Sophomore Hunt Seat rider has a 8-8 record this season after going 25-7 in 2011-12
When Katherine Schmidt came to South Carolina as a freshman last season, she was not expecting to compete much at first.
But Schmidt not only competed, the sophomore compiled a 25-7 regular and postseason record and was named the AgSouth Female Athlete of the Year after the season.
It was an unexpected success for a rider who didn’t decide on pursuing a college equestrian career until her senior year of high school.
Schmidt says that one of the reasons she was so successful was because she had already gotten used to riding different horses.
“I have only owned one horse myself so I got a lot of opportunities to ride different people’s horses,” Schmidt said. “That helps a lot in this sport because when you go to school, you are not going to know the horse at all.”
That experience continues to help Schmidt, because the visiting team is normally unfamiliar with the horses they compete with.
Schmidt has had more of an up-and-down year this season, going 8-8 with two Most Outstanding Player awards. In addition, her Hunt Seat team has struggled some over the losing streak.
Schmidt won both of her meets in a Feb. 14 loss at Auburn, picking up a MVP Award.
The equestrian team will try to snap the losing streak when they host Texas A&M on Saturday.
For Hunt Seat coach Carol Gwin, it has been a lack of consistency that has held the Gamecocks back.
“I feel like that one day our jumping (over fences) will be fabulous and then the (equitation on the) flat won’t be that good,” Gwin said. “We are really hoping that we can get both units of the Hunt Seat team to come together, and I think when they do and both sides are successful, it is going to be a victory.”
Despite the recent struggles to the Hunt Seat team, head coach Boo Major says that Schmidt is still one of the best riders on the team.
“She is such a competitor, and she is such a good person that you feel bad for her when she is not doing as well as you would like her to,” Major said. “But she knows she can beat anybody, and we know that she can beat anybody, so I think for her it is just a matter of going in and riding to the best of her abilities.”
Schmidt says that it is a little frustrating to consistently come up short, but knows that the Hunt Seat team is talented enough to get back to its winning ways.
“We all practice a lot and give a lot of effort, and I think that a lot of the problems we have aren’t really riding errors per se, just sometimes people can draw a horse that is difficult to ride,” Schmidt said. “Everyone has been riding really well; it just has been a little bit of bad luck.”
Gwin reiterated that things have just not gone the Gamecocks’ way lately, but said that the Hunt Seat team is lucky to have a rider like Schmidt.
“She is very talented,” Gwin said. “Some people just have a gift, and she does.”