Joe Mclean
Glasgow University Riding Club is having a successful, rosette-filled season, with wins in competitions for all of their teams.
They have a team going to the prestigious Scottish Universities Sport (SUS) Championships, where they will be represented by their captain, Mhairi Rawluk, along with Claire Herbison and Rachel Malloch, to be held on March 21 at Kingsbarn Stables in Fife.
The competition will involve eight teams, consisting of various tests for horse and rider. The contestants will first face a tough dressage, which will involve every rider competing at the same time, calling for synchronisation, teamwork and skilled riding. They will also compete in showjumping up to a maximum height of 110cm.
Glasgow has held its own in competitions throughout this season and at every level. The C-team has competed three times recently, against Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh University, in dressage and showjumping, winning two of these competitions and placing second in the other. The C-team has also excelled individually with tremendous rides from Gemma Lord who won individually at Heriot-Watt and at Glasgow’s home competition, which took place at Tannoch stables. Glasgow put their home GURC continue to whip away the rest advantage to good use, allowing the C-team to flourish. This competition also saw another fine display from Hannah Smith, who placed second individually at all three competitions.
Overall, the C-team have had a fantastic season and hope to continue this at the regionals, where they will compete against the top two teams in Scotland for the chance to be crowned outright champions.
The B-team has also been very successful, having recently taken part in three competitions, coming first in two of them and third in the other. The B-team drew on points with Edinburgh University and were unfortunate to be beaten due to penalties. Glasgow riders again topped the individual spots at all of these competitions, and in doing so, demonstrated great skill and competitiveness from all the riders who took part.
Finally, the A-team have been utterly dominant this year, having won each of its three competitions this year, in doing so beating rivals Strathclyde and Caledonian in their league. The A-team also saw a fine individual display from Eilish Busby, when she took first place at two competitions and second at the other. Glasgow are now placed as one of the top three teams in Scotland and will next compete at the Regionals, to be held on March 31 at Oatridge College in Edinburgh.
