Instead of going for the gold, the Penn State Equestrian team is striving for the blue ribbon.

Months of training, practice and victories have paid off for the team, which will go to the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) National Championship in Harrisburg from May 4 to 7.

Founding coach David Flynn said a team of eight riders
and eight individual riders proved themselves in the
Central Pennsylvania regional competition and the zone competition to continue on to the national level.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for the team," Flynn said.

The regional competitions, during which around 400 teams compete across the nation, narrows down competitors by allowing only the first- and second-place winners to move onto the zone competition, he said.

Former team President Lauren Dowler said the eight-rider team won the regional competition by almost 100 points, which is a great achievement in the Penn State team's 35-year history.

Dowler said Penn State was one of the first intercollegiate teams formed. Flynn started it in 1971 at his Eastwood Farms in Bellefonte, where the members practice on 25 horses.

In the zone competition, the Penn State team competed against teams from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and a number of New England states and placed first and second to move onto the national competition, Flynn said.

Flynn added that there are nine zones in the United States, and only 18 teams compete in nationals from the zone competitions.

"Nationals is a competition of very high caliber," Flynn said.

As if the road to nationals isn't hard enough, horse riders aren't allowed to bring their horses to a competition, but rather draw a name out of a bowl or hat for a horse they never met before, Flynn said.

"It's the luck of the draw," he added.

Dowler said that even though this seems difficult, this process allows all riders to start on the same level for the competition. Every competition follows this procedure, so after a few competitions, riders get used to the process, she said.

"Also, they will be able to ride a variety of horses instead of just their horse," she added.

Equestrian team Vice President Margi White said she is not competing this year, but she is volunteering at nationals.

White said since the competition is in Harrisburg, about 45 team members will volunteer, doing activities like manning the media booth, handing out ribbons and taking care of the horses.

Dowler said she is excited about this year's competition because the location is closer, allowing more of the team members to attend, but the dates conflict with finals week.

"It's hard to get your finals rescheduled and move everything around, but it will pay off in the end," she said.