At Emma Willard School, athletes come in all forms and abilities. Beyond the 14 different traditional athletic offerings, the Practicum program allows athletes from a variety of sport disciplines to continue their training while receiving credits towards graduation. Ava O. ’25, Caroline G. '23, and Isa J. '23, are dedicated equestrians participating in the Practicum program.

Athletes are accustomed to a strict practice schedule to fine tune their craft. For equestrians, this is much trickier, considering their home field is a barn off-campus and their teammates are live animals with high emotional intelligence. In this sport, trust is foundational for success, and this is achieved by spending adequate time learning and working with their horses.

Practicum provides an avenue for riders to design a schedule where they can work with their horses as much as they need to. This flexibility to travel to their home barns gives riders an additional opportunity to develop their skills. Dressage rider Caroline G. '23 shared, “For the past four winters, I've been going to Rhinebeck a few times a week to ride throughout the winter, which obviously is very challenging because it's two hours away.” 

Similarly, Isa J. ’23, was commuting to her most recent barn, Oz Farm, in Saugerties, NY, an Ulster County hotspot for equestrian activity about 20 minutes northwest of Rhinebeck. HITS Saugerties Horse Show Series, one of the largest shows in the Northeast, is only five minutes away from her former barn. Isa, who competes in Equitation, often frequented HITS and traveled with her barn during the winter show season to Wellington, FL. 

Ava O. ’25 is a jumper who currently trains out of Stepping Stone Farm, a barn in nearby Averill Park. Thanks to the proximity to Emma Willard School, Ava can be more flexible in her training schedule. “With Practicum, it's super easy to get to lessons. If I have long breaks during the school day, I'm able to go there really quickly, do my lesson, and then come back.” She continued, “For jumping, it's working the horses, so [the lesson] is a bit shorter—about 20 minutes. When I'm flatting, which is working out [without jumping], it takes a little bit longer. We jump less than we flat because it puts strain on the horses, while flatting keeps them healthy and moving.”

 

Like Isa, Ava also travels to Wellington during competition season, typically running from November to April. Wellington is the winter equestrian capital of the world, exploding with top talent over the last twenty years. For Isa and Ava, having an opportunity to demonstrate their hard work on the world's biggest stage is truly made possible by the Practicum program. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, asynchronous learning granted a pathway for riders to continue their craft in environments they could most benefit from. For example, on top of her academic coursework, Isa was a working student at her barn in Wellington during the pandemic. The extra time she was able to dedicate provided her with opportunities to work different horses, ultimately strengthening her skill set. As her riding developed, she learned how to balance long work hours with rigorous coursework. Isa began laying the groundwork for Practicum travel for future riders at Emma Willard School and hopes to see the opportunities grow. “It's really improved my time management. It's nice to feel that the school trusts me enough to do that, and I'm glad that it continued to work out. I feel that I know myself a little bit better now. I know how much time I need to do things, and it's just really helped me with my overall schedule.”

“I'm super independent now,” she continues. “Working at the barn, I had to be very self-directed and really good at quick problem-solving. I feel that I'm super organized just by being away from school because now I have a really good system that helps me here, and I think will help me in college.”

At the moment, Ava’s barn is competing in Florida. The structure of her Practicum leave demonstrates not only her commitment to riding, but also her leadership in the classroom: “I leave New York Thursday and compete Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Emma Willard is really flexible with [my schedule] and very nice about it.” She continued, “I'm very on top of my schoolwork. I have four classes on Fridays, so when I come back, I have a meeting with each teacher. I go over what I need to do, what I missed, and make sure I'm caught up on everything. It's a really good way to be able to practice my sport and travel to where I need to, while also being able to focus on school and stay on top of everything.”

During the pandemic, Caroline saw Practicum as an opportunity to work under one of the most accomplished riders in her discipline. In August 2020, Caroline moved to Maine for a two-month intensive training program hosted by Lendon Gray, a two-time US Olympian and founder of Dressage4Kids. “She knows a lot about dressage, and not only wanted to help kids my age to get better, but also teach kids about horses. There's so much out there teaching kids how to ride, but there's not a lot about horses and about how to properly take care of them, which is just as if not more important than the riding itself.” After Caroline’s training program ended, she continued with asynchronous learning, using Practicum to help train her new horse in Rhinebeck, and now at her new barn at home in Saratoga. 

 

The freedom that Emma Willard School’s independent study gives to equestrian riders enables them to develop the crucial aspect of bonding between the rider and their horse. This bond not only ensures the success of the pair, but their safety as well. “Relationships with the horses are a huge part of the sport,” Ava O. ’25 shared. You have to have a good relationship with your horse, so they will be able to perform the best they can for you. They know who's on their back, who is controlling them; it's about trust.” 

Although Caroline, Ava, and Isa all practice different disciplines, they share a common gratitude for the Practicum program. Isa reflects, “Practicum has helped me take classes that I enjoy. Coming home after a long day at the barn, I really wanted to spend time on something that I loved. This year I started taking classes not necessarily because I thought they would prepare me for college—because I think the school does that in general—but classes that I would enjoy and want to take before graduating. I'm taking an art history class and a cinema class, classes that I like to take and like to do work for.” 

 

 

For Caroline, her Practicum experience has opened a door to Emma Willard School’s Signature program. “I was always really fascinated about how the environment that horses are in influences their behavior because horses in general are very expressive. They all have such different distinct personalities, like humans, and they're all so different and expressive. I was really interested in how certain components in their environment and the interior architecture of the place they're in can influence their wellbeing.” 

She explained, “Last year I did interior architecture of barns—thinking about what promotes the proper attitude in a horse in a barn, what makes them the most zen, the most calm? Because it's like the resting place when they're in the barn. This year I'm doing indoors, which is actually a little bit different because, yes, you want the horse to be calm in the indoor, but it's also where they work. It's not necessarily where they sleep. It’s been interesting to learn about the components of an indoor environment that are best for their physical and mental wellbeing while being safe.”

Ava shared, “Practicum gives me more time with my horses, especially when competing, since I don't get to be with them during the week. The amount of extra time I am able to get with them has really made me love the sport even more. The school letting me go down every weekend, even though it's a big commitment, has been awesome. I love it.”

She continued, “I love all of my teachers. They're all so sweet and take time out of their personal life to come meet with me to make sure I'm where I need to be. They're just really supportive, so it's really nice to have support behind me.”

Isa provides a piece of advice for young students considering independent study. “Practicum is hard work, but go for it. It’s such a unique experience, especially if you can find something that would take you into the real world environment a little bit more. My best Emma memories have been Practicum related. It’s a great choice because of the kind of freedom and flexibility they give you to go and do things that you love. I'm glad I picked Emma for that reason.”