By Nicholas Petrucelli
The nationally ranked SMU equestrian team beat No. 9 Oklahoma State this weekend at its first home meet at the Dallas Equestrian Center. This is the first season the Lady Mustangs have competed at this facility.
The arena is set!
Make sure to join us at the Dallas Equestrian Center at 11 a.m. as we take on Oklahoma State!#PonyUp pic.twitter.com/kwQKlIdHYc— SMU Equestrian (@SMUEquestrian) October 15, 2016
The old center was about an hour away from SMU campus. The new center is located 3.5 miles from campus. The 10-acre facility houses the more than 25 horses that the team uses to compete.
Third year Head Coach Carol Gwin was eager to move into the new barn because the distance of the old barn was far.
“On a good day, it was a 45 minute drive. On a bad day an hour and a half because of traffic” she said.
SMU alumni Scott Wilson purchased the new barn last spring, and changed the name to the Dallas Equestrian Center. This was around the same time the old barn was being sold. Wilson called up Coach Gwin and asked what it would take to get the equestrian team to the DEC.
“We worked all spring on what that would take. The addition of the outdoor arena was one of the pieces that was important to us.” Coach Gwin says.
When Coach Gwin first got the barn, there were four stalls, now the equestrian team has access to new features.
Some of the features are three indoor arenas, two outdoor arenas, and twenty new paddocks, which are used to house the horses. The facility caters to multiple different stable owners, but parts of the facility, like the clubhouse and locker rooms, are designed specifically for the SMU equestrian team.
Senior Captain Jaclyn White has been apart of the transition between barns. Her father was one of the people who helped work on expanding the barn to more than four stalls.
Like the rest of the team, White believed good things were to come from the DEC.
“I think it is really good for our publicity, there is other people here that see us working hard.” White says.
“It gives SMU campus more ability to come see our competition and come support us.”
Another difference between the old barn and the DEC is that the team is not separated. There are two different types of riders on the equestrian team, the Western riders and the English riders. At the old barn, the Western riders and the English riders had separate stalls. Now they have stalls and can be a collective unit.
“We get to ride together and tack up together. We have a lot more arenas to ride in and now we have one collective tack room.” Sophomore Michaela Dinger said.
“Now everything is
close and central and the flow is a lot better.”
