Getting back on the horse

As freshmen, Peyton Clapper '27, Ella Escobar '27 and Morgan Hatfield '27 came to Longwood with different ambitions.

Clapper aspired to major in business administration with a focus in cybersecurity. Escobar wanted to study kinesiology and pursue a career in physical therapy. Hatfield planned to double major in psychology and criminology and become an advocate for victims of crimes.

And while those three are still chasing their professional dreams as they head into their senior year, they've already left a lasting, horseshoe-shaped mark on Longwood's campus.

Born from an idea that formed during the first week of their freshman year, Clapper, Escobar and Hatfield have resurrected Longwood's historically rich equestrian team into a thriving student group that last year boasted 14 equestrians, more than a half dozen horses, and membership in the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) where they compete in numerous regional events against schools such as Liberty, Sweet Briar and William & Mary.

Their efforts have relaunched a storied, student-led equine endeavor whose roots date back to the late 1930s when the university, then State Teachers College, first offered horseback riding as an official class. A formal student group later evolved from that course and took several forms over the ensuing decades, with a focus ranging from education and instruction to, eventually, intercollegiate competition.

As Longwood evolved as an institution, so too did its equestrian team. Notably the group adopted the nickname "Lancers" in February 1976, more than a full year before the college adopted the moniker as its new nickname in November 1977. However, Longwood Equestrian fell into dormancy during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and was still sitting idle when Clapper, Escobar and Hatfield arrived on campus as freshmen three years later.

But thanks to the shared equine passions of those three, and the connection they formed as members of the same Peer Mentor group the first week of their freshman year, Longwood equestrian would not stay dormant for long.

"We all filled out a form before we came, and it was supposed to help group us together with people who had similar interests. I guess we all wrote something about horses," Escobar said.

That form, and the ensuing grouping of like-minded Longwood freshmen, was the result of the university's Peer Mentor program, whose format has evolved over time but whose mission has stayed the same. In short, the initiative brings together new students based on shared interests to help them make connections with their classmates soon after they arrive on campus. And while the initial shared interests between those students are often merely ice-breakers, Clapper, Escobar and Hatfield took their affinity for horses and ran with it.

Dr. Heather Lettner-Rust, Longwood professor of English and director of Civitae -and owner of her own horse, Geoffry-served as the faculty mentor of that Peer Mentor group and recalls the moment the idea to restart the team surfaced.

"Out of that group, I believe it was Ella Escobar who mentioned that she wished we had a riding team," Lettner-Rust said. "So I told her she should start one. She just said, 'Ok!' It came out as innocently as that."

It's no surprise that Escobar led that initial charge, given that her parents-Matt Escobar '00 and Heather Escobar '00-met as members of the Longwood equestrian team and introduced her to the sport at a young age. And while Escobar's specific riding discipline is dressage-in which a rider leads her horse through a series of precisely coordinated, rhythmic movements that resemble dancing-she put her full weight behind rebooting the program's traditional jumping-based discipline, or "hunter-jumper," in which Longwood's past equestrian athletes, like her parents, competed.

But while the idea of restarting Longwood equestrian came as an epiphany, the logistics of launching a student club, essentially from scratch, was far more ambitious. Before Clapper, Escobar and Hatfield could start show-jumping hurdles on horseback, they had to clear another set of obstacles just to get their new organization off the ground. Such did their quest to start Longwood equestrian anew become a test of resolve and resilience for the wide-eyed group of freshmen.

First, there was the paperwork to establish a Longwood student organization. Then there was the creation of governing documents, including bylaws and a constitution. Then there was the matter of recruitment and securing funding. All of that before they could even think about finding horses and a place to house them.

But, to the benefit of the trio and their eventual equestrian teammates, the "re-founding" members soon discovered that Longwood's equestrians of the past left them reins to grab ahold of and a well-worn path to follow toward reestablishment.

"Me, Dr. Lettner-Rust and our peer mentor, Samia Alshammaa ['24], went to club sports to see if it was even possible, and we found that the old equestrian club had a constitution," Escobar said. "We all sat down and rewrote that into something more realistic based on us having no money at the time."

That constitution was one of many documents left from the previous iteration of the Longwood Equestrian Club and provided a framework for the freshman trio to make the new iteration of the organization their own. After drafting new bylaws and navigating the formal channels to become a student club, the group focused on the next orders of business: recruiting members, finding horses to ride and securing a stable to keep them.

To find new members, they printed and posted numerous flyers around campus. That drew dozens of people to the initial interest meeting, six of whom-including upperclassmen Hannah Rayfield '26, who went on to serve as president, and Olivia Sisk '26, who graduated this past spring as the team's top rider and captain-became official members of the team. But while fielding a team was a milestone, the group was still far from realizing their goals.

"We had a team, but we had to find a barn," Escobar said. "And then we had to find horses. Then we had to find a trainer. Then we had to find tack for all the horses, and a farrier and a vet."

But channeling the mindset of the horses they soon hoped to ride, the group treated each obstacle as a hurdle, not a roadblock. For a barn, they researched several local spaces before partnering with High Bridge Stables, a nearby stable owned by Longwood equestrian alumna Anne Tyler Paulek '16 and her husband, Professor Adam Paulek, Longwood professor of art. For horses, they entered into "care contracts" with local horse owners, in which team members essentially lease horses in exchange for feeding and caring for them at a stable. They collected dues from each new team member to purchase the necessary equipment and materials, and Paulek helped them find their first coach in the renowned trainer Christine French of Still Water Farms in Red House, Virginia.

"It's wickedly complicated what they undertook," Lettner-Rust said. "It's not like starting a typical sports club where you. This is horses-horses owned by other people, horses that have to be fed and shod. You have to manage the safety of the team through CPR and AED training. You have to find a coach. You have to find money to feed and take care of the horses."

The 2025-26 academic year marked the second year of competition for the relaunched program and saw Clapper, Rayfield, Sisk and teammates Madison Zipf and Grace Vaughn all qualify for IHSA regionals, doing so under their current coach, Ella Eavers, of Blue Willow Farms in Fishersville, Virginia. In May, the team bid farewell to graduating members Rayfield and Sisk and is preparing to welcome a new crop of equestrians this fall.

And in a move signaling their commitment to the longevity of the program, Clapper (vice president), Escobar (president) and Hatfield (treasurer) all relinquished their elected officer positions to underclassmen teammates, allowing the next generation of Longwood equestrians time to settle into their newfound leadership positions.

"It's time to let someone else have a turn at it, and if they need help, we'll still be here," Hatfield said.

In the meantime, thanks to the resolve and commitment of its newest members, the Longwood Equestrian Team will continue riding ahead-just as it has for nearly a century.