Many of the Oregon City students were affected by the floods, not just the Equestrian team. Some were even on evacuation levels.
The Clackamas River ultimately flooded through Estacada and part of Oregon City. Preventing some athletes from attending practice.
This situation caused the Equestrian team to cancel practices, leading to most of the athletes becoming stressed for the upcoming meet, which was less than a month away.
The team was unable to practice at all for two weeks straight. The first week of Christmas break, coaches decided to cancel Tuesday and Thursday practices due to the wind and rain. The second week of break, coaches canceled Tuesday practices due to the roads being underwater.
The drill team, which is one of the most crucial events that athletes have to practice, is the most behind. There are eight riders on the team, and the athletes have to do a whole bunch of maneuvers, and it’s one of the most dangerous events the Oregon High School Equestrian Teams has.
“We definitely have been struggling to learn our pattern; it’s a six-and-a-half-minute pattern. It’s very rough right now because we haven’t been able to lope the pattern, and at the meets we run full speed,” said freshman Addie Blanton.
Coaches have picked up extra practices to assist the athletes to be able to learn the pattern and get comfortable before they perform it. Everyone started practicing on the weekends to catch up.
“Yes, I hate that we have to practice on weekends, but I get why we have to. It just sucks to lose a few hours on the weekends,” said junior Easter Hoffman.
The team practices twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday. The entire drill team has to be able to be there to practice.
If there is a missing person, the drill team can’t have anyone to step in and fill in.
The normal practices have been affected due to the floods. Most athletes aren’t prepared for the first meet.
In normal practices on Tuesdays, athletes review every pattern they are participating in: mainly In Hand Obstacle Relay, working pairs, and showmanship.
“I’ve missed going to practices when we couldn’t practice because that’s where I see some of the girls I love to talk to, because I don’t see them through the school day,” said sophomore Ava Kitts.
On Thursdays its the gaming practices which consist of: barrels, poles, figure 8, bi-rangel, Canadian flags, key hole, and Indian flags. Most of the athletes are comfortable with these events, due to them being the main events in which athletes compete.
There have been a lot of setbacks this year, including the equine herpesvirus type-1 (EHV-1), a bad virus that broke out this year. Then there was the flooding situation. Athletes hope there are no more roadblocks this year for the team.
