Junior places at equestrian nationals

By Nicholas Pinkerton

In many sports, success comes down to picking the right play during a crucial moment. For junior Christine Andry, success often comes down to drawing the right horse at the right time.

Andry, who is the president of the Santa Clara equestrian club, most recently competed in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Nationals in Springfield, Mass., last week.

She returned to Santa Clara on Sunday after taking third place in the flat division.

"I cannot imagine my life without horses in it," she said.

A resident of Chatsworth, Calif., Andry has been riding since she was three years old. Her older sister, also a rider, had an influence on her.

"I kind of just followed in her footsteps and started riding at a younger age than her," said Andry.

Andry began competing in beginner shows when she was five or six years old. Shortly after, she participated in "Schooling Shows" and joined the Pony Club, which, according to Andry, is similar to girl scouts.

Throughout her competitions during childhood and throughout high school, Andry stuck to B-circuit events because of the high costs of shows.

"Horse shows cost a lot of money, especially the A-circuit," she said. "I never really did the A-circuit shows."

Upon arriving at Santa Clara, Andry took two years off from competition and rode only when she visited home.

"I couldn't find a barn up here, and I didn't have a car, so that put me at a huge disadvantage," she said.

During her junior year, Andry began to ride at a local barn and resumed training for the first time in two years.

"After not riding for a while, you will feel muscles you never knew you had," she said. "It's a lot of leg work, it's a lot of core work."

"You have to pretty much stay in shape to do well in any competition. It requires more work than the average person would think," she added.

Entering an IHSA regional tournament, Andry qualified for the California zone championship by earning enough points in the flatwork and jumping events.

She then placed second in her level at the zone championship in Pomona.

Of the eight skill groups at the championship, Andry competed in the second most advanced level.

At the IHSA Nationals, however, she felt overwhelmed by the competition.

"It was so nerve-racking," she said. "There were the top 400 riders in the nation out of 7,500 that were competing the whole year."

In IHSA competitions, each rider draws a horse's name from a hat and uses that horse for her specific event.

"For the jumping round, it wasn't so hot," said Andry in reference to drawing an unsatisfactory horse. "I didn't place in the jumping round."

That did not keep her from taking third place in the flat division event on the third day of the competition.

"Luckily, I got a better pick," she said with a smile.

Now a national competitor, Andry hopes to continue riding and competing in the future.

"I see myself doing it for a very long time, and I hope that I will do nothing but improve from here," she said. "It's something that I really want to stay a part of my life forever."

Contact Nicholas Pinkerton at (408) 551-1918 or npinkerton@scu.edu