competition – Houghton STAR

Houghton’s annual Purple and Gold week will occur alongside Homecoming Week, October 3 through October 8. This year, first year students and transfers were assigned to either the Purple or Gold teams, while in previous years students could choose their teams. As per tradition, the two teams will compete in various events throughout the week.

puple-and-gold The origin of Purple and Gold stems from Houghton’s early history. Before participating in intercollegiate athletics, Houghton students competed against each other for Team Purple or Team Gold. The Campus Activities Board (CAB) intents to bring back Purple and Gold Week’s competitive spirit with a host of new and time-honored activities. Laura Cunningham, Resident director of Gillette, stated “I think Purple and Gold Week has expanded since I started working at Houghton. Powderpuff football was a main event a few years ago, but I like that there are other events that happen throughout the week. I think there is greater momentum leading up to Homecoming Weekend.”

CAB member, Kasey Cannister ‘17, stated “Our main goal is to keep making the rivalry between Purple and Gold Strong. The past few years the rivalry has went away. Purple and Gold existed but it was not as strong of a competition as it was in the past. Last year we tried to emphasize Purple vs. Gold and ensure that there was a competition every single day. This year we are trying to do that again.”

Some of the events that are planned are a lip sync battle, trivia night, pudding tug of war, a flag football game,and capture the flag. In addition to those events, throughout the week there will be “pop-up” Minute To Win It games during lunch, and a sidewalk chalk competition. Saturday will host relay races in which alumni are encouraged to participate. The culmination of Purple and Gold week will be on Saturday night with Purple and Gold SPOT.

SPOT is the variety show that occurs once a semester. The fall semester hosts, Travis Trotman ‘17 and Sarah Duttweiler ‘17, chose to focus SPOT on Purple and Gold week. Duttweiler stated, “I think as the SPOT Hosts this year, we really wanted to build on that historic competition and have people really create this dedication to their teams.” She continued, “We have been working hard to make sure it is a good show, that it will be interactive, and exciting. We have seen a lot of great acts try out so we are really positive about the show. Everyone should make sure they come out for the show, sporting their team colors.”

An event unique to Fall 2016 will be the Tree of Life celebration. The Tree of Life, the tree at the center of the Field of Dreams, was struck by lightning during a severe storm this summer. CAB has planned a bonfire at the stump of the Tree of Life. According to CAB Townhouse representative, Tess Taggart ‘18, the bonfire will be a kick-off event for the homecoming and Purple and Gold festivities.

On April 20, the Houghton College Equestrian Center hosted its annual Western New York Dressage Association’s Challenge Series Show. This Saturday, April 27, the Equestrian Center will host its annual Spring Hunter-Jumper Show.

These two shows allow students to interact with outside riders, trainers, and judges every year. The Dressage Challenge Show is one in a series of shows, put on at different farms, that is sponsored by the Western New York Dressage Association (WYNDA), of which Professor Jo-Anne Young, Houghton’s Equestrian Program Director, is the Vice President.

Carrie Keagan, senior psychology major and equestrian minor, will be competing for her last time as a student at Houghton. She said, “The shows is a great chance for Houghton students to get a chance to compete against people outside of Houghton and see how they really match up against other riders. Most of us enjoy competing, and, as a group, we generally place very well in the classes.”

Last Saturday, students in Dressage, Competition Dressage, and those who practice and train outside of a class setting, competed on Houghton’s school horses. Students who board their own horses at Houghton have also competed in the past, but none chose to this year.

Historically, the highlight of the show is the Twelve-Horse Quadrille, which is a pattern ridden to music by twelve horse and rider pairs. Every spring semester, a different group of Houghton students learn the pattern and perform at the WYNDA Dressage show and at the Equestrian Program Senior Exhibition that will take place on May 10.

The first three levels of Dressage, Introductory, Training, and First Level were performed by many different riders at the show. The Junior High Scorer was Joanna Sudlow, riding one of Houghton’s schoolmasters, Entertainer. Kate Shannon, also riding Entertainer, placed first in the Senior Training Level One class, where she competed solely against riders not from Houghton College.

Dressage is one of the elements of the Equestrian sport that is performed at the Olympic level. Houghton teaches all its Equestrian majors the basic movements and theory behind the discipline, and, if they wish, students have the opportunity to learn movements that are performed at the Olympic level from Professor Young, if they choose to put in the time and perseverance.

Students from Horsemanship I to Mini-Prix Jumping Equitation (the highest level jumping academic course available to Houghton’s students) will be competing this Saturday. Classes will be offered in the under-saddle and over-fences categories. Under-saddle simply means that the horse and rider will compete with everyone else registered in their class at the same time and only have to go through the different gaits; there are no fences involved.

The spring Hunter-Jumper show also offers classes in both Hunter and Equitation categories. If the class is designated Hunter, then the horse and rider pair are judged only on what the horse does in the ring: the quality of its gaits and movement, its athleticism and conformation (or build), and several other technical factors. In an equitation class, the horse and rider pair are judged based upon the rider’s position and skills when riding, regardless of the horse, whether it behaves perfectly or takes off bucking.

The show ends with three jumper classes, which are not judged by the horse or the rider, but rather the speed that the pair can complete a course. The obstacles are higher and more complicated or distracting in jumper classes, and the goal is to leave all the fences untouched in the shortest amount of time.

Andrea Ypma, a senior, said, “The hunter-jumper show provides students a chance to show what they have learned over a variety of courses designed to test their skill.” Ypma has a vast knowledge of course design concepts and spent her internship at Thunderbird Equestrian Show Park in Canada, a facility that hosts high-level hunter-jumper competitions. She has helped to design challenging and interesting courses in the past.

Houghton’s Equestrian Center also hosts an annual USEF/USDF Recognized Dressage Show, a horse trial in the fall, which incorporates, dressage, showjumping and cross country, and a Christmas Hunter-Jumper Fun Show. All events are free to spectators, and the Equestrian students would love to see the rest of the college spend some time at the horse barn.

The program offers many excellent opportunities, the shows being just a few. Young said, “The Equestrian Program gives students a solid foundation in Equestrian Studies, based on the principles of classical dressage, and incorporating riding, teaching riding, training horses, and care of the horse. If you love horses, and are willing to take the time and effort to learn to understand their culture and how to ‘speak their language,’ the amazing lesson horses at the Equestrian Center have some fantastic things to teach you.”