2B | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 2019 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
CGHS from B1
a whole has transcended the typ-
ical dedication and passion oft en
seen in more mainstream sports.
“It’s fun, it’s what I’m supposed
to be doing,” said the junior
Latham. “When you’re on the
horse everything else goes away
and this is what I’m supposed to
be doing. Nothing really else mat-
ters.”
Th is sentiment from Latham
was not entirely unique to this
group but par for the course.
“When I started riding horses
I knew it was forever. I knew I
would always want to keep doing
it,” said Ladd.
“It’s pretty much my life, hon-
estly,” said Wood. “Th is horse
pretty much got me through ev-
erything. I used to be very closed
off and depressed and she just
opened me up.”
What this passion has turned
into is hours upon hours of prac-
tice. Th e equestrian season kicks
off in November and stretches all
the way into mid-June. In that
stretch of time the fall sports sea-
son at CGHS has concluded in
addition to the winter and spring
sports seasons both starting and
fi nishing. But what stands out is
not just the long-term commit-
ment of any one given season but
what a typical day of practice en-
tails.
“Th ey bust their butt. Th is is
like no other sport,” said co-advi-
sor Sias. “Mom and dad can’t drop
you off at a gymnasium and drive
away and come back in three
hours. Th ey are hauling horses.”
Th e school day ends at 3:10
p.m. at CGHS (and 2:07 p.m. on
Wednesdays) at which point the
scramble begins to get things
ready for practice.
Th e team practices four days a
week – a fact that was alarming
to other teams in the league that
practice once a week – at 5:30
p.m. To be ready to start on time,
the athletes arrive at practice at
about 4:45 p.m. Th e process of
getting trailers hooked up and
horses loaded generally begins for
each girl at around 4:00 p.m. Sias
noted that the general team policy
is that you have to have your own
horse and own transportation.
Th is gives the student-athletes
about 50 minutes from the time
the fi nal bell rings at school to
when they need to be at their
house getting everything ready
for practice.
“On practice days I speed home
the best I can, like, aim for 3:30,
3:40. I get home, I get dressed –
because I have to wear my boots
and all that – I go straight to the
barn so I can clean their stalls if I
can before practice if I have time.
If not then I saddle them up and
head off to practice,” said Ladd.
Th e Lions rotate where they
practice but, for the most part,
stay relatively local. Two nights
a week they are at a private arena
off Mosby Creek and on Fridays
they are at an arena down Lynx
Hollow where they get to prac-
tice with cows. Th e team has also
bounced around from the Oregon
Horse Center in Eugene, an arena
in Creswell to, in years past, hav-
ing to trek to Albany and Salem
for practice.
With two co-advisors, fi ve
coaches, an unattached volun-
teer and a dedicated team mom,
the team is well taken care of and,
at practice, there is no shortage
of expert opinions in each disci-
pline. Coaches focused on per-
formance, gaming, drills, cows
and other specialties to make sure
the team is prepared. Aft er go-
ing through the focus of the day
may be, practice usually wraps up
around 8:00 p.m.
“It doesn’t end there because
once they’ve practiced for two or
three hours the horse is hot and
sweaty,” said self-described team
mom Kelli Latham. “You can’t put
a blanket on them, now you have
to cool them down. Sometimes
we’re outside so we can blanket
them and put them back in the
pasture at 9:00 at night.”
By the time horses are load-
ed back up into trailers, taken to
their respective homes and put
away for the night, it is even later.
“Sometimes I’m cleaning stalls
and feeding them and watering
them until like 10:30 p.m.,” said
Ladd.
Four days a week stretching
from November to June, the
members of the equestrian team
are spending a minimum of fi ve
hours of their evenings centered
around practice. And through
it all – snow, fl ooding, near tri-
ple-digit heat last week – the team
continues to practice.
“When people are worried
about weather during the ‘Snow-
pocalypse,’” said Sias with some
sarcasm and an eye-roll at the
term, “you have kids out in 30 de-
grees, two feet of snow, breaking
snow so their horses are watered
and fed. Th ey don’t get to sit in-
side. Th ey work their butt off .”
When the team isn’t practicing
or at school, they are oft en out
fundraising to ensure that they
can continue to compete. Th is is
a year-round commitment of sell-
ing cinnamon rolls or candy bars;
parking cars at the Eugene Pro
Rodeo and other events; and re-
turning bottles. And somewhere
in this endless cycle, they fi nd a
way to get their homework done.
“We have the exact same rules
as every other sport. Grades, at-
tendance, school comes fi rst. Th e
really cool thing, I have the best
kids,” said Sias. “I don’t ever have
to worry about a kid ever not be-
ing eligible. Every week when the
school sends out reports, I never
get a kid that I ever have to worry
about. Th ey are amazing.”
While Sias is proud of her ath-
letes for what they do in the class-
room, she has also watched the
team thrive since she helped take
over the program eight years ago.
Aft er her son’s freshman year she
stepped into the main role of ad-
visor and had no plans of coach-
ing aft er he graduated and yet she
keeps going.
“Th e problem is, you have (ath-
letes) and you get to know them.
So I have freshmen this year that
I’ve got to know this season and
I say, ‘Th is is going to be my last
Top: The entire CGHS equestrian team earlier this season. Below:
The district-winning team penning group.
year.’ And they’re like, ‘But, can’t
you just wait until I’m a senior?
It’s only two more years.’ And
then you feel so bad because you
have this connection to these kids
and so you stay. And then the
next year there are more kids that
you make a connection with and
here you are eight years later with
no children at home and you’re
still here,” said Sias.
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“Because you just enjoy watch-
ing them and you’ve made rela-
tionships. And yeah, you want to
see them achieve all their goals.
And it’s hard. It’s kind of like my
baby and I’m scared to hand it to
somebody else.”
In her time as coach the ex-
pectation for each athlete has
been state, a goal that has been
CGHS see conclusion on B4
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Wh h hether
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