

Last year, the Valley’s LisRobin Horse Farm’s equestrian center – under the direction of Sonoma riding teacher Tiana Wells – formed both upper- and middle-school teams to compete in the inaugural school-sponsored Interscholastic Equine Association horse shows, and they’re off and riding in the current, second IEA season.

The IEA national organization’s horse shows offer a different format for teams of student riders, who do not bring their own horses, but have to ride horses supplied by the hosting school, with a random drawing correlating a horse to a rider for the competition.

This horse-show approach challenges the students to ride horses they’ve never ridden in zone competition leading to the national finals, which levels the playing field by having riders judged strictly on their horsemanship.

While many student equestrian teams represent their local schools, it is not an IEA requirement to be affiliated with a school to participate, which gave the LisRobin student-riders the opportunity to compete, though they’re not officially linked to their Valley schools.

Back in September, the LisRobin equestrian school teams competed in their IEA horse show opener, which was hosted by San Dominican School in San Rafael, with the Valley’s Trevor Martinelli earning the highest finishes riding for the upper-school squad (ninth-through-12th grades).

Martinelli was a third-place over-fences finisher, and was fourth on the flat, while upper-school teammates Shannon Stark and Macy Crawford-Roberts were fourth on the flat and sixth in reserve over fences, respectively.

For LisRobin’s middle-school team (sixth-through-eighth-grades), Lydia Griggs-Demmin, Alicia Smith, Eva Bundschu and Velsea Warton all finished sixth on the flat.

In January, Sonoma’s LisRobin student-riders competed in the Athenium/Mt. Diablo IEA Horse Show in Pleasanton, with Martinelli again leading the way for the upper-school team by winning two equitation over fences classes and finishing fourth in equitation on the flat.

The LisRobin upper-school team was also led by Crawford-Roberts’ and Stark’s third- and sixth-place finishes in equitation on the flat, respectively.

Pacing the LisRobin middle-school team were Griggs-Demmin’s fifth-place in equitation on the flat and sixth in equitation over 2-foot fences, Louise Murphy’s equitation on the flat fifth and Warton’s two sixths in equitation over fences.

For more information on the IEA nationally school-sponsored shows, go online at interscholasticequine.

Anyone interested in competitive riding for LisRobin Horse Farm on Carriger Road (owned by John and Barbara Shine), including the school-showing and student-rider teams, equestrian lessons only, or for more details, call Wells at 328-5475.