Sisters riders are district champs

Sisters High School produced another championship team, this time at the Oregon High School Equestrian Team (Central Oregon district) final meet on April 28-30.

The meet was held at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center in Redmond and fielded teams from Central and Eastern Oregon, 18 in all. Sisters emerged as the District Champion in the large school teams, those consisting of 16 or more riders.

Equestrian team is a club sport and covers the gamut of riding disciplines from dressage to roping. Karen Friend is the team advisor and she credits parental support and coaching help from community members with expertise in various equestrian disciplines in getting the Sisters team to championship level.

An equestrian team meet is not a mere hour or two out of an afternoon. It requires a four-day commitment, hauling a horse (sometimes two), gear, feed and maybe an RV for accommodation.

Equestrian team at Sisters High School has grown from a handful of riders of varying experience three years ago to 17 members this season. Riders don’t need to have experience under their belt to take part; one of the appealing aspects of equestrian team is that the variety of events makes it possible for less experienced riders to take part.

Many members of the Sisters team regularly participate in other horse shows and disciplines but will forego those competitions to turn up for the equestrian team meets. Team members, supporters and coaches all pull together to make it a good experience for all participants.

The atmosphere found at the fairgrounds during a meet is one of happy activity. Horses content in their stalls, team members helping each other groom and bathe their horses, drill teams practicing and parents lending sweat equity all add to the camaraderie. Sisters team members Shayna Forbes, Christina Holler, Aubyn Geser and Rachel Pilliod all agreed that the low-key team aspect is their favorite part of the sport.

The bond in equestrian sport is between horse and rider and in every other competition the horse-rider team competes individually. It is a refreshing experience for these athletes to know that they carry each other through and the accolades are not for themselves alone. While there is a place for individual achievement, the riders are working for the team.

Rachel Pilliod, the lone senior on the team, has been involved since moving to Sisters three years ago. Her first year on the team marked the beginning of a resurgence of interest in the sport.

She noted the remarkable increase in participation and said, “Everyone does well and everyone helps out. The whole team makes progress.”

On the way to the championship, several Sisters riders brought home medals. Those riders and others qualified for the state competition, to be held May 18-20 in Medford. Friend said that 13 of the 17 team members are heading to the state meet.

Sisters had a competitor in every one of the 23 events in the final competition. Six of those competitors brought home gold medals, four garnered silver and four more captured bronze medals. The medals are awarded based on results of the three-meet season.

In a notable accomplishment, the four-rider team of Shayna Forbes, Jennier Friend, Christina Holler and Cassidy Keeton broke the district record for the Team Canadian Flags event.

The six-rider drill team, coached by Amanda Dinsmoor, took home a gold medal. It was the first year Sisters fielded a six-rider team; previous teams had four riders. This was the third year in a row Sisters won the gold. The riders were Jennifer Friend, Shayna Forbes, Aubyn Geser, Christina Holler, Rachel Pilliod and Leslee Zenich.