So in the Zone

When the dust in the English Arena settled on the Zone 10 Interscholastic Equestrian Association finals, held this past Saturday at Thacher, you could count on two fingers the number of points separating the first place team from the second. Lucky for the Posting Toads (well, luck and some fine riding, even amid tough competition), it was Thacher waving that big, multicolored ribbon stamped “Champion.”

Coached by Elizabeth Reynolds Mahoney CdeP 1988, the Thacher Equestrian Team hosted six other squads—Stanford’s Red Barn, San Domenico, Monte Vista, Woodside Priory, Santa Catalina, and Orchard Hill, in order of day’s-end standings. Three middle school teams also rode: San Domenico won first place, with Red Barn winning Reserve and Monte Vista landing third.

Saturday’s competition determined who’d be heading for Prince George's Show Place Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, for the Nationals later this month. Packing their bags for Thacher’s IEA team will be Avery Hellman ’11 (Varsity Open), Dallas Thayer ’11 (Varsity Intermediate Fences), Lucy Meyers ’13 (Varsity Intermediate Flat), Paige Bowie ’12 (JV Novice), and Raquel Reisinger ’11 (JV Beginner). Avery and Dallas will also be competing there as individual qualifiers, in Open Flat and Intermediate Fences, respectively. Chris Yih also placed in the Zone Finals.

Every Thacher rider doubled as a workerbee on Saturday, pre-dawn to nearly sunset, fetching, grooming, and tending the horses that both they and their competitors drew for the day, helping other riders with mounting, and orchestrating the flow in the warm-up arena. A few others who did not ride but toiled cheerfully: Maggie Miller ’11, Hailey Everett ’12, Bert Mahoney (who served as announcer), and Assistant Coach MJ Taylor.