UBC Thunderbirds Equestrian Sport Club
Proudly Hosted By Riverside Equestrian Centre
2023-2024 Season Highlights
3 High Point Team Winners
3 Reserve High Point Team Winners
Completing the season in a close Reserve High Point Team Championship for Zone 8 Region 4. Congrats UW for the win!
Individual Regional Championships Winners
Danielle Porritt wins Limit Flat
Anina Backman-Choo wins Intermediate Flat and Fences
Justine Rapier finishes third in Intermediate Flat
Madison Weber wins Open Flat, Open Fences, and Regional Open High Point Rider
UBC competes in the IHSA (Intercollegiate Horse Show Association) league, predominantly in the USA. With a focus on making equestrian sport available to university students, IHSA competitions are entirely ‘catch riding’ - riders compete on borrowed horses with no warm-up time! There are 8 levels of competitors, from Walk-Trot beginners, all the way to Open Jumping.
UBC is part of IHSA Zone 8 Region 4, along with Western Washington University, University of Washington, Central Washington University, Washington State University, University of Oregon, and Oregon State University.
History of the Equestrian Team at UBC
A Winning Record
2015-16 Season:
Regional Open High Point Rider: Natalie Nahirney
National Reserve Champion Intermediate Flat: Claire Anderson
2016-17 Season:
Regional Open High Point Rider: Natalie Nahirney
Zone 8 Champion Open Flat: Natalie Nahirney
Zone 8 Reserve Champion Intermediate Fences: Claire Anderson
National Open Flat: Natalie Nahirney 9th place
National Intermediate Fences: Claire Anderson 7th place
2017-18 Season:
Regional Open High Point Rider: Claire Anderson
Zone 8 Champion Open Flat: Natalie Nahirney
Zone 8 Champion Open Fences: Claire Anderson
National Open Flat: Natalie Nahirney 4th place
2018-19 Season:
Regional Champion Intermediate Flat: Katie Donohoe
**COVID Break**
2022-23 Season:
Regional Open High Point Rider: Madison Weber
Regional Champion Open Flat: Madison Weber
Regional Champion Open Fences: Madison Weber
Regional Champion Intermediate Fences: Jasmine Taylor
2022-23 Season:
Regional Open High Point Rider: Madison Weber
Regional Champion Open Flat: Madison Weber
Regional Champion Open Fences: Madison Weber
Regional Champion Intermediate Fences: Jasmine Taylor
Inspired to create a formal riding team at UBC, they applied to the newly founded UBC Thunderbird Sport Club Program, a sub-varsity, student run sports organization.
For the 2016-2017 season, we hosted tryouts for the first time, building a team of 20 riders! Bringing a full roster to competitions for the first time, we were thrilled to finish second place in the region as a team.
In 2017, we found our home at Riverside.
After her final competitive season in 2018, Nat began coaching the team.
In 2015, Nat Nahirney and Claire Anderson joined the UBC AMS Equestrian Club with a small group of competitive riders. Against the odds, they qualified for Zone 8 Finals at Stanford, and subsequently National Finals in Lexington, Kentucky.
