Defending champs unveil schedule for 2018-19 season

he Skidmore College Riding team, defending Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Champions, unveiled its Hunter Seat Show schedule for the 2018-19 season on Thursday, August 23. The Thoroughbreds will compete in eight regular season events in their quest for a ninth national title. The journey for the Thoroughbreds begins at the friendly confines of the Van Lennep Riding Center on Saturday, Oct. 13 with the Skidmore College Show. Skidmore then travels for the first time this season on Oct. 27, heading to Hartwick. November begins for the Thoroughbreds at Morrisville State, participating in the Morrisville Show on Nov. 3-4. Skidmore then wraps up the 2018 calendar year with the Skidmore College Show on Nov. 17. 2019 begins with the Thoroughbreds at home once again, as they host a show on Feb. 16. March begins the stretch run, as Skidmore heads to Morrisville on March 2, and the regular season finale at Hartwick on March 9. The postseason begins for the Thoroughbreds on March 30, as they host the Region 3 Finals at the Van Lennep Riding Center. The Region champs will head to the Zone 2 finals, held at Lehman Farms in Pittsford, N.Y. The IHSA National Championships will be held in the Empire State this season, as the New York State Fairground Coliseum in Syracuse, N.Y. will host the best teams in nation from May 2-5. The points leader at the end of the four-day event will be crowned as champions. Skidmore finished first in six of the eight regular season shows last year, then turned it up in the postseason. After a dominating performance resulting in a first-place finish at the Zone 2 Championships to qualify for nationals, Skidmore prevailed in a wire-to-wire victory at the three-day event, edging three-time champion Savannah College of Art and Design, winning its eighth IHSA national title.