While some girls lose their childhood dream of owning a horse, others have turned horseback riding into a year-round sport.

Although it may not be as popular as the hockey or crew club, the equestrian club has some talented members who compete at interschool meets involving riders from Maryland and Virginia. The team has 12 people signed up, but only a few are active members, including freshman JV member Leslie Barton and varsity member junior Shannon Miglarese. The meets, held once a month on Sundays, feature between 150 and 200 high school and middle school riders from public and private schools.

There are no team practices, which makes it easier for members to keep up with school and other sports. That doesn’t diminish team unity, however, as riders purchased identical jackets with a horse on the front and blue writing on the back, saying “Walt Whitman Equestrian Team.” Next year, Miglarese hopes to have weekly meetings where the team goes over film with coach Sarah Fleischman.

            Although riders are allowed to bring their own horses to the meets, many horses are borrowed from the various barns that the competitions take place in.

            “I personally ask all of the Whitman riders to use borrowed horses,” Miglarese said. “I think it levels the playing field much better.”

            The interschool meets are “Hunter” competitions. At the meets, the riders must place in one of two classes of walk-trot-canter work to advance to jumping. However, not all of the Whitman riders participate in Hunter competitions outside of school.

            Junior Abby Bodurtha, who is technically a member of the team although she hasn’t attended a meet yet, independently competes in “eventing,” which is a three-stage competition involving complex movements, jumping, and cross-country. Although the cross-country part of the race is the most dangerous, Bodurtha said it’s her favorite part.

            “I love it just because it tests so many different areas of riding, from how the horse moves and looks, to how accurately you can complete a course of fences, to how much endurance and stamina you and your horse have,” she said.

            Bodurtha rides six days a week at Bascule Farm in Poolesville, which she describes as a tight-knit community.

            “In the summer we hang out all day,” she said of her friends at the barn. “Sometimes we ride bareback, sometimes we go galloping.”

            Freshman India Harrison, who is interested in the team but can’t currently join due to injury, has been riding since she was eight years old.

            “I always wanted to do it, even when I was really little,” she said. “I was lucky that my grandmother gave me horseback riding lessons for my eighth birthday.”

            Harrison, who competes in the events of Hunter and Equitation – an event judged based on riding technique – won several awards, including placing first in her division in Hunter riding. She also placed 11th in a zone that includes five states and D.C.

            For junior Sonja Stojic, horseback riding is less for the competition and more of a “backseat hobby,” although she is part of the Montgomery County 4-H club and previously competed in the State Fair and State Dressage competitions.

            Her horse, a 22 year old named Major Education, is kept at her family farm in Gettysburg. For competitions, the family owns a trailer and transports the horses back and forth.

            “I go riding every weekend I’m at the farm and the weather’s decent,” she said.

            Some parents hold their children back from horseback riding at younger ages. Harrison’s mother made Harrison wait until she was eight after her friend gave her advice that children are more likely to have a negative experience if they are too young to control a horse.

            Bodurtha’s parents also made her wait to ride, citing safety reasons. Although it was frustrating to wait as a child, she said she understands her parents’ motivations.

            “I probably would have done the same thing in their position,” she said. “Knowing what I know now, and especially the ways I’ve gotten hurt and the way I’ve seen my friends get hurt, there’s no harm in waiting until you’re just a little bit older.”

            Younger children also often do team sports, and horseback riding is an independent sport. However, it can still foster a sense of community between team members or barn members.

            “It’s a good way to make friends,” Bodurtha said. “I met people I never would have met otherwise.”