Club Secretary, Ellen Murphy, of St Andrews University Riding Club, outlines the club activities and gives the low-down on the committee members...

St Andrews University Riding Club is open to all students of the university and is proud to have a wide range of
members. While many of our members were highly competent riders before joining the club, a large number had little or no experience of riding before coming to university. As with most riding clubs, we have a rather uneven sex ratio, with significantly more women than men joining. However, the men that do join tend to stay in the club and we have one man on the teams this year.
We offer lessons to riders of all levels and are lucky enough to have a riding facility only ten minutes away from the town centre. Apart from lessons, the club also organises beach hacks, which have proven to be very popular. The aim of the club, however, is not only to provide riding opportunities for students, but also to offer a chance for people with an interest in riding to get to know each other. While the club has focused primarily on the teams in the past, we have now put a lot of effort into making the club even more enjoyable for non-team members, while
keeping the high standard of our two teams. A first step in attaining this goal has been to extend the committee. Our Club Captain, Katy Campbell, now has two committee members helping her with the organisation of the competitions and the training of the teams, while the rest of the committee focuses on general issues.
Our Social Secretary, Ada Jakobsen, has put a lot of effort into organising the club's social side. Among other things, last semester's social events included a fresher's pub crawl, a Christmas dinner, and a stable management course for our beginners and intermediate riders. Next semester's activities will include a range of parties as well as a club championship. It is our hope that the club championship will provide an opportunity for those with no previous competing experience to enter their first competition in a friendly and familiar environment, as well as motivating people to further improve their riding.
The St. Andrews team came third at the Nationals in 2004 and has sent at least two riders to the regionals every year. We were also Scottish champions in 2002. The teams compete in BUSA competitions. The first team compete in the Trophy league which culminates in the National Final and the second team compete in the Shield league which has its own final.
The competitions are composed of a dressage and show jumping element. At the early stages the test is novice level and the show jumping just a little bit more than British Novice. However as the team progresses through the stages of the competitions to regionals and nationals, the standard gets higher and much tougher!
The idea of the competitions is that riders take on an unknown horse which they warm up on for five minutes and then must complete the test/round. The winning rider is the one that gets the best out of the unknown horse. It is a very rewarding competition because this format means that it is truly a test of rider not about who has the best
horse! Hopefully youÕll see us at the 2007 Nationals!
In all, we flatter ourselves on having a highly dynamic club and plan on further improving it by continuously increasing the number of social and equestrian events offered.

Katy Campbell
Position: Club Captain
Course: Philosophy & English Literature MA
Year of Study: 3
Horseography: I have been riding all my life and have been lucky enough to keep horses at home for nearly all that time. I compete in eventing, show jumping and all Pony Club activities. I have had horses but now I rely on getting rides due to studying so far from home! I also enjoy teaching at Pony Club and at university. I joined the club in my first year and was Treasurer last year. I competed at the northern regionals with another team member in 2005 and 2006.
Likes: Apart from riding I enjoy skiing, literature, travel and being a member of the University Air Squadron.
Dislikes: The fact that the cost of affiliating has become so expensive, especially in eventing and showing; and
bad temper and rudeness in competition. Anything else? After I graduate I hope to study in London for a law conversion with the goal of working in Corporate or International law. I have an internship with a firm this summer so its all dependent on how that goes!

Heiko Peschi
Position: Club President
Course: Medicine
Year of Study: 3
Horseography: I had less then 10 lessons almost 15 years ago. Joined the Riding Club at the beginning of my second year at university and started training again. I am still a riding beginner and therefore have no favourite discipline yet.
Likes: Animals (my cat in particular), organising, sports (especially hiking, Taekwondo and riding of course) and
nature
Dislikes: Cold and rainy days (of which there are plenty in Scotland!)

Katie Garner
Position: Treasurer
Course: BSc Mathematics
Year of Study: 3
Horseography: My sister owns a Welsh Section and I help her out with lessons whenever I can
Likes: Horses...duh!
Dislikes: Spelling
Anything Else? That photo was not a fake!

Ellen Murphy
Position: Secretary
Course: Psychology with Neuroscience
Year of Study: 3
Horseography: Being the youngest child in a family full of riders, I've been around horses for nearly all my life and started riding at a young age. As a child, I had an extremely hairy - but quite charming - Shetland pony. After I grew too tall to continue riding him, I rode at a riding school for a few years and then moved on to Swedish warmbloods. My favourite discipline is show jumping, I have competed up to 1.10m, although I am also quite keen on going out for hacks in the forest.
Likes: Riding, skiing and travelling
Dislikes: 9 o'clock lectures!

Aiko Holvikivi
Position: Vice Captain
Course: International Relations MA
Year of Study: 3
Horseography: I've been crazy about horses for as long as I can remember, and when I finally started riding at the age of eight, I was immediately swept away by the way of life. I competed actively in dressage and jumping in my native Finland during my pony years (under sixteens). I got my first horse, a 14-hand Arab gelding when I was 15. Since then I have competed less actively, but trained regularly and ridden all kinds of horses: young, old, big and small. Though I had to give up my horse when I left Finland to go to university in Scotland, the Riding Club and team has offered a great way to continue goal-oriented riding alongside my studies.
Likes: Riding, dancing, photography, cooking and wine.
Dislikes: Warm beer! 

Lottie Smith
Position: Safety Officer and Competition Secretary
Course: Modern Languages with Management
Year of Study: 2
Horseography: Got a fat hairy Shetland when I was three years old, and haven't looked back since! Like doing all aspects of equestrianism, but had most success at showing - won the BSPS Supreme Show Pony Championship in 2003.
Likes: The student life!
Dislikes: Snakes and clowns!

Lucy Barclay
Position: 1st Year Representative
Course: Geography and Geoscience
Year of Study: 1
Horseography: I've been riding ever since I can remember, and have worked my way up from Shetland ponies to 16.2hh show jumpers. I've been a member of Deveron Pony Club for 12 years and been in the inter-branch eventing and dressage teams, qualified in the open show jumping team and as an individual for the PC Championships in 2005. Completed the Pony Club 'B' test and am currently working for the 'A' test. I've also been a member of the Findon Riding Club for five years, and have represented the open show jumping team in the Championships. I've been competing in BSJA since I was 11, and moved up to horses two years ago. I now have three horses (two of which are for sale). I'm mostly focused on show jumping now, and am jumping up to 1.30m opens. I've also qualified for the Scope Festival four years in a row.
Likes: Heavy metal music, music gigs and festivals
Dislikes: Riding in the rain!
Anything Else? Will hopefully continue riding during and after university. My main
ambition for this year is to qualify for the Young Riders Final at the Scope Festival.

Ada Martine Jakosen
Position: Social Secretary
Course: BSc Economics and Management
Year of Study: 2
Horseography: I started riding when I was six. After a few early years with show jumping, I mainly concentrated on dressage. During my years as a pony rider I won the Norwegian Dressage Championship for ponies and competed all around Norway. After that I've mostly trained young horses, and am currently training to be a dressage
judge in Norway.
Likes: Hacking in the summer on one of my sister's crazy ponies
Dislikes: Riding in stormy and rainy Norwegian weather 

St Andrews University Riding Club is currently looking for sponsorship. Please contact the Secretary, Ellen Murphy, for further information. Email: ridingclub@st-andrews.ac.uk